One provision of the Ryan Act, a legislative move intended to improve teacher training programs in California, was the requirement that all teacher candidates be examined for competence in both speaking and oral reading. To ascertain how shools of higher education across that state were dealing with this provision, a questionnaire was sent to 38 schools of higher education. Twenty-four schools responded. The questionnaire elicited information about the areas in which candidates were examined; the setting for the examinations; the frequency of exams; the number of students tested at a given time; the department in charge of the exams; compensation for the examiner; alternatives to the exams; and materials used in publicizing, administering, and evaluating the exams. An analysis of the responses revealed that few institutions were meeting, or had knowledge of, the mandated requirements for credential programs and that there has been little guidance in establishing competency levels, with each school developing its own methods of testing the skills deemed important. In addition, speech departments seemed to have little success in controlling the exams. (A list of schools questioned is appended.) (FL)