The term distance education is commonly used to describe courses in which nearly all the interaction between the teacher and student takes place electronically. Electronic communication may take the form of audio, video, e-mail, chat, teleconferencing, and, increasingly, the Internet. Distance education courses range from short term training…

Declining academic standards are possible consequences of (1) competition for students; (2) federal interference; (3) social pressures. Because it takes only one generation of badly managed education to do irreparable societal damage, the greatest service we can render our young people is to give them dependable standards of achievement.…

Requirements for student entrance into teacher education programs in 11 southern states were surveyed on two levels: state requirements and teacher education institution requirements. The states studied were Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. It was found…

This paper is one of a series on strategies for urban school improvement, which examines the interaction between pupil performance and family background. Instructional leadership, instructional emphasis, school climate, and teacher expectation are identified as factors which contribute to major differences in achievement levels among schools.…

This paper describes Miami-Dade Community College's (MDCC's) Academic Alert and Advisement System (AAAS), which uses a powerful and sophisticated computer system called Response System with Variable Prescriptions (RSVP) to provide students with information about their progress in a course midway through the term. The paper begins by outlining the…

This booklet is planned to help teachers, parents, students, and community members to understand concepts and research relating to testing in public schools. Three general uses--public access, accountability, and standards--relate to testing in its broadest conception. The major purposes of tests are discussed, as are some different types of…

The Wisconsin Pupil Assessment Program is a testing service which provides the State of Wisconsin with: (1) a measure of student performance in selected academic areas by developing objective-referenced tests in reading, mathematics, economic understanding, and writing; (2) a comparison of Wisconsin public school students to the rest of the nation…

To assure that students graduating from the institutions of higher education in Georgia possess basic academic literacy, an essay test was devised to provide system-wide information on the status of student competence in the areas of reading and writing and to identify those students who do not attain the expected levels of competence. The…

Teachers in all disciplines must demand good writing from students if they want their writing to improve. When good writing is demanded only in English classes, students develop a double standard for their writing. To make teachers in other departments aware of their responsibility for the quality of student writing, English teachers can take the…

This transcript of a National Radio Broadcast records a discussion of various issues regarding minimum competence in schools. Presenting and analyzing these issues are a number of noted individuals in education (Kenneth Clark, Graham Down, Albert Shanker), critics, school administrators, writers and a psychologist. Areas addressed include:…

Presented in this paper are the results of interviews undertaken in 1977 to determine who supported a new statewide minimum standards bill in New Jersey and why. The views of forty individuals who were selected on the basis of their active involvement in the statewide minimum standards issue, are summarized in statements following each of twelve…

The enthusiasm for competency testing poses a contradiction, for it comes at a time when questions and criticisms are being increasingly raised about tests and their use. In three sections, this paper explores the competency testing movement: 1) main features and basic issues in the competency testing movements; 2) observations on the politics of…

A summary is presented of the findings of a reseach team contracted to conduct a study of the evaluation process of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). Criticism is leveled at the lack of in-depth examination of how well the NCATE standards are being implemented in the education programs of colleges, and a question…

This study of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) examines how NCATE applies its standards and the effect of its process on the quality of programs in professional education. The accreditation procedures are examined and criticism is leveled at the prevalence of an evaluation approach that frequently examines…

Important factors to consider in selecting instructional objectives and in designing objectives-based instruction are listed and discussed. Each factor is stated as a question, so that the factors can be used efficiently in selecting appropriate objectives and in designing effective instruction. The eleven factors are: (1) Is it really important…