Greenville Technical College's Educational Development Team (EDT), as part of the process of individualizing instruction, works with instructors in designing and implementing competency-based instruction and the concept of mastery learning, selecting or designing alternate learning modes, and improving the evaluation of both teaching and learning.…

This article proposes that an a priori approach for developing counselor competencies can be improved by using sixteen steps based on principles from business and industrial management. The result is a proper foundation for the establishment of valid school counselor competencies on which the competency-based preparation program can be built.…

Examination of results of several cases in which students failed minimum competency tests evokes criticism of the way the testing program is carried out by the state. (JD)

A physical education program designed to develop individual competency not only in physical activities but also in increased knowledge on the subject of health and fitness is described. (JD)

The article reviews the characteristics generally identified as common to competency-based education and offers planning suggestions for teachers: (1) prestated and published performance objectives, (2) accountability, (3) personalized and individualized instruction, and (4) delivery systems, which provide several modes of instruction pertinent to…

Some definitions of the term "basic education" are presented in terms of minimum competency, educational accountability, and basic science education. (BB)

The faculty of arts and sciences at Harvard University has begun debate on the first major overhaul of its undergraduate curriculum in more than 30 years. Discusses Dean Henry Rosovsky's proposal to abolish the "general education" and to replace it with a considerably more organized "core curriculum". (Author/RK)

Costly state assessment programs present a need for re-appraisal of their function and resulting impact on state programs and individual educational environments. (RAO)

The word "back" in back to the basics means endless study of language analysis and memorization of factual bits to the neglect of affective concerns and broader cognitive objectives. (DD)

Examines the movement for minimal competencies in the schools. (IRT)

Presents an overview of the revitalized emphasis on individualized instruction and competency based education as a means extending existing on-campus college and university programs to adult students in an off-campus format, and discusses current operating models of individualized instruction. (Author)

A professor of adult and community college education at North Carolina State University, Malcolm Knowles, expresses his views on adult learning in interview form. According to Knowles inservice management development and industrial training programs, as well as public school and college programs, require a process structure of learning…

State-level assessment is necessary so that parents, communities, and the legislature can know the cost and the benefits of the educational system as a whole. (Author/MLF)

Discusses the impact of competency-based approaches on curriculum design in the health sciences. Student assessment is viewed as the locus of competency based approaches from which curriculum development will follow. (VT)

The IDECC system of competency-based instruction in distributive education, a curriculum ready for use by teachers, is described with regard to its advantages, its basic component--the Learning Activity Package (LAP), and its development by an eleven-state consortium--Interstate Distributive Education Curriculum Consortium (IDECC). (JT)