This study presents the second of four reports of the results of the 1970-71 National Assessment of Literature. The educational attainments of nine-year-olds, thirteen-year-olds, seventeen-year-olds, and adults (ages 26-35) were surveyed according to the subjects' ability to become engaged in, find meanings in, and evaluate a work of literature.…

Schools need more incentives to begin to produce more "thoughtfulness." As it is now they respond by "getting by" because they are only held accountable for minimal levels of achievement. Policymakers need to develop a different system of acccountability. (MD)

To address the problem of high risk youth, policy makers must know the following: (1) trend data on risk categories; (2) what schools should do in relationship to what other agencies and institutions should do; (3) factors contributing to the success of present programs; and (4) results of past policies on behavior of risk groups. (PS)

The director of the Center for the Study of the Teaching Profession at The Rand Corporation discusses the impact of testing on teacher education, teacher practices, teacher candidates in historically black colleges, teacher supply and demand, testing instruments, and the future of teaching. (Author/MT)

A description of what it is like to move back and forth between the academic and the political worlds is presented. Ten "professor/legislators" and one ex-professor/governor are interviewed. Their responses indicate that the campus and the legislature are not inimical environments. (MLW)

Offers personal reflections on the testing of writing, concluding that teachers make wide and effective use of a variety of test types. (FL)

Reports the results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in the areas of reading, writing, and literature. (JL)

Makes eleven suggestions about how to develop an ideal instrument for the evaluation of student writing. (RL)

Analyzes public school bureaucracy and ways to reform institutions into learning communities that value shared knowledge and learning experiences. Describes how a bureaucratic organizational structure impairs learning. Proposes the "learning organization" in which adults learn alongside students, planning is decentralized, families are…

The Policy and the Higher Literacies project reviewed state and local "thoughtfulness" mandates, interviewed appropriate administrators, and visited schools and classrooms boasting higher literacy activities. While most interviewees believed in commercial test validity, those engaged in higher literacy activities largely ignored such…

Discusses the literacy program of a charter school in Denver, Colorado, which focuses on the basic literacy of reading and writing spoken, computer, and mathematical languages, along with the languages of music, dance, and the visual arts. The curriculum also emphasizes higher-level scientific, civic, and cultural literacy. (MDM)

Four steps toward changing educational policy and politics are (1) create a coherent community conversation about the new literacies; (2) change the level and kind of discourse in schools and districts; (3) conduct literacy audits; and (4) study problems that arise from this process and address them. (SK)

Rexford Brown, Thomas D. Horn, James Sledd, and Rudolph C. Troike discuss the most significant language arts developments of the 1970s, their hopes for the 1980s, and references of value to elementary language arts teachers. (DD)

The new literacy goes beyond the requirements for a high school diploma, including capacities once demanded only of a privileged, college-bound elite. This book concerns this new, higher literacy and whether current educational restructuring efforts are likely to foster such literacy in all students. The study used informal interviewing techniques…

This section of the 1970-1971 National Assessment of Educational Progress presents summary data for the responses to literature assessment. Data is presented in graph and tabular form and discussed in detail for the educational attainments of nine year olds, thirteen year olds, seventeen year olds, and adults (ages 26-35). The data is also…