Many individuals who attempt to enter teacher education programs are precluded from doing so because of an inability to pass basic skills tests. The authors examine whether these tests are simply a gate that needs to be passed through or whether they provide useful early information about how individuals are likely to perform on subsequent…

After surveying 1,827 students in their final year at eighty randomly selected two-year and four-year public and private institutions, American Institutes for Research (2006) reported that approximately 30 percent of students in two-year institutions and nearly 20 percent of students in four-year institutions have only basic quantitative…

Discusses the pros and cons of national competency testing. (JMB)

Government agencies administer exams to appraise educators' effectiveness. However, most teachers and administrators are unfamiliar with how such large-scale tests are put together or polished. A profession's adequacy is being judged on the basis of tools that the profession's members don't understand. As such, educators need to have a dose of…

This study investigated the performance of Alabama College System (ACS) students on a Basic Skills Test (BST) and compared it with non-ACS students' scores to determine whether there were significant differences in achievement. The Alabama Basic Skills Test is required of all students seeking admission to teacher education programs at Alabama…

In criticizing the report of the National Academy of Education Panel on Testing and Basic Skills, "Improving Educational Achievement," the author addresses the same eight policy-related questions the panel examined. (IRT)

Describes New Jersey's coordinated, statewide higher education effort involving mandatory testing, remediation, and evaluation. Reviews the program's history; the role of the New Jersey Basic Skills Council (NJBSC); the Basic Skills Placement Test, which focuses on reading comprehension, sentence sense, math computation, and elementary algebra;…

Reviews research on student assessment and placement, focusing on problems and questions; methods of assessment; establishing cut scores; and evaluation of course placement systems. Includes an extensive bibliography. (LAL)

As more states adopt minimum competency testing (MCT) programs, MCT is becoming the subject of much debate among educators and in the courts. MCT has been attacked by those who claim it discriminates against Blacks and non-English-speaking minorities. Also raised in the MCT debate is the question of educational malpractice. (RLV)

A comprehensive student basic skills assessment program was developed at St. Louis Community College (SLCC) at Florissant Valley to appraise student readiness to take courses, gather information for counseling and advising, diagnose student problems, and evaluate program efficiency and effectiveness. The steps taken in developing the program were:…

Competency-based graduation requirements provide students with a meaningful diploma, reduce illiteracy, and provide a system of quality control for schools. (Author)

This report provides a comprehensive description and record of all academic support services provided to students through the South Plains College Learning Center. After an introductory statement clarifies the ever-increasing need for academic support services at open-door institutions, a philosophy and mission statement and a detailed description…

The Open City project of East Harlem in New York City, an early childhood, reading-through-the-arts program reflects ten years of arts in general education theory building. Describes this program and how it has developed the reading ability of young children. (Author/RK)

Responding to doubts about the validity of test results that showed the Pittsburgh School District's school improvement project to be highly successful, the district validated its results by administering a different test to a representative sample of students in secure conditions. (MCG)

Developed for the Basic Skills Testing Program (BSTP) in New South Wales, Australia, this teacher's manual describes the Blue Series 3 of the ACER (Australian Council for Educational Research) Tests of Basic Skills. The two tests in the series, Aspects of Literacy and Aspects of Numeracy, were administered statewide by government school classroom…