Future trends in high school basic skills testing programs are discussed. Topics include subject area testing, national comparison testing, test security concerns, and technology's impact. The future is likely to bring more testing, rather than less, but there will be significant changes in the ways tests are implemented. (SLD)

The primary purpose of the 1983 Statewide Testing Program was to assess the achievement of 4th, 7th, and 10th grade students in South Carolina public schools. The results from the Statewide Testing Program provide educators with information which facilitates the decision-making process at the State, district, and school levels. Besides the…

The Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills, Form U, measuring achievement in reading, spelling, language, mathematics, reference skills, science, and social studies, were administered to fourth-, fifth-, seventh-, ninth-, and eleventh-graders from all 92 South Carolina school districts, in Spring, 1986. Results were compared to national norms and to…

Designed to provide a context for English teachers' deliberations on what they should be teaching, this paper provides excerpts from 21 news items pertaining to significant educational and social events and trends. The news items deal with a wide range of topics, including the back-to-the-basics movement; the trend toward state-mandated programs…

Educational standards, student achievement and basic skills are discussed. Various definitions of standards are given, and a definition which encompases individual differences is preferred. Educational research conducted in New Zealand indicates that there has been no sharp decline in academic achievement, although in primary- and…

This report on trends in school improvement test results presents an analysis and synthesis of 1978-1984 student performance data from four state-mandated testing programs: (1) the Educational Quality Assessment Program in Pennsylvania; (2) the Minimum Basic Skills Program in New Jersey; (3) the Delaware Educational Assessment Program in Delaware;…

This publication summarizes the achievement results of the Austin (Texas) Independent School District (AISD) for grades 1-12 in reading and mathematics for 1975 through 1985. In 1975, the California Achievement Tests (CAT) were administered to students in grades 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 9. However, in 1976, the testing program was expanded to all…

The Oregon State Board of Education initiated the Oregon Statewide Assessment Program in 1973 as a means for gathering data on student performance in the basic skills areas. Tests were administered to 27,086 fourth, seventh and eleventh grade students in 405 schools selected at random in March of 1982. Test results were returned to participating…

The 1978 Wisconsin assessment program, involving students in grades 4, 8, and 12, focused upon: (1) state-developed tests referenced to state objectives for computation and everyday money and measurement skills; (2) the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills: mathematics, reading, and language; (3) comparison of results of the 1976, 1977, and 1978…

The present study is one example of how statewide minimum competency testing programs can be used to examine minority student achievement trends. The results of 3 years of Texas Assessment of Basic Skills (TABS) test administration (1980-82) were examined for Black, Hispanic, and White students. The results were expected to be consistent with…

Mathematics achievement test scores of high school students in the Austin Independent School District who graduated before implementation of minimum competency testing were compared to the scores of students who were more recently enrolled in mathematics tutorial classes in order to meet minimum competency requirements. The percentages of…

Nearly 15,000 Wisconsin public school students in grades 4, 8, and 12 were tested in Spring, 1977, as part of the Wisconsin Pupil Assessment Program. Objectives were: (1) to measure student progress in attaining specific mathematics objectives; (2) to determine how students compared nationally in reading, language, and mathematics; and (3) to…

During the 1978-79 school year, all third grade pupils in California public schools were tested in reading achievement. Tests of reading, written expression, spelling, and mathematics were administered to all sixth and twelfth graders. Various subtests of the Survey of Basic Skills, which was developed specifically for the California Assessment…

To comply with state law, the results of the South Carolina Basic Skills Assessment Program (BSAP) are reported for the 1989-90 school year. Accomplishments included: (1) administering the readiness test--the Cognitive Skills Assessment Battery (CSAB)--to all first graders; (2) administering criterion-referenced basic skills tests to all students…

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…