A survey of institutions of higher education revealed that special education courses offered to preservice education majors were limited. (JD)

Television has not delivered mass educational gains for large numbers of students, reports one director of development projects at the Maryland Center for Public Broadcasting. Experiences with the British Open University, the University of Mid-America, and public television are discussed. (LBH)

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

A case is made for, and three examples are given of the use of, "participation evaluation" in classroom, college, and state education program evaluation. This approach is based on feedback from program participants. (MDR)

Little systematic research has been conducted concerning the effectiveness of off-campus educational programs. The project described here compared students in three categories: those studying abroad, those studying off-campus in the United States, and those who remained on their home campus. Suggests that a rethinking of existing programs is…

The author notes the assessment requirements of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 and discusses the value to educators of understanding handicapped students' needs in planning their instruction and assessment. (MF)

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 author describes his experience with an educational audit at Laredo Junior College in Texas and says that the audit is a fast, inexpensive way of evaluating vocational programs that provides immediate feedback. (MF)

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)

Concludes that students who had previously experienced failure in traditional school settings and had poor attitudes toward school could make significant academic achievement in an alternative school program and could develop more positive feelings about school. (Author/RL)

Last spring a number of educational organizations were asked by the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, to comment on the recently completed OECD Report. Here is the comment prepared by the CEA. (Editor)

Describes the National Assessment of Educational Progress program, its nationwide testing program, past results of the program, and desired results of the 1976-77 testing currently underway. (SL) Aspect of National Assessment (NAEP) dealt with in this document: Results (Interpretation).

Compares the sociology teaching experience in a community college with that in a university. The comparison focuses on the problems of maintaining an identity as a sociologist and the boundaries of the discipline in the two settings. (Author/DB)

The author questions the extent to which educators have relied on "relevance" and learner participation in objective-setting in the past decade. He describes a useful approach to learner-oriented evaluation in which content relevance was not judged by participants until after they had been exposed to it. (MF)

Essays written by 173 Yale freshmen were studied and related to the following data: (1) ratings of an essay on six different categories of writing; (2) responses of the student to a questionnaire about past writing and current courses; (3) grades in three basic freshmen English courses; and (4) pre-college test scores. Implications for educational…