Dispels some discouraging myths about authentic learning's context, mastery, originality, entertainment value, and task complexity. The main point is to let students encounter and master situations that resemble real life, which has its tedious and unengaging moments. Educators should work toward more (rather than complete) authenticity, exploit…

For 10 years or more, teachers at the City Colleges of Chicago have used mastery learning, a teaching technique that focuses on the use of a corrective/feedback process to improve student learning. Early studies of mastery learning at the colleges comparing student grades in mastery learning classes to control classes in which these techniques…

Outcome-based education is rooted in earlier ideas, such as Tyler's objectives, Spady's outcomes, Glaser's criterion-referenced measurement, Bloom's mastery learning, 1970s accountability concerns, and the 1960s competency-based education movement. Minnesota's experience suggests various practical implementation challenges concerned with…

According to recent research, when teachers focus on higher mental processes (problem solving, application of principles, analytical skills, and creativity) within a mastery learning format, students' thinking skills and knowledge levels improve. Baltimore County (Maryland) and East Islip (New York) School Districts have programs integrating…

Describes two introductory college-level geography programs which use undergraduate students as peer teachers. In a human geography course, they act as small-group leaders in role-playing simulations. In a physical geography course, peer teachers serve as tutors for mastery learning. Socio-psychological, pedagogical, economic, and political…

Outcome-based education, a labor-intensive process driven by mastery learning, is an unsuitable model for training future teachers. Education professors are too overworked to provide individualized instruction. Although OBE theoretically balances remediation and enrichment, fast learners often "tread water," with little incentive to work…

When a lecture course seems to be unsatisfactory, a systematic analysis of its content, objectives, and learner characteristics may prove helpful in selecting a more appropriate teaching-learning method. A model for such a process is examined. (CT)

In Denver, principals train and supervise their teachers as they plan and teach mastery learning units. (Author/JM)

The challenge of structuring college curriculum to meet all of the educational needs of new students to higher education (those who would not be in college except for open admissions policies) is considered in this book. Research studies on teaching, learning, and student development form the basis for improvements in college programs outlined.…

This report examines the Chicago Mastery Learning Reading Program (CMLRP) and other schoolwide approaches at selected schools in Los Angeles (California), New York City, and Chicago (Illinois) to identify factors in augmented achievement gains. This extended summary and conclusion seeks to provide information which can improve the general…

An analysis is provided of a fictitious community college English curriculum, considering curriculum content, entry and exit requirements, justification, and internal and external influences on course development and scheduling. Background information is provided on enrollment trends, ethnic enrollment, English proficiency testing, and course…

To bring students up to internationally benchmarked standards, high schools must abandon the ineffective general curriculum and focus resources on a narrower, academic curriculum. Professional and vocational education should be provided in postsecondary settings after students receive certificates of initial mastery. A 12-point school redesign…

This paper reviews the literature on mastery learning theory and reports its successful application since 1987 with mainstreamed special education students at one elementary school in Missouri. The methodology, originally developed by Benjamin Bloom, involves formative evaluation after initial instruction followed by either corrective activities…

This report describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of programs designed to improve the educational opportunities of working class children in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. First, an overview of the objectives, program types, timetable and organizational structure is presented. Secondly, programs are described according to three…

Chicago's mastery learning program takes into account the complexities of reading and the realities of urban classrooms. Its designers say that if a program does not lead to success, it is not a mastery learning program. (Author/JM)