The Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS) test was administered to pupils in grade 1 for the first time, at state level, in April 1986. Students with certain disabilities and those with limited English proficiency were exempted from this testing cycle. This 84-item test measured 21 objectives: 8 for mathematics, 9 for reading, and…

The Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS) exit level test was first administered to all eleventh grade students in October 1985. A make-up testing was conducted in January 1986. This report contains the results of the May 1986 retesting of approximately 3,200 11th-grade students who had previously failed to master either the…

The effects of failing to pass a high school exit exam were examined for the Georgia Basic Skills Test (GBST). Data were collected on a random sample of students who were tenth graders in 1983 and in 1984. The following issues were studied: (1) impact of failure on self esteem, as measured by the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale (P-H);…

Administrative and technical problems were encountered in carrying out a minimum competency program for high school students in the Austin (Texas) Independent School District. The history of required minimum competency testing was reviewed briefly, and the process of clarifying and operationalizing the requirements was described within the Austin…

This research compared the cut-off scores estimated from an empirical procedure (Contrasting group method) to those determined from a more theoretical process (Nedelsky method). A methodological and statistical framework was also provided for analysis of the data to obtain the most appropriate standard using the empirical procedure. Data were…

This newsletter is part of an effort to improve mastery of the Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS). Responses of teachers to a survey in the Spring of 1987 concerning their beliefs and facts about the TEAMS are reported, along with clarifying facts about this criterion referenced test. Teaching to the TEAMS is advisable because…

The New Jersey College Basic Skills Placement Test was administered to 42,984 freshmen entering New Jersey colleges and universities and four independent colleges in the fall of 1978 in order to assess students' specific strengths and weaknesses in reading, writing, and mathematics for placement in appropriate first-year courses. Based on test…

The second of two related documents, this volume consists of four appendixes of data referred to in the first volume. Appendix A makes up the major portion of the report and contains abstracts and ratings of 71 test instruments categorized by skill area and educational level. Appendix B contains the results of the 1978-79 survey of the status of…

Due to Ohio state mandate, recommendations were made regarding minimal competency testing (MCT) in the state, based upon a literature review of legal and measurement issues, as well as data from a survey of school district practices in Cuyahoga County. Factors subject to legal debate include test validity, length of phase-in period, unequal…

Results of the second year of the New Jersey Minimum Basic Skills Tests in reading and mathematics, mandated by the New Jersey Public School Education Act of 1975, are summarized. Approximately 397,000 students in grades three, six, nine, and eleven were tested. Results of the tests showed that a smaller percentage of sixth-grade students met…

In 1976, New Jersey public law established uniform statewide minimum standards in the basic communication and computational skills for publicly educated students in the state. To implement the law for the year 1976-77, the New Jersey Educational Assessment Program administered tests to all fourth, seventh, and tenth grade students. These tests…

This paper describes a model for the evaluation and approval of a test battery for compliance with a midwestern state law mandating criterion-referenced testing of specific objectives. Standards specifying that the test scores must demonstrate content validity and criterion-related validity form the foundation of the model. The model also…

A technical advisory committee assisted the Alabama State Department of Education in establishing passing scores and equating test forms of the Alabama High School Graduation Examination (AHSGE). The committee examined four methods of setting cutting scores: (1) Jensen's theoretical method--probability theory is used to set standards that are…

The reading portion of the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) was equated to the reading comprehension subtest of the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS) using the Rasch Model. Both tests were administered to 366 low achieving fourth grade students. MEAP was treated as both a 95-item test and a 19-item (number of objectives…

Little is known about the costs of setting up and implementing legislated minimal competency testing (MCT). To estimate the financial obstacles which lie between the idea and its implementation, MCT requirements are viewed from two perspectives. The first, government regulation, views legislated minimal competency requirements as an attempt by the…