Any debate about general education is seen as a debate about culture, curricula, and proportion; common or not so common values; the nature of knowledge and the desire and necessity of transferring traditions from one generation to the next; and the degree to which undergraduate study should emphasize specialization. (MLW)

Academic librarians recognize that success in teaching college students library skills is likely only if library instruction is interwoven with regular teaching programs. Examples of ways in which librarians have involved the faculty in innovative joint programs are described. (LBH)

The task of general education should be to provide a broad framework for understanding, an intellectual context within which factual information can meaningfully be comprehended. Each framework should have at least three qualities in common: an historical dimension, an intellectual dimension, and an analytical dimension. (MLW)

The large increases in journalism school enrollments are reported and accompanying problems in student writing ability examined. Faculty members who would like to polish writing styles are being misused in spending time correctly basic errors in syntax and spelling. (Author/LBH)

The back-to-basics movement and arguments by its proponents are examined with emphasis on proficiency in writing skills. Composition course requirements are discussed along with the need of instructors to teach semantic and logical skills. (LBH)

Educators of the eighties and nineties, it is suggested, are responsible for making sure that Americans enter the twenty-first century with a view as wide as the world. The widest and most neglected frontier of United States educational reform is seen as a global perspective on all studies. (MLW)

Two remedial, basic skills programs at two predominately Black colleges-- Miles College in Birmingham, Alabama, and Tougaloo College in Mississippi--are compared by Tougaloo composition teacher John Monro, formerly a dean at Harvard. He argues that such programs are justified by their successes. (JMF)

A national research project, known as the CRSP (Career Related Skills Project) which suggests that liberal arts study teaches students skills needed for employment in the field of commerce, as well as in all occupational fields, is described. (MLW)

The system of competency tests used by the University of Georgia System is examined. Arguments for and against the tests developed by the state board of regents are presented, and the issue of racial discrimination is also addressed. (JMF)

Scores in reading and comprehension on the University of Minnesota Reading and Speed of Reading examinations for the years 1928 and 1978 were compared. The 1978 freshmen were found to be at least one grade level below their 1928 counterparts in vocabulary, reading comprehension, and rate of reading. (MLW)

Many states are turning to minimum-competency testing at the secondary school level. Although at least 17 states have enacted legislation that sets minimum-competency standards for graduation from public high schools, the basic skills testing movement at the postsecondary level is still in its infancy. (MLW)

Remediation programs have been successful in boosting poorly prepared minority undergraduates. Several different approaches are described that combine reconditioning, psychology, and simple faith. (JMF)

Steps taken by various states and individual institutions to determine a minimum level of accomplishment among students and to define the basic components of a college education are outlined. These include curriculum evaluations, standards review, and testing. (JMF)