A problem raised by teacher use of basic skills checklists is the possibility of focusing on listed skills to the exclusion of others, including necessary prerequisite skills. (JMF)

The essential meaninglessness of the phrase "Minimum Competency" is discussed and it is placed in the larger context of "The Basics." It is argued that "The Basics" as taught in preparation for minimum competency tests (MCT) are not basic either in the sense of being essential skills or enabling skills. Using research findings and common sense,…

Discusses the use of the computer in teaching accounting. (JOW)

Makes predictions about the status of business education in the twenty-first century and makes the following recommendations regarding what business educators must do: (1) define the business education profession, (2) identify student competencies, and (3) decide how to teach those competencies. (JOW)

Considers how the wedding of competency-based education (CBE), centered on basic skills, and experiential education, advocating that learning requires accompanying experience to be effective, offers creative approach to implementation of CBE. Examples from St. Paul Open School illustrate how minimum competency skills can be incorporated into an…

Reviews methods and materials for producing marketing and distributive education graduates who are employable. Discusses performance-based competencies and mastery learning. (JOW)

Stresses that both teachers' experiences in writing projects and the work of educational researchers support a "romantic" attitude toward writing in opposition to the back-to-basics and drill approaches. (JL)

Focuses on methods for the development of a comprehensive library skills program, the identification of appropriate instructional strategies, and the continuing education of librarians. (Author/LLS)

Many educators think that the end result of minimum competency programs has been the lowering of the quality of learning by most students. It appears that once minimum competencies are held up as the expected level of attainment for all students, there is a tendency to aim all instruction toward those competencies to the exclusion of a wider range…

Research on teaching techniques, perspectives on teaching, and academic subject matter are reviewed and offered as a framework for a new teacher education curriculum. (MT)

The decay in the quality of education is due to a breakdown in authority the schools have over students and educational processes. Emphasis must be placed on the school's power to determine minimum competencies through periodic evaluation, and, if necessary, to prescribe remedial education or grade repetition. Schools should have special reading…

Developers of high stakes criterion-referenced tests are urged to formulate test tasks so that efficient instruction can promote student mastery of the domain. Time-on-task has been promoted by instructional psychologists as preferable to test teaching. (DWH)

Explains the constructivist theory of knowledge and discusses the theory's implications for teaching remedial college students. Analyzes student performance on a college placement test to highlight the differences between how novices and experts process scientific or mathematical materials. Suggests a radical change in introductory algebra…

The minimum competency movement's rationale can be reduced to four problem-laden propositions: the state through its schools owes every child an education; a high school graduate should be at least minimally competent; schools should be held accountable for seeing to it that every child meets this standard; and to assure this, every child must be…

The problem of innumeracy in general and at the primary school level in particular is attributed to a structuralist design of instruction emphasizing an algorithmic approach to arithmetic. Offered is an alternative learning approach developing arithmetic as an informal context-bound activity tied to mental arithmetic and estimation. (MDH)