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…

The Basic Skills Agency (formerly the Adult Literacy and Basic Skills Unit--ALBSU) is the national development agency for literacy, numeracy and related basic skills in England and Wales. This agency defines basic skills as " the ability to read, write, and speak in English and use mathematics at a level necessary to function and progress at…

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 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 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.

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)

Discusses the pros and cons of national competency testing. (JMB)

Discusses four important issues influencing the current state of mathematics education: what should be taught, how to evaluate students' learning, the role of technology, and the preparation of prospective teachers. Provides a list of five questions to help administrators evaluate their schools' mathematics program. (MLH)

Stephen Tchudi, the author of the critique of Hirsch's article on cultural literacy, responds to Hirsch's reponse to his critique and asks: Who gets to define traditional content? (MD)