We present an analysis regarding generic skills on engineering program offered in a public state university in Mexico (UABC). The university implemented a new educational model changing rigid programs to flexible programs based on competencies. The goal is to determine generic skills related to the four pillars of learning: learning to do,…

Southern New Hampshire University's (SNHU) "College for America" (CfA) made history in April 2013 when it became the first degree program to be approved under the "direct assessment of learning" provisions in Title IV. For the first time, federal financial aid can pay for what students actually learn, not how long they sat in a…

The author concludes that testing in basic education is indispensable. Several objections to external testing are discussed. (Author/MLF)

Describes a program at Pennsylvania's Dauphin County Technical School that has moved beyond providing vocational students with basic communication and mathematics skills and is incorporating vocationally-oriented competency-based instruction into all academic areas. (JOW)

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

The merit of minimum competency testing in a competency-based physical education course is examined by a physical education consultant. (JD)

Reviewed are five programs (textbooks, audiovisual materials, workbooks, video-cassettes) designed to improve academic survival skills in secondary students. Content emphasis, reading level, rationale, objectives, organization, instructional method, student evaluation, physical features, and recommendations are listed for each. (KC)

Argues that literacy needs to include speaking and listening skills. Outlines the Washington State Core Competency Project that identified three levels--communication codes, oral message evaluation, and basic speech--and developed ways to teach these competencies to adult learners. (SK)

Analyzes, within the historical context of functional literacy, a Connecticut Department of Education policy paper linking adult basic education and work force development. Calls for broader basic education that links instrumental knowledge with autobiographical insight and meaningful sociocultural knowledge using collaborative methodology. (SK)

Examination of results of several cases in which students failed minimum competency tests evokes criticism of the way the testing program is carried out by the state. (JD)

Satirizes the teaching of basic skills in isolation and the placing of test results above true learning. (RL)

Describes a project designed to test the effectiveness of the traditional adult basic education curriculum and a competency based curriculum; develop an adult literacy and competency skills instructional program; and produce an exportable handbook which could be used by other agencies in developing such programs. (CT)

The text of a conversation with a Florida special education administrator explores such aspects as the skills that are being tested, how standards were derived, the effects of testing on curricula, special diplomas, and the improvement in scores noted in the second year of the testing. (DLS)

Detroit's minimum competency testing program focuses on improving basic skills instruction. Using test results as indicators of areas of weakness and strength in 12 subjects, teachers have a better understanding of the learning tasks and subskills needed for mastery. (WD)

Competency-based training workshops based on Kolb's experiential learning theory were held for North Carolina adult basic education teachers; 251 attended 1-day sessions and 91 a week-long summer institute. Topics included interpersonal communication, reading, numeracy, language arts, math, assessment, and program evaluation. (SK)