Students live in an information and knowledge management economy in which the dissemination and analysis of information requires intellectual, technical and interpersonal skills. As a direct response to higher education's challenge to produce more engineers, scientists, and business professionals, universities have increased the numbers of…

The writing test at Colorado State University determines which students move from basic composition into the college composition course. Initially, all incoming students take a placement test similar to the holistically scored writing tests administered by the Educational Testing Service. This placement test, along with other information, provides…

The nationwide problem of declining communication skills is evident in the large numbers of students entering college with deficiencies in reading, writing, and speaking skills. This paper discusses the operation of a communication skills program within a college communication skills center which functions as a supportive resource service and…

A total of 359 retained seventh and eighth grade students from the Austin (Texas) Independent School District's junior high schools participated in a summer enrichment program that was designed to improve their basic skills and decision making skills and to provide them with a successful school experience. Diagnostic information was used to assign…

This is a final evaluation report for three Title VII programs conducted in the Seattle, Washington, school district in 1977. The programs reviewed include: (1) Basic Skills Impact Model (BSIM), an effort to provide basic skills remediation to underachieving students; (2) Minimum Competencies Assurance Program (MinCAP), a remedial program designed…

The 1981 Basic Skills Summer School Program in Montgomery County, Maryland public schools provided intensive remedial instruction in reading, writing, and mathematics to pupils who scored very low on national standardized achievement tests. An evaluation of the program's effects found that (1) over all, participating students in grades 4-8 scored…

The Elementary Secondary Education Act Title I Elementary Basic Skills program operated in 72 schools during fiscal year 1973. There were approximately 23,443 identified Title I pupils who received the services of the program. The first major program objective pertains directly to reading comprehension and anticipates a gain of ten school months…

Offered to groups that wish to review and improve educational programs, this booklet reprints by special permission the "Standards for Basic Skills Writing Programs" developed by the National Council of Teachers of English and "Standards for an Effective Oral Communication Program" prepared by the American…

California's Pupil Proficiency Law requires each local school district to adopt standards of proficiency in the basic skills of reading comprehension, writing, and computation. Students are to be assessed in grades 4-11. Students not making sufficient progress towards meeting the district's standards are to be provided with remedial programs, and…

An evaluation is presented of the remedial programs in each of New Jersey's 32 public colleges and universities. The academic outcome of full-time students entering in fall 1984 is tracked over four semesters. This analysis combines measures of the colleges' administrative efficiency in testing and enrolling students in needed remedial courses,…

Basic skills programs are now almost a given in the curricula of postsecondary institutions; however, the key area of concern of basic skills researchers is, Are they working? The answer is two fold: yes, those involved in and committed to the programs are working very hard, and no, the programs themselves are not working very well. There is a…

Evaluation results for the College Bound (C.B.) program at New York City public schools are presented. The C.B. program seeks to improve reading and mathematics skills of high school students who are 2 or more years below grade level and to prepare these students for college. It includes basic skills instruction in reading, career and college…

This document describes the rationale and the strategy of the new United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Initiative for literacy: LIFE. The Literacy Initiative for Empowerment (LIFE) is designed as a global strategic framework through which national governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil…

A program developed for adult aboriginal and part aboriginal underachieving students uses the novel "Wild Cat Falling" in the admission studies course of an Australian college. The program combines a study of literature with language and skills development components, encourages student self esteem, and allows students to learn through their own…

This project report describes how the Pima County Adult Education's Workplace Education Project provided workplace education at 11 Arizona worksites to 355 workers. The following activities are discussed: 27 class cycles were completed; the average class cycle was 11 weeks; pretests/posttests results indicated educational gains and gains in…