Traces the history of minimum competency testing in the United States from 1890 to the present. (FL)

An annotated bibliography concerning proficiency development in schools identifies sources which focus on the identification and development of basic skills. Topics explored include: (1) issues and definition in proficiency development; (2) assessing the state of proficiency development; and (3) instructional techniques and programs. (JN)

A problem raised by teacher use of basic skills checklists is the possibility of focusing on listed skills to the exclusion of others, including necessary prerequisite skills. (JMF)

A study was designed to identify highly teachable composing skills that have a strong statistical relationship with composition quality across various grade levels. Sample compositions were randomly selected from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (1972). A total of 750 compositions written by 9-, 13-, and 17-year-old-students (250…

This guide describes specific strategies that can be used by an adult tutor to help students prepare for the high school basic competency test in mathematics and reading. Included are test taking tips and a series of suggestions for practice work in reading and math. The use of practical materials such as newspaper advertisements and telephone…

This booklet by a committee appointed to assess the teaching implications of the Reading and Writing tests of the New Jersey College Basic Skills Placement Test (NJCBSPT) is intended to provide ways of helping teachers assist students to improve their skills in reading and writing by, in part, pinpointing the major weaknesses of students taking…

The essential meaninglessness of the phrase "Minimum Competency" is discussed and it is placed in the larger context of "The Basics." It is argued that "The Basics" as taught in preparation for minimum competency tests (MCT) are not basic either in the sense of being essential skills or enabling skills. Using research findings and common sense,…

The minimum competency movement's rationale can be reduced to four problem-laden propositions: the state through its schools owes every child an education; a high school graduate should be at least minimally competent; schools should be held accountable for seeing to it that every child meets this standard; and to assure this, every child must be…

A remediation approach developed by the Vilonia public schools (Arkansas) to remediate content/skill deficiencies in middle level students resulted from three conditions: state laws and regulations regarding minimum competency testing; more awareness of problems with at-risk students; and recognition of the need to reach students academically…

Resulting from a project involving district, state, and federal educational agencies, the papers in this, the first of two volumes, are intended to provide information from research and practice that can help school districts in their efforts to make decisions about goals and methods of basic skills instruction. The topics of the papers in the…

The seven articles in this journal issue deal with the politics and practice of teaching writing. The articles focus on the following topics: (1) efforts to establish educational accountability, including competency based teacher education, licensing of teachers, and minimum competency testing; (2) methods for teaching students to use intuition in…

This newsletter reports on the activities of Equipped for the Future (EFF), which is a National Institute for Literacy (NIFL) initiative that develops content standards to ensure that every adult can gain the knowledge and skills needed to fulfill real-world responsibilities as workers, parents, and citizens. A message from the NIFL…