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This report summarizes the activities of the first year of a 2-year Lilly Endowment, Inc. sponsored project, which funded nine Indiana school corporations to select and field test current microcomputer software, and presents 53 critical software evaluations based on information gathered from teachers and students. Information provided by the report includes: (1) a statistical description of the field testing; (2) a summary of the evaluations; (3) a list of programs by general subject areas; (4) a list of programs by grade level; (5) a list of programs by hardware format used; (6) the evaluations (listed alphabetically by title); (7) recommendations of sources for computer software; (8) a sample agenda for a workshop on computer program utilization; and (9) a report on the need for centralized control of selection, evaluation, and acquisition of microcomputer software. Each software program evaluation lists the title, intended audience and curriculum, instruction method, hardware format, producer and/or distributor, stated program objectives, teacher evaluation, and student evaluation. Also included are sample microcomputer software evaluation forms for teachers and students. Summary notes on the evaluations indicate that most programs evaluated by the teachers received a "B" level, and very few were graded in the lowest levels of "D" or "F"; the most common student criticism was that the program was too easy. Statements and drawings from students' evaluation forms are used as illustrations throughout the report. (JB)

1Boy Crusoe

By Allan Eric

Also published as" A Yankee Crusoe" . A 15 year old hard working and studious farm boy finds the lure of adventure on the seas as a merchant seaman more than he can resist. This is his story. " I was born in a little town in the State of Maine, near the close of the Civil War. My boyhood life did not differ materially from that of the average farmer's son in the remote country districts of New England--except, perhaps, that I read more and thought more. Hard work on the rugged soil, two terms each year in the little yellow country schoolhouse, a day's fishing now and then filled the early years of my life full to over-flowing. " What he gets is enough excitement and adventure to overflow his wildest dreams. How he experiences disaster and uses his wits and knowledge to overcome every problem makes for a great read. - Summary by Phil Chenevert