Discusses the minimum competency movement and suggests standards for constructing and implementing exit competency requirements. (MKM)

Reviewed are five programs (textbooks, audiovisual materials, workbooks, video-cassettes) designed to improve academic survival skills in secondary students. Content emphasis, reading level, rationale, objectives, organization, instructional method, student evaluation, physical features, and recommendations are listed for each. (KC)

Describes functional literacy for those interested in office-based occupations. Components of office literacy include computer and cultural literacy, as well as reading skills. Offers six propositions that have implications for office literacy curriculum development. (CH)

Discusses issues related to the movement toward minimum competency in secondary education. Addresses the problem of defining minimum competency and the dangers of imposed standardization. Identifies three conceptualizations of minimum competency as: (1) the narrowly educational standpoint, (2) the concern with functional literacy, and (3) a more…

Details a study indicating that the minimal level of literacy necessary for adults in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is very high. Provides a master list of vocabulary words, symbols, numbers, abbreviations, computational skills, and writing skills needed for functional literacy. (MKM)

The development and implementation of the Dallas Independent School District's Basic Objectives Assessment Test (BOAT) are described. Beginning in 1979, this minimum competency test was administered system-wide to all students in grades 8-12 (except for those enrolled as special education students), and beginning in 1983 it will be used in…

The Communication Experience Approach (CEA), a modification of the Language Experience Approach to teaching reading, involves the use of group activities designed to help functionally illiterate persons learn basic communication skills. This paper first discusses six distinct processes in the CEA: setting a specific purpose for communicating,…

Designed to meet the needs of older nonreaders, this booklet provides teaching suggestions and classroom activities for functional or survival reading skills. The topics covered include using the telephone; figuring the cost of a purchase; following directions; survival vocabulary for public signs; vocabulary for the medicine chest; reading the…

A report is presented on a two-year project developed by the Cleveland Public Schools to develop and pilot-test a "packaged" curriculum model designed to support both the basic and functional skill development of high school students in each of five major content areas--English, social studies, mathematics, science, and…

In May 1977, the governing bodies of three professional organizations concerned with vocational home economics education (the American Home Economics Association, the American Vocational Association, and the Home Economics Education Association) formed a coalition. Consisting of two representatives of each organization, the coalition has as its…

The relationship between literacy, numeracy, and employability was examined by analyzing data on basic skills that were collected in two of Great Britain's birth cohort studies--the National Child Development Study and the 1970 British Cohort Study. The functional literacy and numeracy skills of samples of 10% of the participants in each study…