Written primarily for litigators, shows how minimum competency tests that are used to deny high school diplomas to disproportionate numbers of minority students can be successfully challenged under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. (Author/MK)

Holds that current competency tests for teachers do not predict actual ability to teach and cause educational, social and cultural problems by exacerbating teacher shortages and reducing the number of minority teachers. Calls for development of valid measures of teacher competencies and training and support of minority teachers. (GC)

Five legal questions are discussed in the conflict between the move to institute minimum competency testing (MCT) for students and the effort to protect the educational rights of handicapped children. The threshold question is whether handicapped children should be subject to the same MCT requirements as the non-handicapped. (PS)

In 1978, Florida was sued by 11 Black students on the grounds that its functional literacy requirement violated due process. This article summarizes the arguments in the case. The initial decision to retain the test after a four-year delay was appealed, but was subsequently upheld by the State's Appeals Court. (CJM)

The effectiveness of a model for determining a minimal cut-off score for criterion-referenced tests was examined. The model, based upon techniques presented originally by Nedelsky and by Angoff, was first used in conjunction with a multiple choice test developed for use in certifying school counselors in Georgia. A "knowledge estimation panel" was…

Legal issues of minimum competency testing derive from federal and state constitutional, statutory, and regulatory provisions, and from common law. Constitutional provisions for equal protection, due process, and freedom of belief and privacy, are primarily federal; education provisions are state mandated. Only four court cases have directly…