Statewide information about the performance of Massachusetts' grade 12 students in listening and speaking is presented for the 1979-80 school year. A total of 2,207 students were tested by listening to material on a tape recording and then answering multiple-choice questions about what they heard. The performance of students in listening is…

The Texas Assessment of Basic Skills (TABS) is described. Specifications are listed for TABS objectives in mathematics reading, and writing for grades 3, 5 and exit level (grades 6-12). It is intended that sections of the publication will be distributed to curriculum planners and appropriate teachers to assist in their determination of whether…

This report on the Pennsylvania statewide assessment program answers two questions: (1) what are minimum competencies?; and (2) for whom are competencies really minimal? (Author/MP)

A description of the program through which the state of Michigan has assessed the minimal competencies of its school pupils is given. (JT)

The Kansas Minimum Competency Testing Program is designed to provide the public, the Kansas State Board of Education, and the Kansas legislature with descriptive profiles of student performance relative to minimum competencies in reading and mathematics. Results of the 1982-83 assessment are presented in this report. Included are overall test…

Instructional guidelines for grade 3 objectives being tested by the Texas Assessment of Basic Skills (TABS) are presented. The guidelines are designed to be helpful to primary grade teachers in clarifying expectations regarding the TABS tests. Looking at the grade 3 basic skill descriptions will indicate what students in kindergarten through grade…

An analysis of the assessment results and general findings of a statewide assessment in reading conducted in Hawaii in 1975 is presented in this report. Chapters provide a perspective on the assessment program, the preparation of the statewide assessment, the methodology used, the procedures for data analysis, and the results and findings of…

Focusing on the problems of assessing the speaking skills of secondary school students, this paper provides one example of how those problems were addressed in the Massachusetts speaking assessment. The paper identifies four requirements for measures of speaking skills: (1) feasibility, (2) reliability, (3) validity, and (4) freedom from bias. The…

The nature of the listening and speaking instruments used for the Massachusetts assessment of those skills is discussed in this paper. Information concerning the design and administration of the assessment and data analysis is included. Copies of the instruments are appended. (FL)

In response to the Utah State Board of Education's new high school graduation requirements, five task forces of adult basic education teachers were charged with the identification of functional competencies for adult students in the areas of reading, writing, speaking, listening, and computation, and with the development of curricular materials…

The learning objectives for writing skills contained in this volume are congruent with Texas law. These objectives and the measurement specifications are provided for teachers and test developers involved with the preparation of the Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS) tests. Beginning with the 1985-86 school year, the TEAMS…

The study reports achievement data over four school years (1978-82) from standardized tests administered to approximately one million students per year in the state of Indiana. The reports show the percent of students performing in each of three bands of stanines--1,2,3; 4,5,6; 7,8,9. Representative grades from primary, intermediate,…

This paper considers three areas related to the testing of minimum knowledge and skills: public policy, the nature of higher-order thinking and selected aspects of educational measurement. The discussion of public policy issues centers around an apparent dichotomy of egalitarianism and elitism in public education, schooling and the public economy,…

This is the final report of an annual Mississippi study, conducted for the first time in February of 1984, which provides baseline data for measuring improvement of school practices in key arenas. Its primary goals were to identify the extent to which children master one level of course work before being advanced to the next level, to determine…

The mathematics learning objectives contained in this volume and the measurement specifications are congruent with Texas law. These objectives are provided for teachers and test developers involved with the preparation of the Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS) tests. Beginning with the 1985-86 school year, the TEAMS tests will…