With support from the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB), a community of biochemistry and molecular biology (BMB) scientist-educators has developed and administered an assessment instrument designed to evaluate student competence across four core concept and skill areas fundamental to BMB. The four areas encompass…

The implicit definition of competence and the inferential chain that links the standard-setting process to the decision outcomes of the method are considered for two classes of standard-setting procedures: those involving data-free judgments of items and those involving data-based judgment of items. The major underlying assumptions of competence…

The growth in the minimum competency testing movement stems not only from a concern with what students are getting from their schooling, but also from a desire to make sure that the public gets a return on its investment in education. (Author/RLV)

Opinionnaires were sent to one person in each of the 50 states who was knowledgeable about minimum competency testing. Results showed significant differences in opinion, but there was agreement that tests should be used to improve instruction and identify students needing remedial help. (JHZ)

This review of recent research on minimum competency testing requirements focuses on the impact of such requirements on school curricula and on the processes of selecting which competencies are to be tested, determining cutoff scores, and ensuring test validity and reliability. (JBM)

Content, instructional, and curricular validity, as related to certification tests, are examined. All three deal with content validity but the domain differs among the the three. Certification tests must have instructional validity, i.e., the test must be valid both with respect to the domain used to define the minimum competencies and the…

Examines the negative outcomes of the mandatory external primary school-leaving certificate examination administered to Irish sixth-graders, 1943-67. Concludes that the Irish experience should warn American educators of the possible dangers of using minimum competency tests as the sole or primary determinant of decisions concerning grade-to-grade…

The introduction of training packages has focused attention on the quality of assessment in the Australian vocational education and training (VET) sector on the quality of assessment. For the process of mutual recognition under the Australian Recognition Framework (ARF) to work effectively, there needs to be confidence in assessment decisions made…

Three areas of concern for those considering competency-based graduation requirements are discussed. First, what is involved in implementing a competency-based graduation requirement? The first tasks are the specification of performance standards and the performance skill areas. Then, appropriate certification procedures can be selected, and their…