Areas of our country are headed toward significant social and political unrest if education ignores the demographic trends reshaping our schools. This article describes how one teacher training program in South Carolina examined its cultural context, accreditation standards, and course offerings to restructure its curriculum to address cultural…

This study describes the multifaceted components of an assessment process. The paper explains a novel approach in which an advisory council participated in a "fun," hands-on activity to rank-order learning outcomes. The top ranked learning competency, as identified by the advisory council, was the need for students to gain a better…

Presents and analyzes the first year's results of a longitudinal study designed to measure teachers' and principals' stages of concern regarding implementation of a potentially controversial innovation--benchmark testing. Results indicate that the responding 241 teachers and 52 principals were positively disposed and interested in making the…

Examines mathematics courses offered during the 1980s' educational reform in response to increased course requirements and competency testing. Schools increased numbers of courses, but they were primarily low level. Reforms rarely affected middle- and upper-level achievers but significantly affected at-risk students. Increased testing requirements…

The Minimum Requirement Program (MRP) was introduced in Israel in the 1960s but was discontinued. The Parenthesis Program, a 1962 revision of the original program, restricted objectives in the syllabus which were deemed too difficult. Achievement gaps between population subgroups existed in the 1980s when a new MRP was developed. (GDC)

The attorney for the plaintiffs in Debra P. v. Turlington discusses the harmful effects and the arbitrary and unfair nature of minimum competency testing. (Author/WD)

Some of the major concerns regarding competency-based education (CBE) and ways of dealing with them are discussed. CBE is viewed as an opportunity for educators to work for real improvement in the teaching and learning process. (MP)

Discussion of the standards issue in gifted education stresses the value of program models characterized by academic freedom and development of creative expression and urges that lists of standards and high-stakes testing do not replace a rich curriculum. (Contains references.) (DB)

The need for improved accountability has led to more competency-based testing. This provides test makers with the opportunity to have greater impact on the curriculum. Several strategies are suggested for measurement-based instructional improvement. (Author/PN)

Reveals 16 findings of a study on whether high schools using Competency-Based Testing altered their curriculum differently than Non-Competency-Based-Testing Schools and, if so, what factors (e.g., school size, ethnic makeup, or community type) contributed to the differences. Makes seven recommendations based on study findings. (DMM)

Competency testing is only one component of competency-based education (CBE); the others are: educational objectives, instructional process, remedial instruction, and program evaluation/reconceptualization. To implement only competency testing may result in disillusionment with the entire concept of CBE, which seeks to improve programs, not fail…

Nearly all high school students in the Choctaw School System (Mississippi), which operates without a curriculum or a comprehensive evaluation program, function below grade level. Minimum competency evaluation revealed that as many as 50 percent of those entering high school need remedial instruction. There are implications for educational change.…

Larger high schools were surveyed about curricular changes planned or made in response to the Competency Testing and Back to Basics movements. Questions concerned changes in basic skills emphasis, graduation requirements, and competency test usage in mathematics, reading, and writing. Results are given for each questionnaire item. (SJL)

A brief overview of trends in assessment in psychology degrees is presented. Both natural evolutionary changes in education and external, professionally-based forces have exerted considerable influence upon both the psychology curriculum and the methods of assessment to which psychology students have been subjected. (MLW)

After reviewing some problems raised by Minimum Competency Testing (MCT), the authors present ideas on the role of the State Education Agencies in defining minimum competencies. Among the items discussed are the implementation time of MCT, curricular implications, the impact on children, the financing of remediation, and state versus local control…