Mastery Learning: Theory and Practice

"One of the most powerful ideas beginning to shape educational views and practices is mastery learning. It assumes that all, or almost all, students can learn well and suggests explicit classroom procedures whereby all (up to 95 per cent) can achieve to high levels. Few recent ideas have produced more dramatic positive effects on student learning or generated more interest and school-based research than mastery learning. This book brings together for the first time the basic mastery ideas and the relevant supporting research. The volume consists of two major parts. In Part One, a collection of articles focuses on both the theory behind mastery learning and the operating procedures required to implement an effective mastery strategy in a course, subject, or even an entire curriculum. Part Two presents an extensive annotated bibliography of mastery learning research. Studies bearing on the major mastery learning variables and those describing various successful mastery strategies have been abstracted. This arrangement is designed so that teachers, administrators, curriculum-makers, and researchers can draw some important implications from the data presented, pose some major questions, and suggest possible future research and new strategies." SBN: 03-086073-3