In January 2007, the Oregon State Board of Education mandated a new Oregon diploma that strengthened high school graduation requirements with the aim of improving student readiness for college and career. Among the major changes was a requirement that students demonstrate proficiency in nine "essential skills" that included the…

In reviewing the Army Continuing Education System in 1979, the Assistant Secretary of the Army found a basic skills program based on traditional academic level goals was inadequate to meet the Army's requirement to provide functional, job-related basic skill education. Combining the shrinking manpower pool and projected basic skill deficiencies of…

Describes the development and implementation of Pasadena's minimum essentials program in English. (IRT)

The college of education at a midwestern university has designed a program for training senior citizen volunteers to tutor elementary school students in reading and language arts. Development of the Time Of Our Lives for Service (T. O. O. L. S.) program included establishing goals and objectives for the program that were subject to administrative…

This description of the Erie Basic Educational Skills (BES) Program provides examples of the achievements made by the Erie Public Schools and Head Start toward BES and Responsive Educational Program goals. Staff positions, staff responsibilities, the curriculum, and programs initiated and carried out in the Erie Public Schools are described. The…

An overview of the Essential Skills Program at the National Institute of Education is presented in this paper. The paper is divided into three parts. In outline form, the first part of the paper describes the history of the program since its formation in December 1973. Also included in the first part is a short discussion of a number of the major…

The Essential Learning Skills Television Project is developing 60 15-minute programs and related print materials designed to blend and review math and language skills while focusing on the reasoning process. (Author/IRT)

The need for colleges to develop critical thinking skills in mainstream courses is emerging as an issue of national significance. Students benefit from clearly articulated and pedagogically sound courses that directly and explicitly teach thinking skills, as well as from efforts to reinforce these abilities across the curriculum. At LaGuardia…

The nationwide problem of declining communication skills is evident in the large numbers of students entering college with deficiencies in reading, writing, and speaking skills. This paper discusses the operation of a communication skills program within a college communication skills center which functions as a supportive resource service and…

Faced with students with reading problems and a budget which would not cover the hiring of a reading specialist, instructors at Thames Valley State Technical College (Connecticut) developed a successful remedial reading program of their own. This article discusses how the program was developed and reports that over the past six years it has…

The purpose of this booklet is to provide information on what is known about standards for effective basic skills improvement programs to persons developing such programs, philosophies, standards, and strategies. It also provides access to current thinking by practicing professionals on standards for building effective programs to eligible…

This publication focuses on California Assembly Bill 3408, legislation mandating secondary schools to develop performance standards and performance tests for students. The paper analyzes progress made in implementing the legislation in California and outlines some of the barriers to successful implementation. The author explains several testing…

Presented in case study format, this report looks at different types of workplace literacy programs across Canada. It describes in some detail 10 particular work environments and the unique characteristics that have enabled each to offer quality worker education programs. Each case study provides information in these categories: profile (an…

Reviews the status of competency-based high school graduation requirements in Oregon, Minnesota, and Alaska; explores problems of testing certain competencies; and presents a directory of 10 competency-based programs. (AV)

Competency testing in New York State began in the nineteenth century, first with a local testing mandate and later with the "preliminary Regents examinations," which were administered at the end of the eighth grade. Optional competency tests were introduced in 1962, and in 1976 the Board of Regents mandated the passing of a series of…