Accountability in education was implemented to improve poor learning outcomes by documenting and monitoring learning achievement results. In this process, external standardized achievement tests have played a central role, being the mechanism most frequently used to measure learning outcomes. However, several decades after its initial…

Presents a "Decision Tree" process for structuring team decision making and problem solving about specific student behavioral goals. The Decision Tree involves a sequence of questions/decisions that can be answered in "yes/no" terms. Questions address reasonableness of the goal, time factors, importance of the goal, responsibilities, safety,…

Describes two functions of behavior problems (escape and attention seeking), functional assessment procedures, and treatment implications of these procedures. Seeks to stimulate interest in the potential relevance and advantages of adopting the functional conceptualization of behavior problems to assess and treat behavior problems of typically…

The curriculum guide outlines behavioral objectives, learning activities, evaluation methods, and resources to help K-12 classroom teachers develop and implement social studies programs. Major objectives are to extend knowledge, develop skills to make effective use of this knowledge, and to facilitate the socialization process. The first section…

Student behavior problems have been found to be the most significant and frequently addressed concern of rural educators. A model was developed in response to the needs of rural educators in West Virginia for planning, documenting, implementing, and monitoring behavior plans for students with emotional and behavior problems. The first step…

A teacher's use of appealing physical education activities to develop other educational skills and to encourage behavior change in learning impaired children is described. The teacher makes up a behavior plan with each child in the homeroom; positive behavior earns breaks, free play, and the right to use gym equipment and to participate in…

This paper 1) discusses the problems encountered in preparing objectives for instructional programs; 2) describes an informal research project in which seven instructional designers working on the same project attempted to determine agreement on an objective; and 3) suggests how to prepare objectives so that difficulties can be minimized. One…

Describes collaborative behavioral contracting as applied to the reintegration of students with disabilities, using as an example the case of a 13-year old who had been in a self-contained program for students with emotional and/or behavioral disorders. Covers the development of a behavior management plan, writing the collaborative behavioral…

Suggests that behavioral objectives and minimum competency testing can be effective for monitoring elementary students' mastery of basic skills, but to carry this system into the upper grades and other subject areas risks stultifying learning and inhibiting the free atmosphere that complex thinking and social education require. (SJL)

A K-12 social studies curriculum organized around concept teaching and skill development is presented in five sections. Section 1 contains general information on philosophy and program goals. Section 2, subdivided into 7 parts, outlines the courses of study for grades K-6. Presented in chart form, each grade level description outlines major…

The behavioristic approach to education is appropriate only to areas of skill development. To design mathematics curricula from the point of view of behaviorism is to miss the essence of mathematics as a discipline. Mathematics curricula should include strong emphasis on problem solving. (SD)

The conference is divided into three sections: (1) constructing examinations so that they will be valid measures of important functions; (2) defining the nature of the verbal factor as used in aptitude test batteries; and (3) establishing the type of norms most useful and important for the interpretation of achievement test scores. Papers are…

For each student to achieve optimally, a quality reading program must provide for individual differences. To guide students to learn as much as possible individually, selected philosophies of reading instruction may be used. These include: (1) experimentalism with its stress placed upon students reading to solve problems; (2) measurably stated…

This document is one of six which set forth the mathematics components of the Project SEARCH Articulated Curriculum developed by the Utica (New York) City School District. Each volume deals with a broad area of mathematics and lists objectives related to that area for all grades from K through 12. Each objective listed is described first in…

The author argues for more awareness and exploration of individual student differences and handicaps. He recounts individual characteristics which caused several of his students to fail a task in particular ways. (MN)