The report presents a framework for the application of a curriculum model to computer programs designed for special education students, specifically slow learners and learning disabled students in regular and special education classes. The program content includes selected basic skills instructional components that are transferable to a computer.…

In fall 1987, a study was conducted at Lincoln Land Community College (LLCC) to examine the college's system of basic skills assessment for course placement. The study investigated the adequacy of established cut scores; placement evasion (i.e., the disregarding of a recommendation to take a developmental course) and its consequences; the use of…

By varying task conditions and constraints on subjects, this study attempted to extend and refine a developmental theory of partitioning as a foundational process undergirding children's construction of a rational number. Subjects were 31 preponderantly higher-grade pupils enrolled at an elementary school in Nova Scotia, Canada. Two tasks were…

A model for the validation of standardized tests of academic achievement upon populations not represented in the samples used to standardize the tests is presented, and the results of a field testing of the model are described. The 1973 editions of the Stanford Achievement Test and the Test of Academic Skills were administered to a sample of…

Three aspects of problems, issues, and questions facing curriculum development teams, local authority advisors, and teacher trainers interested in helping teachers in the United Kingdom (UK) construct and shape an effective economics curriculum are examined. First, in an investigation of the curriculum context dimension, the paper predicts that…

The validity and dependability of functional competency tests for adults are examined as they relate to the information needs of instructional decision makers. Test data from the Adult Performance Level (APL) Program (funded by the U.S. Office of Education at the University of Texas at Austin) is used to illustrate key points. In the discussion of…

One of the major problems facing the profession of speech communication is the need for an increased concern with teaching the "basics" involved in listening carefully and speaking clearly and with vigor. Speech communication educators must take great care in defining the basics of discourse; they should teach the mechanics of grammar and syntax…

Basic fraction concepts are viewed as the seedbed for many important mathematical ideas including the notions of equivalence, inverse, decimals, probability, ratio, and proportion. It is viewed that a critical component of children's mathematical knowledge necessary for success in certain fractional number contexts appears to be intellectual…

A program at General College, University of Minnesota, designed to strengthen the communication skills of nontraditional college students and to enable them to develop a command of English in all modes of communication is discussed in this paper. The program's underlying function is described as creating a bridge from a sheltered environment in…

One way to help basic writers become more effective writers is to encourage them to consider and write about what they do in writing--the problems they face and the satisfactions they glean. Using a scheme that involves using a hierarchy of stages of abstraction in discourse, students can be led to development of their writing skills. One such…

A report is presented of a year-long period of furnishing information to elementary schools on research findings and products related to the improvement of basic skills. Particular empirical findings are not analyzed; rather, an integrated impression of the success or failure of research utilization by schools is conveyed. The outcomes of research…

Teachers are faced with the problem of needing to do a better job of teaching the basics and the astrobasics (those skills needed to understand and respond to the complex bureaucratic demands of the space age, especially reading and filling in such forms as those required for class registration, student loans, and income tax preparation). At least…

This discussion suggests that most English departments have dealt with the conflict between traditional instruction and the"back-to-the-basics" movement in the language arts by focusing on the individual needs of the student, on the subject in some of its most elementary aspects, and on teaching. The English curriculum, as well as teachers in the…

Students entering Chicago State University with less than the minimal level of competence in performing basic operations are assigned to a special course. The course is based on 34 computational objectives in four categories: (1) operations on counting numbers, decimals, and fractions; (2) conversion among fractions, decimals, and percents; (3)…

An overview of the Essential Skills Program at the National Institute of Education is presented in this paper. The paper is divided into three parts. In outline form, the first part of the paper describes the history of the program since its formation in December 1973. Also included in the first part is a short discussion of a number of the major…