"A laboratory, a studio, and a forum, a place where the rational and the romantic can exist side by side, is the way the author describes the social studies classroom he wishes to see evolve. His provocative article discusses concrete ways of educating prospective teachers to become a vital part of this setting. (Editor)

In setting performance standards for schoolchildren, the school system not only announces what students must know; it specifies what it presumes it can teach. Tests of competency should be merely a monitoring device to indicate whether the system is meeting its obligation to students. (Author)

To investigate the status of foreign language studies at the middle school and high school levels in Tennessee, 1000 questionnaires were sent to Tennessee Foreign Language Association members and to foreign language departments. Information obtained from the 156 valid responses emphasized funding as the critical issue in foreign language programs.…

This article examines the program planning implications of specific advantages and disadvantages to competency testing which have been cited by lawyers and educators. Part of a theme issue on student assessment. (SJL)

Describes admissions procedures, graduation requirements, curriculum, and achievement of students in the Science/Math Mini-School Program, housed at F.W. Ballou Senior High School in Washington, D.C. The program is especially designed for talented minority students who show promise in the fields of science and technology. (Author/GC)

Two years after the implementation of Florida's Educational Accountability Act, which mandates statewide competency testing in reading, writing, and arithmetic, the author cites the advantages of the program, refutes criticisms of it and reviews the challenge to it in Federal District court, the Debra P. V. Turlington case. (SJL)

Discusses issues and implication underlying the graduation competency testing movement in the social studies. Presents advantages and disadvantages of commercially and locally developed tests and outlines steps in selecting competencies and preparing tests. (KC)

Reports results of a study of the characteristics, educational background, and academic achievement of 3,948 transfer students to the University of Missouri. Findings are reported in terms of student demographics and previous higher education experience, characteristics of transfer students who graduated, interaction effects in the graduate group,…

Identifies inservice teacher recommendations for incorporating technology competency requirements into preservice teacher education programs based on survey results from 287 elementary, middle, and secondary school teachers. Analysis of the data, including rankings of competencies, supports the importance of technology training for teacher…

Two theme articles are included. "Countdown to Graduation" (Pautler) presents a 6-month plan to help high school seniors make a smooth transition to the next phase of their lives. "Vendor's Viewpoint--Developing Career Behaviors" (Shadrin) urges educators to teach students how to be successful in the workplace in addition to the "what" of work.…

Asserting that graduation and stopout are "competing" or correlated events and that they often should be modeled as such, this study demonstrated that factors affecting timely graduation (e.g., financial aid) often have time-varying effects, and that ignoring these time-varying effects can lead to spurious conclusions that may result in…

The Young Adult Education Program in Arlington Heights (Illinois) offers high school credit classes in the evening to serve at-risk students who have left the regular day school. Students earn a diploma from the high school in their attendance area. On a bare-bones budget, the program graduates approximately 65 percent of its enrolled students.…

The authors report results from a survey of all state supervisors of technology education. Information is included on the numbers of technology teachers in each state, certification issues, vacancies in technology education, and salaries. Data were also collected on student enrollments, funding, and curriculum issues. (CH)

A discussion of vocational education in Swedish high schools covers the vocational education system's structure within and outside secondary schools, enrollment and employment patterns, curriculum and work experience options, curriculum content and quality, and issues of current concern. (MSE)