Education is a foundational driver of development, and fundamental to achieving self-reliance. When children and youth build skills they can use for work and school, they can pursue more hopeful and prosperous futures for themselves, their families, their communities, and their countries. USAID works in more than 50 nations to promote education…

Reports results of a language and learning study carried out in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) that indicated an increase in children's attainment of basic skills. (AEA)

Reports on school research identifying and setting priorities for essential skills needed by the end of primary school to enable students to function effectively in Australian society. (MD)

The problems inherent to standardized minimum competency testing are discussed. (HTH)

The "back to basics" movement in Australian elementary and secondary schools is criticized because it would take the culturally impoverished nineteenth-century elementary school as a model. It is suggested that despite some structural limitations, the establishment of state secondary schools has led to some widening of cultural…

Written by the Australian Education Council, this article outlines the purpose and the procedures for the Australian Studies in Student Performance program, a project to gather information on achievement in literacy and numeracy of a sample of 10 and 14 year olds. (HTH)

Development of survey test materials for the Australian national testing program in literacy and math skills is discussed. (HTH)

Preliminary findings of a study of 14,000 Australian children indicate that, at age 10, one child per class and at age 14, one child per 100 is totally unable to read. About one student in five needs remedial reading instruction, but only one student in ten is receiving remedial reading instruction. (SL)

Defines literacy as the ability to make good-mannered sense in reading and writing to the satisfaction of those in power with respect to the task at hand. Lists educational essentials necessary to produce a literate populace, offers a critique of current schools, and recommends an experiential approach to teaching reading and writing. (AEA)

This report summarizes the results of a study of literacy and numeracy conducted by the Australian Council of Education Research. Results on computation items are compared with those obtained in the National Assessment of Educational Progress. (SD) Aspect of National Assessment (NAEP) dealt with in this document: Results (Interpretation).

Presents an interview with Allan Luke, current editor of "The Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy," and Deputy Director General of Education for Queensland. Discusses several reform projects--Education 2010 (a futures-oriented analysis and philosophy for Queensland Schools); The New Basics ( a new curriculum/pedagogy/assessment…

A recent national study of the influence of openness of school buildings on teaching practices and pupil outcomes has found that open area schools were associated with lower scores on basic skills tests. Several possible explanations are suggested based on the history of the open building innovation and observed school use patterns. (MSE)

Identifies dominant meanings of literacy within contemporary proposals for educational reform in North America, Britain, and Australasia, examining the meanings and noting the serious imbalance within current reform visions for literacy education. The paper examines four types of literacy constructions (lingering basics, new basics, elite…

Individuals, randomly selected from important but diverse community and school groups, rated the tasks tested and the items used in the Mathematical Tests of the Australian Studies in School Performance. For tasks at the basic numeracy level, disagreement was generally insignificant. (Author/SJL)

Educational changes in Australia in the 1980s are unlikely to differ much from those occurring elsewhere in the industrialized world. Against the backdrop of declining enrollment, important educational issues are likely to be the national economy, school financing, community involvement, multiculturalism, basic skills, public examinations, and…