A judicial decision on issues raised by state diploma denial found that competency testing of Florida's high school students as a graduation requirement violated due process by not providing students with adequate notice. The court prescribed some degree of curricular validity to determine whether the test covered materials actually taught.…

Proficiency, or competency, testing is a recent attempt to meet the public demand for accountability. But instead of placing the responsibility on the educational organization, competency testing appears to be a sophisticated approach to holding students and teachers accountable. Although some form of student assessment is needed, it is not yet…

The authors critique legal arguments which have been used by attorneys, especially Merle S. McClung of the Center for Law and Education, in opposing minimum competency testing programs in the schools. The arguments mainly concern the 14th Amendment, racial discrimination, and the denial of due process. (SJL)

The implementation of any competency testing program must take into consideration the due process clause and the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Examples of the violation of the due process clause would be to implement a testing program without adequate notice or to cover material not taught. Instructional validity must be…

Minimum competency testing has been mandated in one form or another by local school boards or by legislatures in 36 states. Court consideration of such testing has focused on the intent and the consequences of the testing. Where racial segregation in education has existed, courts have argued that even several years after desegregation, testing can…

Competency-based education programs could raise three kinds of legal issues: claims under the due process clause, claims of discrimination under the equal protection clause, and claims of negligence. (Author/JM)

The author considers the legality of minimum competency testing diploma requirements applied to the handicapped in light of (1) their constitutional and statutory rights to nondiscriminatory treatment, (2) their statutory right to an appropriate education, and (3) their constitutional right to substantive and procedural due process. (Author/SSH)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has had a competency-based vocational instructor approval process for more than two and one-half decades. Perhaps the most important element in this process has been the vocational competency testing. Although some say that Massachusetts is out of step, others feel that Massachusetts has a well-established testing…

This policy paper outlines the impact that recent Title I legislation, which requires states to hold all students to the "same expectations," will have on state and local district evaluation plans, especially as regards students with disabilities. It notes the conflict between two educational goals: that of full inclusion of students…

Legal issues of minimum competency testing derive from federal and state constitutional, statutory, and regulatory provisions, and from common law. Constitutional provisions for equal protection, due process, and freedom of belief and privacy, are primarily federal; education provisions are state mandated. Only four court cases have directly…

Handicapped students are now protected by specific statutes in addition to the broad constitutional protection offered all students. As the number of related statutes, regulations, and case law decisions grew, assimilation became increasingly difficult. This publication attempts to meet educators' need for a succinct guide in special education…

This book is a compilation of 17 papers presented at the 1979 convention of the National Organization on Legal Problems of Education. The authors are, for the most part, attorneys or educators specializing in school law. Most of the papers introduce a topic currently raising legal problems across the country and discuss the pertinent facts of and…

A wide variety of contemporary legal issues, involving all levels of public and private education, are addressed in the 20 separate chapters comprising this volume. The titles and authors of the chapters are as follows: (1) Due Process of Law: Loudermill v. Cleveland Board of Education (Hooker); (2) Schools, Technology and the Law (Helm); (3)…