Teacher competency tests are being used more frequently to assess the knowledge and skills of prospective teachers. Educational policymakers face the dilemma of setting passing standards for these tests which will satisfy the desire for meaningful quality standards for teachers while meeting the necessity for making available a reasonable number…

The following papers are presented in this publication: (1) "The Technology of Teacher-Competency Testing" (Cordell Wynn); (2) "The Black Public School Teacher: Alabama's Endangered Species" (Charlena Bray); (3) "Early Identification and Preparation for Successful Entry into Teacher Education Programs" (M. Carolyn…

This study addresses the baseline assessment of pupil composing competencies at age 11+. It asks whether it might be possible for these to be evaluated by the use of a whole-class listening task. A rationale for this proposal is discussed. Results from a pilot study which administered an original audiated puzzle-task to a cohort of pupils,…

Increased public concern about students' basic skill levels and about the need for minimum-competency tests has placed part of the responsibility for reading-skills development on content-area teachers. This annotated bibliography is a resource guide for content-area teachers who want to integrate reading-skills instruction with their subject…

This report is an indepth study of the competency movement. It probes current methods of constructing, administering, evaluating, and explaining competency tests; it gives detailed accounts of specific state and local programs; it presents case histories that can enable the administrator and educator to benefit from the experience of others; and…

This report was compiled to serve as a reference on assessments of achievement in pre-college mathematics. Patterns of mathematical assessments are discussed in terms of the history and nature of assessments of achievement, the relationship between assessment and minimum competency testing, and the current status of state assessment programs.…

Employment characteristics reported 30 months after graduation by over 1,000 respondents to the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS) were related to high school achievement on the Student Test Book of the NLS. Although respondents did not take a minimum competency test, experts agreed that the Student Test Book would…

Current minimum competency testing (MCT) practices noted in the literature through Fall, 1979 are reviewed, and guidance for establishing suitable programs for handicapped students is provided. The provisions of The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 and Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973 are analyzed in terms…

Focusing on the competency based education movement (CBE), this chapter is one of seven sections of a report that examines the assessment of occupational competence. The chapter begins by reviewing the prominent CBE programs, their institutional objectives, and how competencies are identified and assessed. In particular, the degree to which…

The hypothesis that role-playing scenarios specifying full rhetorical contexts were a superior means of eliciting valid writing samples for the purpose of assessing compositional skills of prospective Florida teachers was tested. In addition, topics for use on the initial administrations of the Florida Teacher Competency Examination's writing…

Findings are reported based on an overall assessment of the impact of the North Carolina mandated competency test on eleventh graders of the class of 1980. The first part of the study examines the extent to which students who failed the first test showed improvement on subsequent testing. The second part studied those students who failed the…

The development of the City University of New York's writing assessment test is discussed in this paper. Its relationship to the total freshman skills assessment program, which also involves the assessment of minimal competencies in mathematics and reading, is related. The discussion of the test includes descriptions of the test development…

Factors are discussed which affect the role played by faculty in implementing legislation mandating that each of the Florida community colleges define the skills that must be mastered by students before transferring to a baccalaureate program. The report first presents a rationale for this mandate, based on the disproportionately high number of…

During the 1980s, the issues that emerge concerning the public and federal interest in education will include the extent of education to be provided at public expense; the relative share of that fiscal burden to be borne by local, state, and federal revenue sources; public funds for nonpublic schools; equal access to education for all students;…

This guide is designed to help parents gain a better understanding of testing and its role in the education of their children. It answers the following questions: (1) What are standardized tests? (2) What do standardized test scores tell me about my child? (3) How are standardized test scores used? (4) What are the limitations of standardized…