Since 1960 Denver has operated a testing program designed to assure that high school graduates possess minimum competence in four basic areas--arithmetic, spelling, grammar, and reading comprehension. (Author/IRT)

All students except the mentally handicapped are required to show by examination that they are able to read, speak, and understand ordinary English; write a simple, correct, intelligible paragraph; and perform with reasonable mastery fundamental mathematical processes. (Author)

Competency testing for either graduation from high school, or as a method for assessing whether a student should advance to a higher grade level, is the focus of this annotated bibliography. Included are annotations that relate to accountability, competency testing, program descriptions where competency testing is utilized, general testing…

This booklet is intended to aid local school districts in Oregon as they work to develop and improve their educational programs in keeping with the competency-based high school graduation requirements established by Oregon's revised minimum standards for public schools. The booklet consists of six chapters that focus in turn on state requirements…

Students graduating from Westside High must meet hour and competency test requirements. The seven competency tests are in reading, writing, mathematics, democratic process, problem-solving, oral communication, and consumerism. (IRT)

Westside High School in Omaha, Nebraska, developed a series of minimum competencies in seven areas as standards for their graduates. One of the seven areas, consumerism, covers money management, credit, insurance, taxes, buying decisions, and consumer protection. (BM)

The key elements to this plan for special education students are keeping a check on student achievement throughout all the grades, communicating with parents about student deficiencies, and requiring competency tests of all high school students. (Author/IRT)

This publication focuses on California Assembly Bill 3408, legislation mandating secondary schools to develop performance standards and performance tests for students. The paper analyzes progress made in implementing the legislation in California and outlines some of the barriers to successful implementation. The author explains several testing…

Competency testing in New York State began in the nineteenth century, first with a local testing mandate and later with the "preliminary Regents examinations," which were administered at the end of the eighth grade. Optional competency tests were introduced in 1962, and in 1976 the Board of Regents mandated the passing of a series of…

The Regents Competency Testing Program has been designed to assure that all students develop adequate skills in reading comprehension, writing, and mathematics before graduation from high school in New York. This bulletin provides information on two of the program's three basic elements that contribute to the accomplishment of this goal. First,…

Information regarding state minimum competency testing programs was requested from the 50 state departments of education in the United States in the spring of 1979. The following questions were asked: (1) Do you have a testing program? (2) If you do, what tests are being used? (3) Do you have a testing program in the planning stages? (4) Are there…

This chart summarizes the following categories of information about various states' minimum competency testing activities: (1) name of state; (2) legislation or ruling which requires testing; (3) name of organization which sets standards; (4) grade levels assessed; (5) skill areas assessed; (6) use of standards and of test results; and (7) other…

The New York Regents Competency Testing Program has been designed to assure that all students develop adequate skills in reading comprehension, writing, and mathematics before graduation from high school. In this booklet, information is provided on two elements of the Regents Competency Testing Program: diploma standards and screening tests.…

The Oregon State Board of Education has rejected the use of cut-off scores on a proficiency test to establish minimum performance standards for high school graduation. Instead, each school district is required to specify--by local board adoption--minimum competencies in reading, writing, listening, speaking, analyzing, and computing. These…