A comprehensive student basic skills assessment program was developed at St. Louis Community College (SLCC) at Florissant Valley to appraise student readiness to take courses, gather information for counseling and advising, diagnose student problems, and evaluate program efficiency and effectiveness. The steps taken in developing the program were:…

Proficiency Verification Systems (PVS) is a new concept in providing management information about local achievement in basic skills. The program includes a network of assessment and reporting components which can be combined in varied ways to generate proficiency information about individual pupils and groups, for teachers, principals, and school…

The Texas Academic Skills Program (TASP) assessment of basic skills for college was mandated by the Texas legislature in 1987. Students in Texas public colleges and universities that fail a section of the test--reading, writing, or mathematics--must attend remedial courses until they can pass all sections. They may not enter upper division courses…

The proposed standard for judging proficiency test score reliability requires that the proportion of items passed for each objective assessed be a dependable estimate of the universe score for the domain strata established by the objective. Domain breadth is the focusing issue. Data from a field trial of the Tennessee Proficiency Test are analyzed…

The basic skills level of returning adult students was investigated longitudinally. A total of 217 entering juniors majoring in business administration in fall 1980 were followed for 3 years. Through assessment and course work, 146 students demonstrated at least minimum basic skills competencies in English usage and algebra, but 71 students had at…

This paper considers three areas related to the testing of minimum knowledge and skills: public policy, the nature of higher-order thinking and selected aspects of educational measurement. The discussion of public policy issues centers around an apparent dichotomy of egalitarianism and elitism in public education, schooling and the public economy,…

This paper outlines how the Austin Independent School District (Texas) tried to deal with the following questions: (1) Should special education students be included in the administration of standardized tests?; (2) Should their scores be included or excluded in the reporting of test results?; and (3) What are the evidences that test scores reflect…

A program is described for the evaluation of the basic skills policy of the State Board of Education in Massachusetts. The 1978 policy of the Board is to take effect in 1980-81 and will require annual assessment of student skills at three grade levels in all schools in five curriculum areas, but leaves the setting of standards to local option.…

The effectiveness of a basic skills program instituted in fall 1979 at the University of New Mexico is discussed. Freshmen falling below specified American College Testing program cut-off levels were placed in developmental courses that they had to complete successfully before being eligible to enroll in freshman classes in the area of their…

An educational testing program at the University of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), developed for juniors entering its school of education, evaluates their characteristics, the nature and extent of subject matter weaknesses, the need for and nature of remediation, and the relation of subject matter and basic skill achievement to success in methods…

Arguments in support of standardized testing are critically analyzed. Usual criticisms of such tests are summarized as relatively unimportant. However, two basic criticisms are offered: the competitive nature of scoring standardized tests and their lack of content validity. The test-makers contention that tests are neutral and simply need to be…

Laredo Junior College (LJC) is a comprehensive community college in Texas, serving a student population that is 93% Hispanic and 61% female. In response to evidence that LJC was not adequately preparing students with the basic and academic skills needed to transfer, LJC expanded and restructured its assessment, placement, and remediation programs.…

This study was designed to investigate the effects of peer teaching on mathematics achievement, nonverbal reasoning, and attitudes of students teaching and being taught by this method. The methods of selecting and training peer teachers, and the special mathematics curriculum used, were those developed by Louis Schell. Students participating…

The use of national and campus tests/measures to assess student academic achievement is discussed, along with measurement of student attitudes and behavior, with attention to specific tests and testing programs. It is important for faculty to develop goals for student achievement and to determine whether a test fits a given college program or…

As a result of the increasing insistence that schools should concentrate on teaching basic skills, states and school districts have moved to establish minimum competencies for high school graduation, to be assessed by tests that demonstrate that students have achieved a certain level of mastery of basic skills. The Austin, Texas, Independent…