Summarizes and supports the position of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development Project Committee, which favors a state-provided educational framework of goals, funding, and monitoring technical assistance, and the establishment by local school districts of their own instructional programs that meet individual needs rather than…

The author presents an overview of the Competency-Based Education (CBE) movement, including the impetus for it and its advantages and disadvantages. (SJL)

Concludes that literature can serve the basic skills by providing a very powerful incentive for their mastery. (MKM)

Investigates the viability of a negligence action for inadequate public school education. Explores the problems inherent in proving each element of negligence, the available defense, and the potential consequences for plaintiffs, defendants, and educational policy-making that would flow from judicial recognition of a cause of action. Journal…

A solution is offered to problems associated with the inequality in the manipulability of probabilities of classification errors of masters versus nonmasters, based on competency test results. Eschewing the typical arbitrary establishment of observed-score standards below 100 percent, the solution incorporates a self-correction of wrong answers.…

Claims the data from the Ohio Proficiency Test is rich but hard to use. Describes a process for analyzing the data to make it more manageable. Provides suggestions for using the results to make data-driven decisions. (NH)

The literature on competency-based human resource (HR) management provides a strong case for moving from a jobs-based to a competency-based approach to human resources. There is agreement in the literature (Dubois, Rothwell, Stern, & Kemp, 2004; Lucia & Lepsinger, 1999) on the benefits of using competencies throughout HR systems and impact…

In this article, the author presents the story of Hope--an education student who, despite many successes, was consistently unable to pass the reading portion of a screening test (Praxis I) that is a prerequisite to student teaching in her home state of Georgia. Hope's only trouble was the fact that she was a slow reader due to attention deficit…

Designed for policymakers and programs planners involved with the topic of teacher testing, this publication outlines issues involved in teacher testing and describes state-level activities in this area. A question-and-answer section provides general information on major types of teacher tests, prevalence of teacher tests, problems addressed by…

Information on competency testing for teacher certification is reprinted exactly from four pages (70-71, 129-130) of a National Center for Education Statistics Publication (volume I of "The Condition of Education: Elementary and Secondary Education 1988," edited by J. D. Stern.) As of the fall of 1987, 45 states had enacted competency testing…

Beginning with the fall semester, 1983, California required all community colleges to test their students on minimal writing competency before being granted an Associate in Arts or Associate in Science degree. This guide explains the ways in which students at Bakersfield College may complete this requirement (i.e., by initial placement into…

In response to recent concern about geographical illiteracy, a survey designed to determine specific knowledge about the locations of bodies of water, countries, and cities was distributed to 158 elementary education majors at the University of South Dakota (Vermillion). The results of the survey revealed: (1) only 65 percent correctly located the…

The document provides information related to statewide testing of exceptional students for the North Carolina Annual, Minimum Skills Diagnostic, End-of-Course, and Competency Testing programs. Guidelines for the appropriate use of alternative test formats, aids, or a different test environment with disabled students are given. Included are rules…

This report describes the status of competency testing in vocational and technical education in the United States in 1988-89. Data were derived from a mailed questionnaire sent to State Liaison Representatives of the National Network for Curriculum Coordination in Vocational-Technical Education. Of a total of 69 surveys, 39 responses were returned…

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)…