This study investigates student teachers' active learning experiences in teacher education (TE) in Finnish and Turkish contexts and attempts to determine how active learning methods' impact student teachers' professional competences. Student teachers (N = 728) assessed their active learning experiences and the professional competences they…

Every developmental education teacher would probably agree that motivation to complete assignments is one of the biggest obstacles to getting students to practice necessary skills. Short stories and other types of recreational reading might help motivate students, but they need to learn specific skills to help them cope with college textbook…

Many educators think that the end result of minimum competency programs has been the lowering of the quality of learning by most students. It appears that once minimum competencies are held up as the expected level of attainment for all students, there is a tendency to aim all instruction toward those competencies to the exclusion of a wider range…

An annotated bibliography concerning proficiency development in schools identifies sources which focus on the identification and development of basic skills. Topics explored include: (1) issues and definition in proficiency development; (2) assessing the state of proficiency development; and (3) instructional techniques and programs. (JN)

A project combined precision teaching techniques and a flashcard approach known as SAFMEDS, with 4 students with learning disabilities or behavior disorders, age 14-18. Project results determined that the techniques provided students with necessary skills to pass the school district's minimum competency test in the area of local, state, and…

Developers of high stakes criterion-referenced tests are urged to formulate test tasks so that efficient instruction can promote student mastery of the domain. Time-on-task has been promoted by instructional psychologists as preferable to test teaching. (DWH)

This sourcebook describes specific sources of potential utility to those responsible for designing, installing, and operating competency-based education (CBE) programs. Four major types of resources are described--available materials from which selections may be made; products that provide guidelines for selecting from available materials;…

The essential meaninglessness of the phrase "Minimum Competency" is discussed and it is placed in the larger context of "The Basics." It is argued that "The Basics" as taught in preparation for minimum competency tests (MCT) are not basic either in the sense of being essential skills or enabling skills. Using research findings and common sense,…

The minimum competency movement's rationale can be reduced to four problem-laden propositions: the state through its schools owes every child an education; a high school graduate should be at least minimally competent; schools should be held accountable for seeing to it that every child meets this standard; and to assure this, every child must be…

Designed for directors and staff members in bilingual vocational instructor training programs to be funded by the United States Department of Education, this monograph is a guide to competencies needed by bilingual vocational instructors. Chapter l discusses the project which developed the monograph. Chapter 2, Using the Monograph in Bilingual…

The seven articles in this journal issue deal with the politics and practice of teaching writing. The articles focus on the following topics: (1) efforts to establish educational accountability, including competency based teacher education, licensing of teachers, and minimum competency testing; (2) methods for teaching students to use intuition in…

This study measured the extent to which 111 student teachers, enrolled as seniors in an early childhood and elementary education program, demonstrated mastery of 51 role competencies in two seven-week student teaching experiences. The competencies were in the areas of planning, teaching techniques, and personal and professional attributes. Each…

This newsletter reports on the activities of Equipped for the Future (EFF), which is a National Institute for Literacy (NIFL) initiative that develops content standards to ensure that every adult can gain the knowledge and skills needed to fulfill real-world responsibilities as workers, parents, and citizens. A message from the NIFL…