This paper examines the major influences of state minimum standards of pupil proficiency in reading, writing, and mathematics; state curriculum guides; basic skills testing; and a state-funded compensatory/remedial program on public schools in Louisiana since 1980. The state testing program is described in some detail. Its influence in the home is…

The bibliography lists approximately 150 educational materials designed for remedial instruction with secondary students working at levels below their grade placement and having difficulty in passing the state-required competency tests. Entries include information on title, author, publisher, date, price, difficulty and interest levels, and brief…

Suggests sources of information on minimum competencies and minimal competency testing, including publications and conference proceedings, policy statements from professional organizations, and resource lists available from various organizations. (MKM)

Addresses two concerns about how educational reforms are being carried out: (1) the definitions being used to determine what is basic in education, and (2) the tests being used to measure those "basic skills." Suggests some solutions for teachers who recognize the legitimacy of public concern and the necessity of public support. (HTH)

The Connecticut Statewide Basic Skills Proficiency Test is required for all ninth-grade students in Connecticut public schools, vocational-technical schools, and endowed or incorporated high schools and academies. The examination covers basic reading, language arts and mathematics skills. Students who score below the level of expected performance…

The last of three volumes studying the relationship between writing research and instruction, this four-part report focuses on writing assessment. The first section details specifications for an instrument assessing student writing samples and the following composition skills: word processing, sentence processing, paragraph development,…

Intended to help Arkansas schools implement its 1980 State Basic Skills Improvement Plan, this booklet identifies basic skills to be measured by the state and makes suggestions for incorporating these skills into the curriculum. The first section explains the Educational Assessment Act of 1979 establishing a statewide basic skills assessment…

Provided as a framework for use in curriculum development are Arkansas' course content guides for the intermediate elementary grades four, five, and six. At each grade level, language arts, mathematics, reading, social studies, and science skills have been identified at three instructional levels: basic, developmental, and extensional. Basic…

The Alabama High School Graduation Examination (AHSGE) was given to eleventh graders for the first time in October 1983. In April, 1983, an instructional validity survey was conducted concurrently with the piloting of the AHSGE to determine if seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth grade students were being taught the skills tested on the AHSGE.…

Schools are legally responsible for delivering to all children what the state and school boards mandate in a prescribed curriculum, while teachers are held accountable for its delivery. A major part of this responsibility relates to the teaching of the basic skills of reading, writing, and computation. A current trend to assure the teaching of…

Connecticut's Basic Skills Proficiency Test, administered for the sixth time in October 1985, measures reading, language arts, mathematics, and writing skills. The test was intended to identify students who require further diagnosis and remediation in order to participate successfully in ninth grade classes. Results indicated that over 90 percent…

Some ninth-grade students from three Knoxville City high schools have continuously performed substantially less well than those from other city schools in the Tennessee State proficiency tests. A task force developed a plan to work with grade 8 in the middle schools and grade 9 in the high schools to prepare students to perform better on state…

The longitudinal effects of Louisiana's Compensatory/Remedial Program upon student performance were assessed using data from four administrations of the Basic Skills Test (BST) between 1982 and 1985. Language arts and mathematics tests were administered in grades 2 through 5. Scores increased slightly between 1982 and 1984, and declined in 1985;…