The Department of Education has been under attack by people motivated by the perceived failure of the system to improve educational achievement on the elementary and high school levels or the desire to dramatically reduce spending and waste during troubled economic times. A new program introduced in four states seems to address competency and…

Literature on the background, causes, and current prevalence of competency based programs is synthesized in this report. According to one analysis of the actual and probable costs of minimum competency testing, estimated costs for test development, test administration, bureaucratic structures, and remedial programs for students who cannot pass the…

Summarizes the basic skills testing programs of Pennsylvania State University, City University of New York, University System of Georgia, and the state of New Jersey. Discusses the use of test results, remedial courses offered, administration of the programs, and program evaluation. (JM)

Discusses the use of computerized placement testing at Santa Fe Community College to enable students needing only a short review of reading skills to exit early from a College Preparatory Reading Class (CPRC). Describes CPRC placement, structure, curriculum, and exit criteria; the Early Exit Reading Project; and project results. (DMM)

A test that for a decade has been required of Florida college students before they can become juniors will, in 1996, become only one of four ways for students to demonstrate academic readiness. While some expect the change to reduce remedial enrollments, move students through college faster, and improve collaboration between public schools and…

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…

Described in this paper is a proposal concerning the responsibility of the California community colleges in providing remediation services and programs. The first part of the paper concerns the proposal itself. After a brief statement of the major issues under consideration, the conditions under which student success can be ensured in open access…

The five articles in this journal issue are intended for use by school administrators, and provide information on how to organize effective programs for achieving student writing competency. The first article discusses the development of New York State's Preliminary and Regents Competency Tests in Writing, analyzes sample student responses to one…

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.…

This document provides background on the development of the Alabama Basic Competency Tests (ABCT). James E. McLean, in "Introduction to the ABCT," discusses the creation of the tests, compares them with the California Achievement Tests, and indicates the ABCT relationship to the Alabama High School Graduation Exam. "Review of Past…

Information is presented regarding the administration of the North Carolina Minimum Skills Diagnostic Testing Program. This testing program, mandated by the state's basic education program under the Secondary School Reform Act of 1984, checks the necessity for remediation by determining a student's mastery of specific objectives and diagnoses…

This paper describes the development of the Basic Educational Skills Test (BEST) in the Austin Independent School District. In 1982 future options for the AISD minimum competency program, which requires all students to meet minimum proficiency levels in reading and mathematics before graduation, were evaluated against legal and local criteria. It…

This report deals with ways to report basic skills test data which would facilitate the identification of student weaknesses. Under study are the technical aspects and methods associated with the reporting of objective-referenced data. An exploration is then made into the use of patterns of errors in responding to basic skills test items to…

The Corsicana (Texas) high school assistant principal recounts how 34 consistently failing math and reading senior underachievers successfully passed the Texas statewide tests after they were taught all coursework through their preferred learning styles in a supportive environment. (Author/DB)

This paper describes the meeting of the Reading and Writing Advisory Committee of the New Jersey Basic Skills Council with selected high school English teachers and administrators. This panel established cut scores for statewide interpretation of the New Jersey College Basic Skills Placement Test (NJCBSPT). The NJCBSPT is administered to all…