This bibliography lists toys and games designed to aid children and young adults to master skills in the following areas: (1) communication; (2) concepts; (3) life; (4) math readiness; (5) motor; (6) reading; (7) music therapy; (8) sensory; and (9) social studies. Ten to thirty entries are described in each category, and a list of publishers is…

The last 10 years have been a distinctive decade in American education. There was much argument for change in the 1950s, but it was Sputnik that sparked action in the field of education. The assumption at that time was that if the U.S. was technologically "behind," the schools were to blame. Federal funds for schools began as an "emergency"…

This report of the Basic Studies National Field Task Force is one of six reports by as many task forces on the improvement and reform of American education. The report begins with an introduction and alternative definitions of "basic studies." In section 3, the history of basic studies in American culture and education is traced as a…

This article discusses the "back to basics" movement and points out both its advantages and disadvantages. (CD)

The observation and performance of an object's function in training receptive labeling was studied in four severely and profoundly retarded institutionalized adolescents. (Author/DLS)

Questions are posed concerning the "back to basics" movement and rural schools. (KR)

They're no longer a problem when students learn to take them apart and put them back together again. (Editor)

The National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics has developed a list of ten basic processes in mathematics which all students need to learn. The back-to-the-basics thrust in education must address the development of these and other skills. (MJB)

The current emphasis on breaking down knowledge into minute particles for the purpose of objective measurement has been refuted by educational authorities in the past. The Author assesses the present renewed demands for accountability of the educational product and its dangers to the educational system. (Author/RK)

It is time for a reconciliation among the competing factions among English teachers, including those in favor of humanistic education and those in favor of basic skills, and for the creation of an English for all seasons, immune to changing educational climates and periodic storms of public outrage. (DD)

Too much attention is given to drill on the component skills of language and literacy and too little attention to their significant use. Component skills must be used in contexts that require their integration into some larger act that has a personal purpose that binds the parts into the whole. (Author/IRT)

From a comparative and historical perspective, American public schools have done a fairly creditable job of providing young people with necessary academic skills. (Author/MLF)

Competency-based education asks educators and the public to give up decades of habits and assumptions regarding the structures and methods of schooling. (Author/IRT)

The Adult Performance Level Test, a minimum competency test developed by the Texas Department of Education, measures student skill and knowledge levels in competencies necessary for successful living in a modern society. (MJB)