The ageing labour force, and concerns with productivity and social inclusion have driven foundation skills policy development in Australia and internationally (SCOTESE 2012; Newton 2016). However, little existing literature focusses on the relationships between foundation skills, community education providers and regional location. Thus, this…

Defined as language, literacy and numeracy, and employability skills, foundation skills are essential for individuals to participate in further education, employment and wider society. Community education providers, such as community colleges, neighbourhood houses, faith-based organisations and adult learning associations, are key providers of…

Students live in an information and knowledge management economy in which the dissemination and analysis of information requires intellectual, technical and interpersonal skills. As a direct response to higher education's challenge to produce more engineers, scientists, and business professionals, universities have increased the numbers of…

In spring 1984, a study was conducted at Sacramento City College (SCC) to explore whether students' reading and study skills improved after participation in an "adjunct" skills course (i.e., a team-taught course which presents reading, writing, and study skills education within the context of a regular college course). The study focused on 38…

Several years ago, the English faculty at the Schuylkill Campus of Pennsylvania State University entered into a cooperative venture with the campus learning center to use computer-assisted instruction in the basic rules of grammar as part of the remedial English course. The software used for the lab is the Houghton Mifflin English Microlab…

This is a final evaluation report for three Title VII programs conducted in the Seattle, Washington, school district in 1977. The programs reviewed include: (1) Basic Skills Impact Model (BSIM), an effort to provide basic skills remediation to underachieving students; (2) Minimum Competencies Assurance Program (MinCAP), a remedial program designed…

The 1981 Basic Skills Summer School Program in Montgomery County, Maryland public schools provided intensive remedial instruction in reading, writing, and mathematics to pupils who scored very low on national standardized achievement tests. An evaluation of the program's effects found that (1) over all, participating students in grades 4-8 scored…

Drawing from a review of the literature and a study of 6,000 urban community college students, assesses whether students in college reading and writing courses achieve ability gains in these areas and whether their abilities improve as students advance through the curriculum. (DMM)

Outcome data are presented for students who participated in the 1985-1986 College Discovery and Development (CDD) program, which is affiliated with the City University of New York, and provides basic skills instruction in reading, writing, and/or mathematics. Information is included on the participants rate; reading, writing, and mathematics test…

A study was conducted at Miami-Dade Community College (MDCC) to examine the separate and combined effects of entering basic skills levels and curriculum-related variables (i.e., grades in required English and math courses, the length of time between the course and the test, and the number of credits in developmental courses) in predicting student…

A language skills program was developed at Lake City Community College to increase remedial students' chances of academic success in college courses. The program concentrates first on developing students' speaking and listening skills and then proceeds to more complex reading and writing skills. The program provides 16 weeks of developmental study…

An evaluation is presented of the remedial programs in each of New Jersey's 32 public colleges and universities. The academic outcome of full-time students entering in fall 1984 is tracked over four semesters. This analysis combines measures of the colleges' administrative efficiency in testing and enrolling students in needed remedial courses,…

Rough Rock Demonstration School, serving 500 K-12 students on the Navajo Reservation, began its 4-year basic skills program in 1980 with emphasis on math and reading. The project called for impacting K-12 by the 4th year, with target grades for the first year being 1, 5, and 9, thus reaching primary, middle, and high school areas simultaneously.…

Basic skills programs are now almost a given in the curricula of postsecondary institutions; however, the key area of concern of basic skills researchers is, Are they working? The answer is two fold: yes, those involved in and committed to the programs are working very hard, and no, the programs themselves are not working very well. There is a…

A desire for greater accountability in the basic skills areas in the Wichita (Kansas) Public Schools led the board of education to establish a 58-member task force to study the situation. This document comprises the final reports of subcommittees in six areas of investigation: reading, mathematics, social studies, written composition, vocational…