Three members of the Board of Directors of the International Reading Association express their positions about minimum competency standards. Kenneth Goodman presents a humanitarian, idealistic view of the controversy and questions the effectiveness of legislative mandates. Roger Farr expresses concern that limitations of testing procedures might…

This overview of competency based education (CBE) explores some of the important policies and dimensions of CBE that go beyond the popularized notion that simple tests can be devised to make student promotion and graduation decisions or to demonstrate possession of required or desired competencies. Examined are such areas as the reasons CBE has…

To comply with official state regulations, public school districts in Massachusetts must establish minimum standards for reading, mathematics and writing by September 1980, and for listening and speaking by September 1981. The standards must apply to three grade levels: early elementary, late elementary, and secondary. Parents, teachers,…

Resulting from a project involving district, state, and federal educational agencies, the papers in this, the first of two volumes, are intended to provide information from research and practice that can help school districts in their efforts to make decisions about goals and methods of basic skills instruction. The topics of the papers in the…

During the 1982-83 school year the Spencerport (New York) Central School District began a comprehensive project to study the effective schools research and its implications at all levels of a suburban school system. A leadership planning team (consisting of teachers, principals, and district personnel) participated in a series of workshops and…

During the 1982-83 school year the Spencerport (New York) Central School District began a comprehensive project to study the effective schools research and its implications at all levels of a suburban school system. A leadership planning team (consisting of teachers, principals, and district personnel) participated in a series of workshops and…

This document is the third annual status report of the Spencerport (New York) More Effective Schools/Teaching Project. Section 1 describes nine documents developed during the project; identifies persons participating in the project; states the applicability of effective schools research to all levels of a suburban school system; and sets forth the…

This report describes the development of the competency-based education system currently used in the Newport-Mesa (California) Unified School District. The system's four stages of development--covering philosophy, competencies, assessment, and curriculum--stretched over 15 years, and the philosophical impetus for developing such a system took root…

This document presents an overview of the design and implementation stages of the Spencerport (New York) More Effective Schools/Teaching Project. The first section lists nine reasons for the uniqueness of the Spencerport project, including district size, its racial and economic components, participant satisfaction, a set of clearly defined goals,…

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)

This article attempts to provide British educators, who face a similar trend, with a synthesis of some major developments in the Accountability in Education movement in the United States. (Author/SJL)

The results of a follow-up study on local school district development and implementation of minimal competency testing (MCT) programs are reported. Critical questions regarding: (1) motivation and purposes; (2) selection of tests, procedures, and standards; and (3) impact, follow-up, and change are examined. The follow-up study investigated…

Some of the major concerns regarding competency-based education (CBE) and ways of dealing with them are discussed. CBE is viewed as an opportunity for educators to work for real improvement in the teaching and learning process. (MP)

This brief discussion of basic administrative postures may help principals direct their schools' efforts to cope with minimum competency regulations. (Author)

Discussion of the standards issue in gifted education stresses the value of program models characterized by academic freedom and development of creative expression and urges that lists of standards and high-stakes testing do not replace a rich curriculum. (Contains references.) (DB)