Millions of adult Americans lack the basic literacy skills necessary to perform everyday tasks requiring basic reading and math. This stifles our economy, given that employers are increasingly likely to require education or training beyond high school. Organizations that provide job training to lower-skilled adults through Jobs for the Future's…

Reports on school research identifying and setting priorities for essential skills needed by the end of primary school to enable students to function effectively in Australian society. (MD)

Geography as a separate subject lost ground in the secondary school curriculum after the Korean War. A High School Geography Project stressing urban themes was developed in the late 1960s, but faded by the mid-1970s. A 1980s renaissance, spurred by educational reform mandates, seems a promising development. Includes seven references. (MLH)

The authors of this article seek to deconstruct traditional thinking about education while introducing a postmodern view of curriculum development. "Ways of Knowing Through the Realms of Meaning," an exhaustive work by Dr. William Kritsonis, distinguished writer, lecturer, and editor provides curriculum leaders an important tool by which they may…

Abandoning conventional assumptions about skills hierarchies leads to a new set of curricular principles focusing on complex, meaningful problems, embedding basic skills instruction within more global tasks, and connecting instruction to students' experience and culture. Teachers can then model powerful thinking strategies, encourage multiple…

Over the past several decades, a hegemonic conservative discourse has constructed urban school reform issues around a "basic skills" curriculum model that has helped structure class, race, and gender inequalities. This article discusses some possible organizing principles for a counterhegemonic, democratic-progressive policy discourse. The…

The time has come to improve the quality of core courses so that all students have equal opportunities to become prepared for postsecondary education and for work. The purposes of this report are to examine the gap between secondary and postsecondary education in the U.S. and to focus on successful strategies for eliminating this gap so that all…

Nine commonly occurring activities were identified in mainstreamed kindergarten and first grade classrooms, the necessary skills for participation were analyzed, and a curriculum was developed. Evaluation of the curriculum showed that 15 handicapped preschool children learned the necessary skills, even when the instructions, environment, and task…

This is an evaluation of the Equal Career Opportunities Program conducted for bilingual high school students in New York City in 1979-1980. The program served Spanish and French/Creole speaking students, and was designed to provide effective bilingual instruction in basic skills, career education, and preoccupational training. Its goal was to…

This descriptive and evaluative report focuses on the work of Reading Area Community College's (RACC's) Basic Skills Articulation Team in developing a Basic Skills Integration Plan (BSIP) for the systematic integration of basic skills instruction into the college curriculum. Section A provides an introduction to the creation and activities of the…

This guide is designed for educators involved in teaching, developing curriculum, or counseling students. It describes six new forms used to report the results of 10th-grade student performance on the Florida State Student Assessment Test, Parts I and II (SSAT-I and -II): (1) Parent Report, SSAT-I; (2) Student Report, SSAT-I; (3) Student Report,…

The current imbalance between teaching basic skills and higher order skills can be addressed by redesigning teaching into two specialized areas. Using the principal-agent model and applying ideas from organization theory, the advantages of restructuring teaching to increase emphasis on problem-solving and higher order skills are discussed. (SLD)

The National Institute for Educational Research (NIER), Tokyo (Japan) and the Asia-Pacific Centre of Educational Innovation for Development (APEID) of the United Nations Scientific, Cultural, and Educational Organization (UNESCO) organized a regional seminar to explore issues related to secondary education in Asia and the Pacific and to formulate…

Criticizes the "Five New Basics" proposal on the basis of the Educational Testing Service's Growth Study, which found that completion of core curriculum enhances test performance only if the student's course performance is very high. Concludes that the National Commission did not comprehensively evaluate current educational conditions…

The evaluated program provides remediation in mathematics for students in New York City high schools. In addition to outcomes of the total program, the report addresses the efficacy of a pilot instructional component, "Using Computers to Teach Basic Skills." Thirty teachers participated in the pilot program, intended to improve students'…