In 1982, the Vocational Training Council in New Zealand changed the apprenticeship program. It provided for young people to be apprenticed to industry as a whole as well as to individual employers. It promoted competency-based education, improved training for women and adults, and encouraged broad-based training. (JOW)

Examines the issues and lists available options for these questions: why don't teachers (1) teach about the future, (2) use results of educational research, (3) focus on teacher-student interaction, (4) assign grades from a competency criterion, and (5) teach the structure of mechanical drafting. (SK)

Discusses military training programs--those competency-based educational activities with operational objectives designed to have an impact on individual and unit performance. (JOW)

Raises three issues of competency testing: how competency is to be defined, tested, and paid for. (JL)

To assess a child's readiness to integrate, a "competency based assessment" is described. Here, the standards of a particular regular class are measured and the handicapped child's competencies are compared to those standards. (Author)

Considers John Carroll's model of instruction for mastery learning, first presented almost twenty years ago, as the best way to ensure that public high school graduates are educationally competent. Discusses problems with mastery learning and offers some solutions. (WD)

Four practical, easy-to-use management tools are presented which address data management needs and aid in managing things and people in a competency-based vocational education program. They are the task listing, the learning package, the time card, and the student performance agreement. (LRA)

Discusses the advantages and disadvantages of competency based instruction. Points out that, while not a cure-all, individualized instruction is one of the best available teaching tools. (JOW)

Effective teaching is based on a sound educational philosophy, the use of good teaching methods, an adequate curriculum based on the needs of students and supported by appropriate and properly used instructional materials, and adequate facilities for implementing the other components. (LRA)

College-level "grade inflation" may result not from flabby standards but from more effective instructional strategies such as mastery learning. (Author/JM)

Posits that professionals working in school and public libraries should extend their competencies to meet the needs of young children. Findings of a research and demonstration project sponsored by the U.S. Office of Education are used to support the hypothesis. (FM)

Three-fourths of the states have mandated some form of testing. Problems are discussed and practical recommendations about implementation are offered. (Author/MLF)

The minimum competency testing issue raises basic questions--who controls public education and what should be taught? (Author)

Suggestions are made for using an understanding of child development to ensure fair and constructive competency testing in the first years of school. (JD)

Describes the status of career counseling in the Australian educational system and discusses developments that led to the implementation of the competency-based approach to career educators' education. (JOW)