                       SKILL-ORIENTED ALGEBRA, VERSION IV
                                     and
                           MATHEMATICS, BASIC SKILLS

                                Historical Note


               Educational software is rarely commercially successful;
          serious stuff; almost never so.  For this reason and because
          I am a man of advanced years, I have decided to place "Skill-
          Oriented Algebra," (SOA), and "Mathematics, Basic Skills,"
          (MBS), on line as freeware.  Both program groups produce
          printed exercises designed for direct use by classroom
          students.  Teachers may use photo-copies to supply exercises
          for an entire class.  Answers are provided and reflect accep-
          ted, in-class formats.


                Both packages have been very useful.  "Skill-Oriented
          Algebra," grew out of the repeated failure on my part and on
          the part of my associates, to teach elementary algebra to normal,
          public high school students.  In each school -- and I have taught
          in many -- only a small handful of students could absorb the
          text-based course.  It is a problem that is substantially
          universal, and until now, knew of no rational solution.

               I am a retired military officer with a background in
          engineering and contract management for development and test
          programs.  When a problem exists, I automatically make the
          attempt at analysis first, followed by a proposed rectifica-
          tion, and then test.  I determined that modern public school
          students are unprepared for the concepts and techniques of
          algebra.  Most could not even perform satisfactorily in
          elementary school arithmetic.  I proposed to tackle both
          problems simultaneously with a course specifically designed for
          our "substandard" students.

               Course content was pared to the essentials and sequenced
          in such a manner as to avoid overwhelming students at the start;
          then gradually -- in degrees -- "upgrade" their arithmetic skills
          while instructing the concepts and drilling the techniques of
          algebra.  Four years of test followed in a minority populated
          public school in suburban Phoenix, Arizona.  This proved -- or
          at least, demonstrated conclusively -- the efficacy of the
          proposed "solution."

               "Mathematics, Basic Skills," (MBS), grew out of a similar
          situation encountered during a brief sojourn in a small junior
          high school.  This school was a "low socio-economic unit" and
          rated 29th in basic arithmetic skills in a district containing
          twenty-nine schools.  My first year there, another school
          joined the district, after which we were rated 30th.  It was an
          insupportable situation.  

               Fortunately, there was a benefactor; Honeywell Corporation
          of Phoenix, Arizona.  Recognizing that we had a programmer
          aboard, they contributed equipment, communications, and central
          processor time on their new series 2,000 computer.


               A few abortive attempts were made at "interaction" programs,
          after which MBS was developed and through the use of Honeywell-
          provided Western Union teletypes and Ditto facsimile, a program
          of directed drill and practice was employed to upgrade our stu-
          dents.  Using the techniques of Operant Psychology, involving
          black stars and gold stars and eventually candy; there was
          produced a student body so adept at arithmetic and elementary
          mathematics, that they rose in that one year to the virtual top
          of the district.  Standardized tests produced no final "victor;"
          but our school rated "second" in one category and "fifth" in the
          one other.  I don't believe more than one or two other schools
          had overall ratings as high as ours.

               Over the years, both SOA and MBS have undergone many
          modifications as students and associates offered suggestions
          and improvements.  Programming progressed from Time Share Basic
          through Commodore Business Systems programming, to "Apple" and
          now, finally, to IBM PC & Compatibles.

                                               A. D'ATTORE
                                               Compuserve
                                               75222, 1254

                               Alfred D'Attore
                               1300 South Farm View Drive
                               Apartment B-21
                               Dover, Delaware 19904

