A recent British government report on low literacy largely ignored dyslexia. Any approach to remediating basic skills must recognize the needs of dyslexic adults as well as their strengths: intuitive understanding of how things work, problem solving and troubleshooting abilities, and heightened visualization and creativity. (SK)

This article describes fifty-five skill-building activities for use in teaching grades Pre-K through 8. Activities are labeled according to basic skill areas, and activities for parents are included as well.

In an earlier issue of "TEPE" (January, 2005) the "Research to Practice" column examined the effects of a developmental curriculum on elementary-aged children's performance. Pappa, Evanggelinou, and Karabourniotis (2005) found support for a line of research suggesting that curricular programming should place a specific focus on development of…

This paper discusses the importance of institutionalizing practices that promote equitable outcomes for all students within the vast California Community College (CCC) system. The CCC system, which annually provides educational opportunities for almost three million students, exists at the heart of the state economy and future labor pool. Because…

This study presents an investigation of information literacy as defined by the ETS iSkills™ assessment and by the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) Information Literacy Scale (ILS). As two related but distinct measures, both iSkills and the ILS were used with undergraduate students at NJIT during the spring 2006 semester. Undergraduate…

Although K-12 schools and community colleges share responsibility for the futures of a vast number of young Californians, and both are under pressure to improve student academic achievement, the groups operate under separate governance systems, pursue distinct missions, gauge success based on different measures, and are seldom looked at together.…

This article describes how children learn the basic addition and subtraction facts, why many have difficulty mastering these basic skills, and what teachers can do to prevent or overcome these learning difficulties.

This report offers California college faculty a closer look at contextualized teaching and learning (CTL) as a promising set of strategies and practices that can be expanded through the state's Basic Skills Initiative. The report is relevant to a range of instructional and counseling faculty, including academic and career and technical education…

This investigation was undertaken to investigate the threshold levels of literacy and language proficiency necessary for adult learners to use the Internet for independent learning. The report is triangulated around learning from large-scale surveys, learning from the literature, and learning from the field. Reported findings include: (1)…

A large proportion of the UK adult population has very poor literacy and/or numeracy skills (see the 1999 Moser Report, the 2003 "Skills for Life" Survey and the 2006 Leitch report). In 1999, the Moser report found that approximately 20% of adults in England had severe literacy difficulties, whilst around 40% had some numeracy problems.…

To increase the rate at which adult basic skills students advance to and succeed in college-level occupational programs, the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) developed the Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training, or I-BEST. In the I-BEST model, a basic skills instructor and an occupational instructor team…

In this transcript of "Options in Education," a weekly feature on National Public Radio, a group of experts--George Weber, Reed Whittemore, Goodman Ace, Herbert O. Reid, Albert Shanker, Harold Hodgkinson, Zachary Clements, Joseph Cronin, John Pittenger, and Richard King--interpret the back-to-basics movement. (IRT)

Writing classes should provide students with an opportunity to consciously define and explore their values. (DD)

Cites some examples of programs in which students develop basic skills in connection with meaningful activities. (Author/MLF)

Results of a survey of Texas school administrators asked to rank courses of instruction in order of importance. (Author/M LF)