Concludes that an objective pretest that evaluates basic skills will, in a high percentage of cases, predict student achievement in a business communications course. (FL)

The Council for Basic Education has mixed attitudes towards the current back to basics movement. (PBS)

Contains 19 standards for basic writing programs, covering teaching and learning, support, and program evaluation, developed by the Committee on Writing Standards of the National Council of Teachers of English for the United States Office of Education. (DD)

Argues the need for reading courses in college that would have equal status with other required course offerings and that would go beyond remedial reading to develop reading rates, vocabulary, and study skills. (TJ)

Current calls for a return to basic education may seem like a rerun from the 1950s and early 1960s, but there are important differences. (Author)

If the basics are used as vehicles for teaching students to think, for developing their intellectual powers, and hence for preparing them effectively for their futures, they merit their central position in the schools. (Author)

Advocates the teaching of interdependent courses, which combine a section of composition and an introductory course in another subject, such as psychology. (DD)

Identifies and discusses four basic skills needed for good report writing: collecting and recording information; notetaking; using reference sources; and organizing notes for writing. (JMB)

A collection of brief articles offers suggestions for teaching the basics: social studies, problem solving, reading, and science. (CM)

The language arts curriculum should involve methods, a content, and an atmosphere which celebrate creative language acquisition. (DD)

The passion for a return to the basics is a form of nostalgia for a nonexistent past. (DD)

Discusses basic skills as an element of competitiveness. Applies market and system failure models to the level of basic skills training offered by small businesses. Examines recent British policy documents and recommendations for more small business investment in basic skills. (Contains 42 references.) (SK)

A project to provide steel workers in North Wales with guidance about learning opportunities and to promote lifelong learning in the workplace focused on the development of basic information technology skills. (JOW)

The study compared the written expression of 56 fourth to fifth grade remedial readers and achieving readers. Significant differences favoring the achieving readers were found in three areas: productivity, syntax, and level of ideation. Remedial readers tended toward the same kinds of errors as achieving readers but with an increased frequency.…