The articles in this journal issue present a rationale and methods for using elements of the humanities to teach remedial reading and writing. The titles of the articles and their authors are as follows: (1) "The Humanities and Basic Skills Project" (Nan Dougherty); (2) "The Humanities and Basic Skills" (Robert L. Horn); (3) "Beyond Fragmentation;…

Based on the experiences of an administrator of a small Arizona school district, the paper addresses significant forces within special education in the past decade and future challenges. Past forces included: a drive for services by parents and others who defined handicapped children by their particular defects, thus forcing a categorical approach…

As part of a study conducted by the Learning Assessment Retention Consortium to develop a student outcomes evaluation model, data were collected on the characteristics and skill levels of 7,500 remedial writing students from 29 community colleges in Fall 1986. Three methods of data collection were used: pre-testing of reading comprehension,…

In 1984 the Edgewood and South San Antonio Independent School Districts implemented the Valued Youth Partnership Program (VYP). VYP identifies Hispanic junior high and high school students at high risk of dropping out and gives them an opportunity to serve as tutors of younger children. As they tutor, the older students also learn basic skills,…

The Growth in Academic Performance Project, the major component of the Cincinnati Public Schools' ECIA (Education Consolidation and Improvement Act) Chapter 1 Program, operated supplementary reading classes in 51 public and 26 nonpublic schools involving 4,891 elementary school students during 1984-85. The four objectives established for that…

The purpose of this practicum was to train 20 elementary teachers to do therapeutic music activities designed specifically to promote social skills in elementary school children. A five- part seminar series was presented over a 10-month period. The goals of the practicum were (1) to improve the teachers' knowledge of intervention techniques and…

The 39 Illinois public community college districts currently offer 3,467 individual curricula within 258 discrete occupational fields. Within the past 18 months, slightly more curricula have been withdrawn then added, with the office occupations category showing a net gain of 36 curricula and the categories of home economics and protective…

One of a series of Parallel Alternative Strategies for Students (PASS) packages developed to provide Florida teachers with modified appproaches for presenting content courses to mainstreamed exceptional students, this guide was designed as a supplementary text and workbook for a high school English course. The guide is divided into six units of…

A study was conducted at Piedmont Virginia Community College (PVCC) to analyze the college's assessment of students' reading and writing skills, investigate the relationship between assessment scores and grades in specific content courses, establish the relationship between developmental course completion and content course grades, and measure…

A study compared the effectiveness of four instructional procedures designed to teach four strategies: summarizing, question generating, clarifying, and predicting. The four procedures were (1) reciprocal teaching/corrective feedback, which requires that initially the teacher do a considerable amount of instruction about and modeling of the four…

Southern College of Technology (SCT) is the only institution in the University of Georgia system to offer a developmental physics course to give students with no previous physics coursework the conceptual background and vocabulary needed to complete SCT's physics requirements. The eight sections of the developmental course focus on: (1) literal…

This study examined the effectiveness of computer assisted instruction (CAI) in improving the mathematics achievement and academic self-confidence of black students in an Education Entrance Examination (EEE) seminar at a predominantly black college in South Carolina. Subjects were 49 students participating in the seminar, 43% black males and 47%…

In 1986, a study of remedial programs in Texas community colleges was conducted to determine the range of current practices and to assess the outcomes achieved. Each campus was sent a detailed self-study guide focusing on policies and practices related to assessment and placement, descriptive and evaluative information, policies related to course…

Evaluations of two Austin (Texas) Independent School District (AISD) programs are contained in this report: (1) The School-Community Guidance Center (SCGC); and (2) The Transitional Academic Program (TAP). SCGC is a program serving incorrigible and delinquent students at two locations: the F. R. Rice Secondary School and the Travis County Juvenile…

A sabbatical project was undertaken to determine the major issues facing community colleges and to determine the status of Cecil Community College (Maryland) relative to some of the leading community colleges in the eastern United States. The project consisted of 1- to 2-day visits to 12 colleges in addition to a review of relevant literature.…