Abandoning conventional assumptions about skills hierarchies leads to a new set of curricular principles focusing on complex, meaningful problems, embedding basic skills instruction within more global tasks, and connecting instruction to students' experience and culture. Teachers can then model powerful thinking strategies, encourage multiple…

An evaluation of Job Trails, a computerized basic skills assessment of functional context literacy, received 79 responses from adult students showing that (1) it works best with low performing learners; (2) adults liked using computers and did not view it as a "test"; and (3) they learned more about necessary job skills. (SK)

Over the past several decades, a hegemonic conservative discourse has constructed urban school reform issues around a "basic skills" curriculum model that has helped structure class, race, and gender inequalities. This article discusses some possible organizing principles for a counterhegemonic, democratic-progressive policy discourse. The…

A protracted class-action suit against California's Commission on Teacher Credentialing (by 15 minority individuals and 3 organizations) proved a major loss for plaintiff educators. The Ninth Circuit's ruling follows the trend of high-stakes testing decisions favoring the government, despite revised Office of Civil Rights guidelines. (MLH)

Abolishing direct-instruction and skill-practice opportunities could have serious consequences for special-needs learners. Teachers should provide explicit and focused, even isolated instruction as needed and integrate it into the larger literacy context. This means conducting ongoing assessments of each student's abilities, skills, and progress…

Accommodation requirements for special-needs populations, and administration and taxpayer concerns about current fiscal realities, dovetail with the benefits of physical education programs that promote life skills, such as regular aerobic exercise. At Wilson Schools in New York, administrators have implemented an ongoing, before-school, exercise…

This publication contains the reports for six Iowa Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment System (CASAS) pilot projects conducted at the following community colleges: Northeast Iowa Community College, Eastern Iowa Community College, Kirkwood Community College, Western Iowa Tech Community College, Indian Hills Community College, and Southeastern…

The State Disadvantaged Child Project provides supplementary support services for 6,000 children residing in a low income core area and attending 10 elementary schools and 1 high school in Portland, Oregon. The project also covers other children, allocating funds to the Albina Youth Opportunity School (AYOS), Early Childhood Education Centers, and…

This report describes and evaluates the Boise (Idaho) School District's operation of a Chapter 1 Project, the Elementary Structured Tutoring Program. The project provides tutoring in reading and mathematics skills to educationally deprived students in grades 2-6. Tutors are either paraprofessional adults or supervised students (grades 4-6) who…

The Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS), Form U were administered to all students in Grades 5, 7, and 9 in the San Diego City Schools during the last two weeks of April, 1983. This report is intended to respond to two primary questions: (1) how are San Diego elementary and junior high students doing relative to the national norm group, and…

The Learning Laboratory component of the Department of Educational Program Support at the University of Wisconsin at Parkside was evaluated during the academic year 1983-1984 to monitor laboratory and material usage, determine from what areas students were referred, and identify their reasons for laboratory use. The laboratory was part of a…

The Roving Leaders Center, one of the Dade County (Florida) Public Schools' Educational Alternative Outreach Programs, is designed as a last resort beyond the opportunity schools. Although it originally involved counselors who visited the schools, it now consists of a classroom, recreation room, offices, and reception area. It is staffed by a…

This paper reports on the promises and pitfalls of the recently legislated basic skills testing requirement for teaching or service credential applicants in California. The California Basic Education Skills Test (CBEST), developed by Educational Testing Service from specifications set by Advisory Board to the State Department of Education, tests…

Research for Better Schools (RBS) is supporting improvement efforts in Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. One form of this support is RBS's participation in collaborative projects to develop a system-wide, research-utilization approach to the improvement of basic skills instruction. Educational systems following the approach employ a staff…

Guidelines for implementing comprehensive career development for special needs learners are presented. They include review and evaluation of curricula for appropriateness, determination of the learner's current stage of career development, program planning, integration of career development opportunities, ongoing program implementation assistance,…