The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) gathers information about national levels of education achievement that helps explain and interpret other research, policy efforts, and the phenomena of unanticipated changes in American education. (Author) Primary type of information provided by report: Program Description (Program Goals)…

The minimum competency testing issue raises basic questions--who controls public education and what should be taught? (Author)

This report is part of an overall regional needs assessment effort undertaken by Research by Better schools and it summarizes test results from state education agencies in the District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Performance trends over the past several years were analyzed. Major findings indicate that: (1)…

Proposals for a British national curriculum and national assessment procedures are discussed in terms of a timetable for implementation, the foundation subjects, relevance of subjects to children's lives, attainment targets and testing, and children with special educational needs. (DB)

This article attempts to provide British educators, who face a similar trend, with a synthesis of some major developments in the Accountability in Education movement in the United States. (Author/SJL)

The purpose of this conference was to discuss the implications on the teaching and learning of mathematics of the system of objectives and assessment instruments that must be generated in order to meet state directives in Illinois. General overall concerns included: (1) the classroom teacher and district administrators may view the testing as…

Sections 51215-51217 of California's Educational Code require that school districts in that state provide remedial instruction to students who do not pass district-developed proficiency tests. As a result of this requirement, school districts have had to create remedial courses for some 100,000 students who did not pass one or more tests in…

The issue of minimal competency testing for high school graduation and grade to grade promotion as a method of emphasizing the teaching of basic skills and guaranteeing that the high school diploma will "mean something" has received widespread legislative attention in recent years. In this report, data pertaining to the enforcement of minimal…

Three statewide assessment programs in Connecticut developed in response to the State Board of Education's goals and objectives are described. These include: (1) the Connecticut Assessment of Educational Progress; (2) the Educational Evaluation and Remedial Assessment Program; and (3) the Connecticut Mastery Testing Program.

This report reviews the current status, empirical findings, theoretical issues, and practical considerations related to state-level minimum competency testing programs. It finds that, although two-thirds of current testing programs now use direct writing prompts to assess writing achievement, essentially all programs rely on multiple choice tests…

This report presents Austin Independent School District 1984 test results on the Texas Assessment of Basics Skills (TABS). It was administered to all third, fifth and ninth grade students and to high school students not meeting ninth grade state-set mastery criteria, the minimum competency requirement for graduation. Results are presented as…

The 1986 Comprehensive Assessment Report on the Pearl River (New York) Public School District describes the district's 1,807-student population (grades K through 12), the community, and its schools. Tables provide data on: (1) students' performance on standardized tests, including the California Achievement/Aptitude Tests; New York State Pupil…

The competencies, item specifications, and sample items for the reading measures devised for the Wisconsin Competency-Based Testing Program are provided in this booklet. Following lists of reading competencies to be tested for grades three, seven, and ten, the booklet presents guidelines used in preparing the tests and test items; general item…

The consequences of the minimum competency testing movement may bring into question the basic assumptions, goals, and expectations of our school system. The intended use of these tests is the assessment of students; the unintended consequence may be the assessment of the school system. There are two ways in which schools may fail in the context of…

This report describes the procedures followed in scoring the October 1978 Florida Minimal Writing Production Skills Assessment and reports the results of that assessment. The assessment was conducted on a sample of Florida public school students in grades 3, 5, 8, and 11. Sections include descriptions of the rating scale and scorer's guide as well…