As the largest funder of adult basic education (ABE) in the nation, providing over $600 million through its Basic Grants to States (U.S. Department of Education, 2019), the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) drives ABE policies and practices. In a review of the announcement on Title II, the phrase "transition to" is repeated…

This article presents the author's response to Karen Eppley's "Reading Mastery as Pedagogy of Erasure". Eppley's commentary (2011) on Dr. Stockard's article, "Increasing Reading Skills in Rural Areas: An Analysis of Three Rural School Districts" (Stockard, 2011), uses selected details as points of departure for a critique of…

What is it to learn for an unknown future? It might be said that the future has always been unknown but this question surely takes on a new pedagogical challenge in the contemporary age. Generic skills may seem to offer the basis of just such a learning for an unknown future. Generic skills, by definition, are those that surely hold across…

There is no doubt that in the past 10 years, school culture has become a testing culture. But all the "multiple measures" do not really lead one to achieve the three most often cited goals of testing: building proficiency in basic skills, closing achievement gaps, and fostering the top-notch knowledge and skills that students will need…

The author reports on recent efforts by community college faculty to make the teaching and learning from their classrooms more visible. Spurred on by numerous reports that point to the urgency around basic skills education, faculty members at California community colleges are working together to improve teaching of basic skills, using a variety of…

Drawing from six years of qualitative research, this article analyzes the broad range of proposed and existing homeschool regulations throughout the United States. It argues that current homeschool regulations--and most proposals for how to improve them--misjudge the complexity of such an endeavor; state resources are misused and the basic…

In this article, the author talks about UK Government's informal learning consultation by considering the role of the workplace. As John Denham set out at the launch of this consultation process in January, trade unions have been at the heart of such learning throughout their history; campaigning for education for all and for public libraries,…

It is no secret that America is at risk of losing its place as a world leader in education. Some 88 million adults in America need help with their English as a Second Language (ESL) and basic skills, yet the nation is currently providing services to only 3 million people. The Commission on Adult Literacy calls for bold change at the state and…

This article reviews some of the documents that have recently been published on the teaching of English, and argues that the 2006 QCA Functional Skills Draft has important implications for the future of an "entitlement" curriculum.

Industrial education today must address the basic skills necessary to control and understand the manufacturing process. Machining, welding, and a common-sense knowledge of mechanics are needed. (JOW)

Preparing handicapped preschoolers for mainstreamed kindergarten should focus on developing kindergarten survival skills. Comparison of survival skills identified by teachers with skills measured by common preschool assessment instruments indicated only slight congruence. Programs should emphasize teaching such survival skills rather than…

This brief commentary argues that basic skills can and should be taught in preschool with the aid of instructional technology programs such as Distar. (Author/SS)

This report details five principles for creating powerful classrooms and offers a new vision for professional development: (1) High Structure; (2) High Challenge; (3) Intensity; (4) Intentionality and Learning How to Learn; and (5) Inquiry and Making Learning Visible. Included are recommendations drawn from the work of the 11 community college…

An English teacher discusses how she teaches her students to take responsibility, to build a positive attitude, to listen and concentrate, to think, and to study. Only then are they ready to learn English. (MT)

Government agencies administer exams to appraise educators' effectiveness. However, most teachers and administrators are unfamiliar with how such large-scale tests are put together or polished. A profession's adequacy is being judged on the basis of tools that the profession's members don't understand. As such, educators need to have a dose of…