This paper outlines how the National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC) meets the definition of "credential" as defined by the US Department of Labor Employment (US DOL) and Training Administration's Training and Employment Guidance Letter (TEGL) 15-10. The NCRC fits the US DOL definition of a credential both (a) in the context of…

This paper provides information about New Mexico High School Competency Examination (NMHSCE), a minimum competency test. Its purpose is to meet a state mandate. It will be replaced by the Grade 11 Standards Based Assessment/High School Graduation Assessment (SBA/HSGA) in spring 2011 as the state's high school exit exam. The NMHSCE was administered…

Regulation and legislation make the role of the classroom teacher more bureaucratic. Legislators can contribute to the improvement of education by policy analysis and by making teacher salaries more competitive with the alternatives available to competent people. (MLF)

Examines state high school graduation requirements from the perspectives of academic effectiveness and educational equity. Predicts that minimum competency testing, which is now widespread, will gradually be replaced by further increases in academic credit requirements. (KH)

One of the few states to link reform in elementary and secondary education to higher education is Maryland, which is working toward linking statewide minimum competency testing to business hiring practices, college admission, and eventually even scholarship money. The plan is designed to end the need for remediation classes for recent high school…

Discusses seven important issues that should be considered by educators in developing a minimal competency testing policy. (JG)

This study analyzed the written accommodation guidelines for students with disabilities in 18 states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia) that use graduation examinations. Each state uses a…

Discussion of high school graduation requirements for students with disabilities focuses on legal and practical issues including graduation standards, minimum competency testing, and termination of services. Recommendations are offered to help school districts establish a process for graduating students with disabilities within the legal framework…

Discusses implications of states' requiring use of high school graduation exams. Finds testing requirements already blocking thousands of students from getting diplomas required for college admission, and complicating colleges' efforts to recruit black and Hispanic students. At the same time college officials praise tests for helping ensure that…

Minimal competency testing is the most recent evolution of the accountability movement and of the competency based education movement. It focuses on the basic academic skills of reading, writing, and arithemtic. It presumes the state will set educational objectives, and that the local school district will conduct its program so that the objectives…

Business cares about education standards because the well-being of their companies and every American is at stake. In the international marketplace, says former Lockheed-Martin chief executive officer (CEO) Norman Augustine, the United States is involved in a "battle of the classrooms." As a result, business leaders believe that…

Competency testing legislation is the result of citizen pressure and lacks the benefit of careful deliberation by professionals. Hastily passed legislation has forced state departments of education and school districts to accept their duty to implement competency testing programs without the appropriate resources. Many of the basic problems of…

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…

In this article, the authors looked at the effects of one old-style educational reform--higher course graduation requirements--and five standard-based reforms--(1) school report cards; (2) rewards for school improvement; (3) sanctions for failing schools; (4) minimum competency examinations; and (5) hybrid minimum competency exam…

A variety of viewpoints were represented in this symposium for chief state school officials and senior staff of state departments of education. Russell Vlaanderen, Education Commission of the States, opened with a national overview: "The Policy Implications of Minimum Competency Testing: The Case of the Standardized Student." Attorney…