Barbara Jordan served as the hearing officer for three-day adversary evaluation hearings about the pros and cons of minimum competency testing (MCT). This report is the complete transcript of the second day of proceedings. The pro team, lead by James Popham, began by presenting representatives of four states (Florida, California, Texas, and…

The soundness of the existing system of examination at the high school level in India is assessed with particular reference to the English section. The purposes to be served by the examination are discussed and the shortcomings of the system are described. The test and the passing procedure is found inferior to those systems which utilize…

Much of what has developed in the testing of reading harkens back to the days of the "Cult of Efficiency" movement in education that can be largely attributed to Frederick Winslow Taylor. Taylor spent most of his productive years studying time and motion in an attempt to streamline industrial production so that people could work as…

When designing competency based education programs to meet state requirements, California educators would do well to select only a small number of highly significant competencies per basic skill area, for which they can devise on-target instruction and valid competency measures. (SJL)

Asserts that currently accepted teacher competency tests are not valid and reliable measures of those qualities essential to effective teaching. Presents criteria that should be met by a valid assessment approach and, beyond competency assessment, stresses the need to improve the environment in which teachers function and students attempt to…

Standardized achievement tests are often misused as indicators of a school's quality or effectiveness relative to other schools. This is an incorrect use because it ignores variation among schools in student abilities, family support of education, student mobility, and other factors. People also misuse tests because they impute to them more…