This report is a brief analysis of survey results from 43 states and 2 non-state jurisdictions regarding the status of their implementation of a new provision in the 1997 Amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act that requires each state to establish performance goals and indicators for children with disabilities. The survey…

The Butte College Tech Prep Consortium (TPC), in Oroville, California, is a cooperative effort of secondary and postsecondary schools, local businesses, and community organizations to develop and implement Tech Prep opportunities in the area. The TPC has developed a competency-based, comprehensive tech prep curriculum model that is applicable to…

Past research on the effects of Minimum Competency Tests (MCT) on teaching and learning is reviewed, and the large database of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is used to shed more light on these effects. There seems to be little doubt that MCT, together with associated changes in instructional methods, has produced some…

In 1992, the following competencies were proposed as key employment-related key competencies for vocational education students in Australia: collecting, analyzing, and organizing information; communicating ideas and information; planning and organizing activities; working with others in teams; using mathematical ideas and techniques; solving…

The intent of this document is to provide local school districts with a guide to current knowledge in the visual arts, such that by using the guide, districts should be able to develop their own curriculum documents tailored to the needs of their students. The basic premise of the guide is that each student in the state of Arizona should have…

This guide provides instructors of business computer programming with a curriculum correlated directly to the office education essential elements mandated by the Texas Education Agency. Introductory materials include a scope and sequence and lists of suggested textbooks, resource books, software, audiovisuals, and magazines. Eleven units are…

This study evaluated an instructional model entitled "Integrating Computer Software into the Functional Mathematics Curriculum: A Diagnostic Approach," which was intended to prepare middle-school special education students for the Maryland Functional Mathematics Test. The model consisted of eight major components: pretests/posttests, diagnostic…

This study was conducted to determine the degree of variance which exists among different groups of evaluators relative to their assessments of the teaching competencies demonstrated by preservice education students. Participants in the study were 75 undergraduates certified to teach by Washburn University's (Kansas) teacher preparation program…

A curriculum was developed for 18 at-risk students at the fourth grade level, integrating state minimum skills for math and communication. The goal was to teach basic skills and critical thinking skills (CTS), and to see an increase in motivation, self-esteem, and student attendance through a hands-on project of building a dollhouse and its…

In 1979, Act 187, known now as the Educator Improvement Act, was mandated by the legislature of the State of South Carolina. One tenet of Act 187 was the establishment of an Educator Improvement Task Force to develop an instrument which could effectively measure minimal teaching competencies. To help in the content and design of the instrument,…

Although the results of minimum competency tests need to be interpreted with caution, data on the Texas Assessment of Basic Skills (TABS) for 1980-82 clearly indicate the inadequate results of remedial programs for minority students in Texas. Secondary analysis of the data shows that overall performance on exit level math and reading tests…

The document provides a process model for a competency-based adult high school diploma program. Following an overview, the document is arranged into nine chapters. Chapter 1 focuses on starting such a program and gives suggestions for conducting needs assessment, setting up a planning group, implementing adult basic education awareness activities,…

Issues surrounding the statewide competency testing of at-risk students are discussed. Sanctions, such as negative evaluations of educational programs associated with such tests, used to fall most heavily on schools and staff, but tests are increasingly becoming prerequisites for promotion and graduation, with increasing impact on students.…

Because historically black institutions have provided the major share of non-white teachers to the nation's schools, this monograph was prepared to illuminate some of the proactive initiatives which have taken place in four of these black colleges' teacher education programs: (1) Bethune-Cookman College in Florida; (2) Norfolk State University in…

In 1990, a study was conducted to compare the College Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST) passing rates of St. Petersburg Junior College (SPJC) students with those of other Florida community college students and students from state universities. The SPJC samples consisted of 756 students who took the CLAST for the first time in October 1989 and…