An overview is presented of the New Jersey Department of Education's activities in response to the following mandates: (1) statewide minimum standards be established for communication/computation skills; (2) students be tested annually in these areas to determine progress; and (3) remediation be provided to all students whose performance is below state standards. Also included are the results of the Minimum Basic Skills tests administered. Results from the first three years of Minimum Basic Skills testing show a significantly larger percentage of students (all grades, subjects) met the statewide standards in 1979-80 than in the previous years of testing; increases were most dramatic in elementary grade reading and mathematics; gains for secondary school students (grades 9-11) were less pronounced than the elementary grades, but also significant; generally, students obtained higher Minimum Basic Skills test scores in 1980; and a smaller percentage of students in urban centers and low socioeconomic status groups scored at or above state standards than in suburban and affluent areas. Detailed indexes and appendices are included. (Author/GK)