The New Jersey Minimum Basic Skills (MBS) testing program is the result of 1976 legislation. The major purpose, aside from establishing a uniform standard of pupil proficiency, has been to provide local districts information on individual pupil proficiency and identify program strengths and weaknesses. To better meet the needs of local districts,…

An overview and critique, with special reference to independent schools, of the minimum competency testing movement as a solution to the political and educational furor over declining student achievement. (SJL)

In fall 1992, the Iowa Department of Education began pilot tests of the Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment System (CASAS), an assessment system evaluating reading, math, and problem solving in a life skills context for adult remedial programs. This document provides reports from the nine community colleges that served as test sites, describing…

The effect of a basic competency education program on the achievement of high, average, and low-achieving students was examined for the Alabama Basic Competency Education program (BCE). California Achievement Tests scores in reading, mathematics, and language were examined for 3 years prior to initiation of the BCE program and for 3 years…

This study of competency-based vocational education (CBVE) in Pennsylvania was guided by evaluation questions in eight areas: overall, current status of CBVE; implementation of the state Bureau of Vocational Education's (BVE) model of CBVE; characteristics of other CBVE models implemented in Pennsylvania; Pennsylvania Department of Education…

This report on the state level use and application of the 1971-1977 Adult Performance Level (APL) study contains two reports: "Competencies for Adult Basic Education and Diploma Programs: A Summary of Studies and Cross-Reference of Results." by Joan Keller Fischer and "The APL Study: Science, Dissemination, and the Nature of Adult…

An Arkansas project developed a model practical nurse program that offers a nontraditional approach to instruction. Computer-assisted and computer-managed instruction was integrated into the competency-based curriculum, and the model was to be replicated in other licensed practical nurse (LPN) programs. The project was divided into six phases:…

Designed to develop competency-based adult education (CBAE) as an alternative adult education delivery system, the Illinois CBAE Project provided a series of three workshops and a consultation for 48 Illinois adult education practitioners. The workshops consisted of an awareness workshop, a module development workshop, and an evaluation and…

The New Jersey Adult Reading Project was a state project involving more than 500 New Jersey adult educators from 98 adult education programs around the state. The primary objective of the project was to develop a competency-based adult reading management system that would allow program completers to achieve the following goals: continue their…

This report presents findings of a nationwide study of student transitions from secondary to postsecondary education that is based on a survey of state higher education agencies and site visits to six states. The report finds a growing role for state higher education agencies in setting minimum college admissions requirements, coexistence of…

In preparation for the mandatory administration of the New Jersey High School Proficiency Test (HSPT) that was to begin with ninth graders in 1986, a pilot program was conducted with ninth graders who had done poorly on the HSPT during its second, nonmandatory administration in 1985. Approximately 125 students were selected (25 in each of five…

The Florida Extern Leadership Training Program for Local Administrators of Vocational Education was conceived to meet the need for trained and certified leadership personnel in vocational education at the local level throughout Florida. During the third year of the project's operation, project staff implemented a training program to meet state…

This report highlights the Washington State work force training system's initiatives from July 1995 to June 1996 in the following areas: Performance Management and Accountability, School-to-Work Transition, competency-based education, linking training with economic development, public awareness, and one-stop career center system/collection of…

A project was conducted in Pennsylvania to determine what changes might improve the effectiveness of the State's adult basic education (ABE) program. Northcutt's construct of functional competency adult performance level (APL) and Mezirow's program evaluation model provided the basis for the project's two components: APL assessment and program…

Three evaluations analyzed program characteristics and participant results in work force education and coordination in Washington State. The Employment Security Department's evaluation of Job Training Partnership Act Titles II and III looked for an association between participant characteristics and the type of training they receive and between…