Dr. Charles Pine responds to questions concerning the definition of good teaching; his personal instructional approaches; New Jersey's basic skills testing program for college freshmen; ways to improve math instruction; and the New Jersey Algebra Project, a three-year curriculum revision effort for seventh, eighth, and ninth grades. (DMM)

Tests like the Ohio Graduation Test are part of what has become known as the "standards-based" reform movement in education. Simply put, they allow states to measure whether or not students are learning according to whatever set of standards, benchmarks and indicators are adopted by that state. They also help meet, in part, the reporting…

This report on competency testing in vocational and technical education is a follow-up to previous reports published in 1988 and 1990. Section 1 summarizes the data. It describes competency testing in the 13 states that currently mandate competency testing and identifies the 11 states in which voluntary testing is occurring, the 9 states either…

A general evaluation design was developed to examine the effectiveness of a computer-based, multimedia simulation test on California smog check mechanics. The simulation test operated on an Apple Macintosh IIci, with a single touchscreen color monitor controlling a videodisc player; it had three parts: introduction-tutorial-help, data, and test.…

To determine the competency level required of a one-year graduate from barber school and to obtain information that would enable vocational-technical schools to plan their curriculum to better meet student barber needs, a survey was conducted in Wisconsin of 629 barber shop managers, 75 journeymen, and 200 apprentices. Picked at random, these…

State regulation of occupational licensing is becoming the subject of nationwide debate. The issues being questioned and suggestions for their solutions include the following: (1) Is it necessary to regulate occupations, and, if it is, to what extent? Regulation is required only if its need is well-documented, and it should be kept to the minimum…

Procedures for establishing the cutoff scores for the occupational competency exams administered to individuals graduating from Pennsylvania vocational teacher education programs were reviewed. A total of 595 National Occupational Competency Testing Institute (NOCTI) Exams administered in 43 occupations or trades at three colleges between the…

This case study is part of a broader research project examining state policies and governance structures that span K-12 and postsecondary education. Oregon has been a leader in K-16 reform through its development of the Proficiency-based Admission Standards System (PASS), which articulated postsecondary expectations and linked them with K-12…

The preservice licensure and preparation of career and technical education (CTE) teachers was examined to determine whether changes in CTE teacher licensure requirements are necessary. Two overarching missions of CTE were identified. The first was traditional/tech prep (leading to employment). The second was a more general combination of education…