Texas, which has helped shape key tenets of the standards and accountability movement, is on the brink of revamping the way it assesses high school students for graduation. Instead of testing knowledge that students accumulate over several years, the state would test what students learn in each course. A bill passed by the Texas Senate last month…

This report offers advice on the issues to be considered and the steps to be taken when implementing a high school graduation test. The research was conducted, specifically, to address problems with Mississippi's high school exit test. An external panel, developed by Southeastern Regional Vision for Education (SERVE), reviewed data obtained…

This booklet serves as an advisory reference to available software programs that address specific objectives for students in grades 1-8 in all three Basic Skills Assessment Program (BSAP) curriculum areas--language arts, mathematics, and science. A description of the basic skills objectives precede each curriculum section. Information provided for…

This paper compares and contrasts minimum competency testing and transferable skills in order to identify the important questions and issues to be considered by educational planners in developing programs intended to prepare students to meet the demands of both work and life. Each of the seven sections addresses a specific question related to…

Mastery of sixteen "life skills" tasks will be a Seattle Public Schools graduation requirement beginning in 1981. Five forms of the Minimum Competencies Performance Test, which will be used to measure mastery of those tasks, are presently being developed and field tested. This report presents the results of the analysis of the first…

Presents arguments by Robert Lowe and Matthew Arnold on the 19th century British "Payment by Results" Plan, whereby schools received funds for students who passed minimal competency tests. Emphasizes that the Victorian experience produced acrimonious teachers with low morale and encourages contemporary minimal testing advocates not to…

This study investigates the effectiveness of a two-plus-two university center teacher education program. In this program, the entire curriculum is delivered on community college campuses; community college faculty members deliver the general education coursework, and university faculty members deliver coursework in the teacher education program…

The development, maintenance, and integration of multicultural competence into all aspects of psychologists' work is critical to ethical practice in an increasingly diverse society. Measurement of multicultural competency is critical to investigating the development of multicultural competence and the effectiveness of multicultural competency…

Developed as part of the Arkansas Minimum Performance Testing Program (MPT), these item specifications relate to the third grade reading minimum performance test. There is one item specification for each instructional objective included in the MPT. Item specifications are intended to provide an overview of the general content and format of test…

The packet includes a manual describing the Michigan Life Role Competencies (MLRC), a set of appropriate expectations for high school graduates, and an adapted version of those competencies for special education students. MLRC addresses four major areas in functional adult living: (1) employability and occupational skills; (2) personal and family…

The Board of Education of the School District of the City of Saginaw requested the Department of Evaluation Services to review the literature relative to competency testing, especially for the elementary grades. This review on competency testing programs and competency based education (CBE) covers several areas. The emphasis on educational…

The controversy over minimum competency assessment has special implications for the handicapped, since federal law requires that handicapped students must be afforded equal educational opportunities. Problems will arise in establishing criteria of competence and in administering minimum competency programs for students with learning disabilities.…

An annotated bibliography concerning proficiency development in schools identifies sources which focus on the identification and development of basic skills. Topics explored include: (1) issues and definition in proficiency development; (2) assessing the state of proficiency development; and (3) instructional techniques and programs. (JN)

Researchers reanalyzed the original Adult Performance Level Test survey data for the test's validity and reliability, and they concluded that (1) the test is not content valid because it assumes that functional competence can be logically defined and adult success accurately measured; and (2) the test is a valid measure of verbal, writing, and…

Lists 15 criteria for evaluating the procedures to be used in the assessment of student listening and speaking skills. Prefaces the list with statements concerning predictability and the relationships among the language arts. (RL)