Productive changes in schooling throughout the 1980s are contingent on emphasis being placed on school effectiveness rather than on curriculum adjustments. Today's curriculum sprawl, caused by the state and federal legislatures' penchant for creating courses to cure newly-emerging social ills, must not deplete resources that should be directed…

Fear of poor teaching and low national test scores have spawned a back to basics movement and a shift from the use of tests as predictors and models to that of assessment and achievement. This movement may have positive impact on the teaching of English, which previously has not lent itself well to standardized testing. Although many English…

A series of six fact sheets giving basic information on specific subjects of interest to those working with handicapped and gifted children. The fact sheets, developed by the ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) Clearinghouse on Handicapped and Gifted Children during fiscal year 1978, are designed in a question/answer format and have…

The contractual competency program is designed to develop and assess the understanding and ability to apply the basic concepts of physical activity. This is done through a program of self-assessment and the subsequent planning and implementation of an individualized program of physical activities and experiences. (JD)

Examines each of the four arguments aginst the North Carolina competency testing program: that the test will result in denial of equal protection of the law, in a violation of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and in a denial of both procedural and substantive due process. (Author/IRT)

The minimum competency movement is a national response to concern about a supposed decline in standards in the nation's schools. This article addresses some vital questions about the movement that have been left unanswered. (Author/RK)

Describes problems with standardized testing and urges teachers to educate the public about weaknesses in statewide minimum competency testing. (DD)

Describes the competency-based approach to reading programs used in Maryland. (MKM)

Back to basics fundamentalism, the minimal competency movement, and competency testing are simplistic approaches to complex educational problems. (DD)

Describes the tenets of the back to basics movement, especially as it applies to minimum competency testing, and points out that it creates an environment which impedes consequential learning. (DD)

Argues for the necessity of evaluation and analysis of attempts at education reform. Uses data gathered on minimum competency testing and career ladders to illustrate ways in which policy intervention may affect teachers' academic success with students and their sense of teaching efficacy and commitment. (PS)

Proposals for a British national curriculum and national assessment procedures are discussed in terms of a timetable for implementation, the foundation subjects, relevance of subjects to children's lives, attainment targets and testing, and children with special educational needs. (DB)

Four assumptions of the current reform movement in teacher education are critiqued: (1) that teacher education should be at the graduate level; (2) that teacher education should be more relevant; (3) that higher admission standards and increased testing are good; and (4) that higher standards will be mean higher salaries. (MT)

The Minimum Requirement Program (MRP) was introduced in Israel in the 1960s but was discontinued. The Parenthesis Program, a 1962 revision of the original program, restricted objectives in the syllabus which were deemed too difficult. Achievement gaps between population subgroups existed in the 1980s when a new MRP was developed. (GDC)

This article discusses the range of validation studies conducted in Kansas in examining the validity of the National Teachers' Examination as a certification test for that state. It is argued that the validation of certification tests calls for a wider range of studies than typically are undertaken. (JAZ)