Argues for the value of high-quality minimum competency testing (MCT) programs in efforts to restore honesty to public school promotion practices. Lists the seven characteristics of a good program and discusses the effects of MCT on students, on curriculum and teaching, and on public perceptions of schooling. (Author/WD)

This article presents the two key recommendations and some additional excerpts from the proposed New Jersey master plan for higher education. The New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) is studying the impact of this plan not only on higher education, but on the preparation and certification of public school teachers. (Author/SJL)

At Central High School, all departments are responsible for teaching spelling and writing. A uniform procedure has been adopted for evaluating student writing assignments, which includes a list for faculty and students of standard theme correction symbols and suggestions for improvement of specific errors. The list is included. (SJL)

Detroit's minimum competency testing program focuses on improving basic skills instruction. Using test results as indicators of areas of weakness and strength in 12 subjects, teachers have a better understanding of the learning tasks and subskills needed for mastery. (WD)

Reported is the status of elementary science teaching during the 1978-79 school year as indicated by a survey of 184 elementary preservice teachers, from three institutions, who had just completed eight weeks of student teaching. These data are compared with information from a national survey completed in 1971. Changes are identified and…

Interesting mathematical questions that require computations involving fractions, percentages, and decimals are presented. The material is designed for students in the middle school grades, but many of the ideas could be used with higher or lower level pupils. (MP)

Asserting that problem solving is the most important mathematical skill that elementary students need to learn, the authors present teaching tips and sample problems geared to the primary and intermediate grades. (SJL)

Urges community services planners to focus programs on critical human needs, such as literacy, and to think of the community as an extended family, pooling its resources to meet its members' basic needs. Suggests that community services be viewed as a gift without immediate demand for reciprocity. (AYC)

Science is shown to have unique characteristics that make it a valuable component of a basic education. While stressing the physical world, it can also provide a good model for rational and moral behavior. (JMF)

A position paper which discusses different aspects of reading and its relation to school, home, and lifelong activities, and suggests instructional implications. (CM)

Materials designed for teachers and handicapped children in the least restrictive settings are reviewed. Brief descriptions are given for materials on science instruction; arts and humanism; expressive arts; social studies units incorporating dance, music, and the visual arts; and functional and basic skills. (CL)

Describes a program in the Dade County (Florida) Public School System which developed career-related courses of study in academic subjects, namely mathematics and language arts. (Editor)

Freedom Schooling is an educational concept that refers to the new relationship or partnership between the federal government and local school districts to introduce alternative educational practices, programs, and structures into American public elementary and secondary education. (JMF)

Argues that mutual trust and understanding between teacher and learner are essential to a beneficial learning experience. What students learn depends on their interpretation of the experience, and attempts to control learning result in undesirable side effects. Congruity of external and internal evaluations is a significant consideration…

Reviews theories of cognitive development to show that most basic writers are operating below the true-concept formation stage and have difficulty in "decentering"; suggests writing assignments based on inference-drawing to remedy the situation. (DD)