Traces the roots of outcome-based education in mastery learning. Considers such obstacles as lack of reform preconditions, poor understanding of program features, teacher resistance, teacher domestication, staff mobility, and routinization. (SK)

Mastery learning offers a way for teachers to offer individualized instruction to students and to help more of their students be successful in learning. Practical implications of using the mastery learning approach are described, followed by evidence of its effectiveness. (JDD)

Outcome-based education (OBE), which grew out of the mastery learning movement, calls for determining the skills, knowledge, and habits of mind students need in preparation for life after graduation. The article describes the history and implementation of OBE and provides a list of OBE-based resources. (SM)

Two experiments examined immediate and long-term serial list learning effects for common nouns for 42 fifth graders. Results provide additional evidence that long-term forgetting may be greater for learners who receive mnemonic instruction than for untrained controls, in spite of some immediate enhanced recall. (SLD)

A study examined the effects of mastery training and explicit feedback on the selection behavior of two adults with severe mental retardation across two different vocational task designs. Selection behavior was affected by task efficiency only when efficiency was made more salient by pairing task cues with work incentives. (Contains references.)…

We are all accustomed to periodic summative testing for achievement, but in this chapter the importance of requiring mastery of fundamentals as the baseline for evaluation, regardless of the level of the class involved, is discussed.

Student writing can provide opportunities for reflection on concept mastery for both students and teacher, and the creation of a biology portfolio by each student can allow a teacher to assess the level of understanding achieved by each individual as well as timely correction of conceptual errors. The use of portfolio is an assessment tool, which…

In our previous work documenting benefits of both mastery and performance-approach goals, we assessed achievement goals for a particular type of student (specifically, the college student) in a particular type of classroom environment (specifically, the large introductory lecture). The current study sought to extend our initial work by testing…

Research in goal theory has often relied on the general linear model, ignoring some central assumptions of the theoretical framework under investigation. The purpose of the two studies reported here was to illustrate how the Rasch model can supplement traditional statistical analyses when evaluating the effects of goal orientations on persistence.…

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to explore the impact of a direct reading instruction program, "Reading Mastery (RM)," on literacy performance of students over a five-year period. Initially, 700 students in grades K-3 were randomly selected from six elementary schools to participate in the study; an additional 100…

Objective: Eating disorders, including obesity, are a major public health problem today. Throughout history, body image has been determined by various factors, including politics and media. Exposure to mass media (television, movies, magazines, Internet) is correlated with obesity and negative body image, which may lead to disordered eating. The…

Two staff members working in different preschools received training in the form of instructions, modeling, immediate feedback, and social reinforcement of good performance. Effects of training were assessed with a multiple baseline ABCDCDCD design. Correct use of basic behavioral teaching techniques increased from 16-31% to 92-95% and the rate of…

Findings of a study that investigated the meaning and assessment of student mastery in outcome-based education (OBE) and Coalition of Essential Schools (CES) classrooms are presented in this paper. Classroom observations were conducted during 1991-92 in a total of 12 10th-grade classrooms--of 4 teachers in an OBE school in Johnson City, New York,…

Weekly testing coupled with a mastery performance requirement generated higher student performance in an introductory psychology class. (DE)

It is argued that computer assisted instruction might be an answer to the scheduling problems resulting from the implementation of mastery learning programs in the public schools. The mastery learning model proposed by Carroll and the transformation of this model into a working model by Bloom are described. The difficulty of implementing mastery…