Developing meaningful and equitable grading practices is a daily challenge for K-12 educators and administrators. Grading practice serves several functions, including informing parents about their child's progress, informing potential employers, aiding in educational and career planning, and guiding administrative decisions such as graduation,…

Although those psychomotor procedures that were the basic components of occupations of the industrial age still need to be taught, there is a growing need to teach the cognitive behaviors and affective behaviors associated with information processing and service-related occupations. The techniques that have worked well to teach psychomotor…

The Outcome-Based Instructional Systems approach is a comprehensive design for teaching and learning and instructional management that has its roots in the mastery learning and competency-based education movements of the early 1970s and has been implemented in hundreds of schools and districts across the country. The first part of this brief…

This practical guide is one of a series aimed at assisting academics in higher education in researching specific aspects of their work. Focusing on small-scale insider research in colleges and universities, the handbook covers contemporary issues, research methods, and existing practice and values in the area of assessment and evaluation. Issues,…

Excerpts are taken from published works, college curricula and handbooks, and other sources to examine the aim of colleges in terms of student outcomes. Written in outline style, the document begins by setting a context. Subsequent sections have the following headings: (1) What Outcomes or Characteristics Do We Think Our Students Will Need To Be…

This annotated bibliography of 70 items was developed as part of a larger research project on the possible application of competency-based approaches to generalist courses (arts, humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences) in higher education. The project also looked at other ways, aside from the use of competency-based approaches, of…

Eleven recent reports related to excellence in education were examined, and their implications for vocational education were interpreted. Commonalities and differences among the studies were identified, and a selection of these was developed further with major emphases on teaching and learning. Topics were selected according to their immediacy and…

This report considers one school's approach to science education, examining in particular the development of a two-semester required unified science course. Designed to be useful to all students and applicable to all areas of science, the course is characterized by a high degree of teacher teamwork, as in developing instructional materials.…

This general review of the relative merits of social promotion and retention examines research on the benefits of each, describes current strategies for resolving the policy dilemma involved, and considers issues raised by abolishing social promotion and establishing remedial programs. A summary of the history of the widespread adoption of the…

Maintains that professional development based on competency-based education and training is growing. Reviews postsecondary inservice teacher education programs. Argues that democratic traditions in teaching and learning should be included in professional development programs. (CFR)

This report summarizes the results of a project conducted to document the skills and behaviors that have been identified as essential for a work force facing the challenges of global competition in an environment of rapidly changing markets. The workplace competencies and foundation skills defined in "Skills and Tasks for Jobs: A SCANS…

The paper is a product of the 3-year project, "Functional Mainstreaming for Success," designed to develop a model for instructional mainstreaming of handicapped children (3-6 years old) in community settings. Thirty-two sources were reviewed which deal with the teacher competencies needed by regular teachers for successful mainstreaming.…

This text presents basic principles of applying curriculum-based assessment (CBA) to the evaluation of and instruction of students with disabilities. Throughout the book, the mnemonic APPLY is used as an organizing method for teachers to develop and use CBA. APPLY stands for: (1) analyze the curriculum, (2) prepare items to match curriculum…

The paper is a product of the 3-year project, "Functional Mainstreaming for Success," designed to develop a model for instructional mainstreaming of handicapped children (3-6 years old) in community settings. The literature on in-service training needs of regular teachers teaching handicapped children in the mainstream is reviewed and a proposal…

This document expands upon the discussion of standardized tests in federal legislation and Department of Education rules and regulations, in order to guide practitioners in using these tests and alternative assessment methods more wisely. Amendments of 1988 that address the uses of standardized tests, the federal regulations that implement the…