The reactions of local educators (teachers, principals, and central office personnel) to the initiation of statewide mandatory minimum competency tests and the effects of implementing these testing programs were studied. Variations among school districts within two states were considered. Items from a survey of individual educators were combined…

This newsletter is part of an effort to improve mastery of the Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS). Responses of teachers to a survey in the Spring of 1987 concerning their beliefs and facts about the TEAMS are reported, along with clarifying facts about this criterion referenced test. Teaching to the TEAMS is advisable because…

Results of this survey indicate that three important ways to improve high school student achievement are to increase daily attendance, improve study skills, and increase required courses. Two-thirds of the school district administrators responding rated increasing attendance as highly important. Almost half strongly favored increasing required…

The Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS), a criterion-referenced test, was mandated by the Texas legislature in 1984 to be instituted beginning with the school year 1985-86. This is the first report of TEAMS, which replaces the formerly used Texas Assessment of Basic Skills (TABS), by the Austin Independent School District…

The purpose of this paper is to report on the processes followed and the modifications made to the Alabama state minimum competency testing program for exceptional students, as well as to provide results for exceptional students tested through spring 1985. A committee of lay citizens and professional educators identified basic competencies in…

Past research on the effects of Minimum Competency Tests (MCT) on teaching and learning is reviewed, and the large database of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is used to shed more light on these effects. There seems to be little doubt that MCT, together with associated changes in instructional methods, has produced some…

Issues surrounding the statewide competency testing of at-risk students are discussed. Sanctions, such as negative evaluations of educational programs associated with such tests, used to fall most heavily on schools and staff, but tests are increasingly becoming prerequisites for promotion and graduation, with increasing impact on students.…

The Knoxville City Schools (KCS) Proficiency Project ran from fall 1984 to spring 1987 in three Knoxville, Tennessee, middle schools and three high schools. Students in three of the eight KCS high schools were scoring consistently lower than pupils in the other schools on the grade 9 State Proficiency Test, especially in math (M) and language arts…

This report presents the results of a survey of Louisiana and North Carolina college students and education officials to ascertain their perceptions regarding the use of minimum competency testing programs and to determine the effects of such programs on black students. Questionnaire and interview data were collected between September 1985 and…

There is no current evidence that Minimum Competency Testing (MCT) used to deny high school diplomas has enhanced equal educational opportunities for minority students. Test results, largely indicate that MCT requirements impact disproportionately on black students. Black students' scores may reflect a long history of racial discrimination in the…

Focusing on formal testing programs involving academic achievement, the assessment of student performance in 28 large city school districts is described. In addition to presenting how districts have designed testing programs to meet the variety in the students they serve, this report also discussed test management, work with test publishers, test…

Student test scores are increasingly used to judge the competence of the educational enterprise. Exaggeration of scores is the result of directing attention away from the individual student achievement to the average scores of schools, districts, and states. Implications and recommendations are discussed. (BJV)

Examines the nature of competency testing reforms through a multisite investigation of local school districts and states. Argues that competency tests and standards function more as symbolic and political gestures than as instrumental reforms. (FMW)

This article addresses an important problem that faces educators in assessing students' competence levels in learned tasks. Data from 165 students from Massachusetts and Minnesota in the United States are used to examine the validity of five assessment modes (multiple choice test, scenario, portfolio, self-assessment and supervisor rating) in…

During the 1982-83 school year the Spencerport (New York) Central School District began a comprehensive project to study the effective schools research and its implications at all levels of a suburban school system. A leadership planning team (consisting of teachers, principals, and district personnel) participated in a series of workshops and…