The Connecticut Mastery Test was designed to assess specific skill levels of students by measuring performance on various learning objectives that students can be expected to master. The grade 4 Connecticut Mastery Test, given for the first time in the fall of 1985, provides information which can be used to improve instruction and the basic skills…

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…

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…

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…

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…

The first part of this report is a question-and-answer survey of minimum competency legislation, testing programs, and remedial programs. It includes the questions of both the educator and the lay person. Topics include: minimum competency tests, the debate over minimum competency programs, what happens after testing, and what citizens should look…

Three areas of concern for those considering competency-based graduation requirements are discussed. First, what is involved in implementing a competency-based graduation requirement? The first tasks are the specification of performance standards and the performance skill areas. Then, appropriate certification procedures can be selected, and their…

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…

Extensive public concern about the deficiency in basic skills confirmed by a decline in standardized test scores and widespread implementation of a variety of state and local improvement programs indicates an urgent need for national attention to this timely issue. However, a federal testing program or federally-imposed performance standards are…

About half the states in the U.S., either by legislative or administrative action, have moved toward the imposition of statewide performance standards in their elementary and secondary schools. Typically these standards pertain to the basic skills--reading, mathematical computation, and written and oral expression. Almost all of these programs…