Council for Basic Education
COUNCIL FOR BASIC EDUCATION
The Council for Basic Education (CBE) was founded in 1956 by a group of distinguished citizens alarmed at the shift in American education from intellectual development to an emphasis on social development. From its inception CBE set out, as it states in its bylaws, to ensure "that all students without exception receive adequate instruction in the basic intellectual disciplines, especially English, mathematics, science, history, and foreign languages." CBE is a nonprofit educational organization whose primary purpose is to strengthen the teaching and learning of the basic liberal arts subjects in American undergraduate schools. A critical voice for education reform, CBE has complemented its strong advocacy by designing and administering practical programs to foster better teaching and learning.
History
CBE, in the belief that there is an intimate relationship between a healthy democracy and the ideal of excellence in education, from its earliest days published monthly and quarterly periodicals to provide a platform for its advocacy, analysis, and programs. Among its early directors, board members, and supporters were Mortimer Smith, Mary Bingham, Admiral Hyman Rickover, Potter Stewart, and Jacques Barzun. In 1959 James D. Koerner's The Case for Basic Education articulated CBE's ideals about the goals in education and contained what has become a celebrated essay by one of its founding members, Clifton Fadiman, on what he defined as the "generative" power of what is contained in the basic liberal arts. In 1971 CBE published "Inner-City Children Can Be Taught to Read: Four Successful Schools," an article by George Weber, then a director at CBE, which continues to be read by those who are alarmed at the number of illiterate students in the nation's urban schools.
Activities
In addition to speeches, publications, and conferences, CBE's programmatic activities began when it was invited by the National Endowment for the Humanities to administer a program that would allow school teachers to engage in independent study in the humanities during the summertime. From 1983 until 1997, more than 3,000 teachers participated as CBE Fellows, and from 1985 until 1996, CBE conducted Writing to Learn, which taught effective writing across the curriculum, primarily in urban school districts.
Following the National Education Summit in 1989 in Charlottesville, Virginia, which called for strong national standards for education, CBE's historic commitment for high standards established it as a national leader. CBE provided support for the development and implementation of academic standards in a number of states and school districts, including Alaska, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, Chicago, Los Angeles, Cleveland (Ohio), Milwaukee (Wisconsin), Montgomery County (Maryland), and Sacramento and Santa Barbara (both California). In 1995, through its project known as Standards for Excellence in Education (SEE), CBE condensed, consolidated, and edited the national standards in the basic subjects to form a single volume, which continues to be used in many school systems. During that same period of time, CBE was asked to convene a panel to review the then controversial national history standards, which produced a report that became the basis for the revised national history standards.
In addition to its standards and fellowship programs, CBE developed a program, Standards-Based Teacher Education (STEP), to promote students' deep understanding of the subjects they will eventually teach and encourage the colleges of the arts and sciences to join forces with the teacher preparation faculties in requiring a strong academic curriculum for future teachers. STEP is operational on campuses in Maryland, Indiana, Kentucky, Georgia, and Delaware. Schools around the World (SAW) is a program that engages teachers from eight nations to compare student work on common science and mathematics topics and trains teachers in the United States to improve instruction.
In 1997 CBE initiated the Humanities Scholars Fellowship program and the Charter School Fellowship program. In 1999 it collaborated with the Laboratory for Student Success and the Maryland State Department of Education to launch the Mid-Atlantic Regional Teachers' Project (MARTP), a coalition of five states that looks at issues of teacher quality and demand in a regional area. CBE is a partner with the George Washington University and the Institute for Educational Leadership to develop a National Clearinghouse for Comprehensive School Reform. CBE also manages American Education Reaches Out (AERO), a project designed to develop a set of voluntary academic-content standards for the American schools overseas that are supported by the U.S. Department of State.
Legal Status, Governance, and Publications
CBE is incorporated as a 501 (c)(3) organization and is governed by an independent board of directors. The council publishes Basic Education (monthly) and occasional special reports and books.
Assessment of CBE's Influence and Significance
From its beginning, CBE has been known as an independent voice for educational reform, and it is frequently called upon and quoted in national newspapers, periodicals, and on television and radio. Its publications are read by a diverse audience, including professional educators, members of Congress, the U.S. Department of Education, state legislators, and the media, as well as by members of the general public who seek an understanding of educational policies and trends. Both national and international education officials confer regularly with CBE about education policy. As of 2001, CBE had worked in twenty-five states, twenty-eight districts, and eight countries.
See also: School Reform; Standards for Student Learning; Standards Movement in American Education.
bibliography
Barth, Patte, and Mitchell, Ruth. 1992. Smart Start. Golden, CO: North American Press.
Koerner, James D. 1959. The Case for Basic Education. Boston: Little, Brown.
Mitchell, Ruth. 1992. Testing for Learning. New York: Maxwell Macmillan International.
Patton, Susannah, and Holmes, Madelyn, eds. 1988. The Keys to Literacy. Washington, DC: Council for Basic Education.
Pritchard, Ivor. 1998. Good Education: The Virtues of Learning. Norwalk, CT: Judd.
Tyson, Harriet. 1994. Who Will Teach the Children? San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Tyson-Bernstein, Harriet. 1988. A Conspiracy of Good Intentions: America's Textbook Fiasco. Washington, DC: Council for Basic Education.
Weber, George. 1971. "Inner-City Children Can Be Taught to Read: Four Successful Schools." Washington, DC: Council for Basic Education.
Christopher T. Cross
M. RenÉ Islas
Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.
|
Are the Thirty-Nine Articles Christian?(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
Magazine article from: Quadrant; 7/1/2005; ; 391 words
; ...June 2005) is right in saying that "Jensenism" is close to the Anglicanism of the Thirty-Nine Articles of 1562. The question was whether those Articles (for example, XIII: "Works done before the grace of Christ, and the Inspiration...
|
|
Insurmountable Simplicities.(Insurmountable Simplicities: Thirty-nine Philosophical Conundrums)(Brief article)(Book review)
Newspaper article from: Internet Bookwatch; 8/1/2006; 480 words
; ...NY 10023-7015 www.columbiaedu/cu/cup 0231137222 $24.95 1-800-944-8648 Insurmountable Simplicities: Thirty-Nine Philosophical Conundrums presents a veritable smorgasbord of philosophical brain-teasers to be pondered at length...
|
|
News Briefs: Thirty-Nine Execs Graduate From Advanced Leadership Program.(Brief Article)
Magazine article from: Credit Union Journal; 8/15/2005; 700+ words
; MADISON, Wis. -- Thirty-nine credit union executives have completed the Advanced Leadership Program at Harvard Business School hosted by the Credit Union Executives...
|
|
Thirty-Nine Years of Short-Term Memory Loss.(Brief article)(Book review)
Magazine article from: California Bookwatch; 7/1/2009; 400 words
; Thirty-Nine Years of Short-Term Memory Loss Tom Davis Grove Press c/o Grove...New York NY 10003 9780802118806, $24.00 www.groveatlantic.com Thirty-Nine Years of Short-Term Memory Loss: The Early Days of SNL From Someone...
|
|
Family lineage records as a resource for Korean history; a case study of thirty-nine generations of the Sinch'on Kang family (720 A.D. - 1955).(Brief Article)(Book Review)
Magazine article from: Reference & Research Book News; 11/1/2007; 511 words
; 9780773453395 Family lineage records as a resource for Korean history; a case study of thirty-nine generations of the Sinch'on Kang family (720 A.D. - 1955). Kang, Hildi. Edwin Mellen Pr. 2007 269 pages $119.95 Hardcover...
|
|
Thirty-nine endangered one-horned rhinoceros have been found dead over the past 12 months in Royal Chitwan National Park, Nepal. (Nepal).(Brief Article)
Magazine article from: Geographical; 6/1/2002; ; 501 words
; Thirty-nine endangered one-horned rhinoceros have been found dead over the past 12 months in Royal Chitwan...DNPWC), 25 of the rhinos were killed by poachers, two were electrocuted and three poisoned. Nine died of natural causes.
|
|
The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, an organization dedicated to advancing environmental conservation and scientific research around the world as well as in the San Francisco Bay Area, has made a $200 million commitment to California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and University of California over nine years toward development of Thirty-Meter Telescope, the largest telescope in the world.(Donations)(Brief article)
Magazine article from: Los Angeles Business Journal; 12/17/2007; ; 700+ words
; ...million commitment to California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and University of California over nine years toward development of Thirty-Meter Telescope, the largest telescope in the world. The telescope design is being developed by Caltech...
|
|
Universal Truckload Services, Inc. Reports Revenue and Net Income for the Thirteen and Thirty-nine Weeks Ended September 27, 2008.(Financial report)
Newspaper article from: Investment Weekly News; 11/8/2008; 700+ words
; ...from $508.8 million for the thirty-nine weeks ended September 29, 2007...Included in net income for the thirty-nine weeks ended September 27, 2008...Truckload Services, Inc. This article was prepared by Investment Weekly...
|
|
Opinion on Security Council reform offered by thirty-nine more member states as Assembly debate continues; Issues of expansion, use of veto, geographical balance remain central; Large number of countries still to be heard from.
M2 Presswire; 11/17/2000; 700+ words
; ...UN: Opinion on Security Council reform offered by thirty-nine more member states as Assembly debate continues; Issues...elected on the basis of the criteria established in Article 23 of the Charter of the United Nations: their contribution...
|
|
Thirty-nine Hastings Regional Center workers will lose jobs in Nebraska.
Newspaper article from: World Disease Weekly; 10/26/2004; 439 words
; ...moving from being licensed for 126 beds for acute care patients to just 30, with 14 being used to house sex offenders. This article was prepared by World Disease Weekly editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2004, World Disease Weekly via NewsRx...
|
|
Thirty-Nine Articles
Book article from: A Dictionary of World History
Thirty-Nine Articles The set of doctrinal formulae first issued in 1563 and finally adopted by the Anglican Communion...CRANMER and Ridley, were of markedly Protestant character, and they provided the basis of the Thirty-Nine Articles.
|
|
Thirty-nine Articles
Book article from: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
Thirty-nine Articles see creed 5.
|
|
Thirty‐Nine Articles
Book article from: A Dictionary of British History
Thirty‐Nine Articles The articles are those finally agreed by the convocations of the Church of England in 1571. They comprise a set of doctrinal statements which were intended to define the position of the reformed Church of England...
|
|
Articles, Thirty-Nine
Book article from: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
Articles, Thirty-Nine: see THIRTY-NINE ARTICLES .
|
|
thirty
Book article from: The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
thirty Thirty-nine Articles a series of points of doctrine historically accepted as representing...1571, the Articles often allow a wide variety of interpretation. thirty pieces of silver the price for which Judas betrayed Jesus to the...
|
