Argues that the minimal competency movement contains much that is inimical both to the teaching of language arts and to the integrity and individuality of professional educators. Contends that the movement is creating both damage and diversion in the schools. (FL)

In this paper we measure the impacts of tougher graduation requirements on course-taking patterns, college attendance and completion, and post-high school labor market outcomes for vocational concentrators and non-concentrators. Our main goal was to assess whether vocational education students were specifically affected (positively or negatively)…

In 1984 an evaluation team examined the Maryland Functional Testing Program (MFTP), a statewide competency-based, criterion-referenced testing program that was instituted to limit awarding of high school diplomas to those students who had earned scores above cut scores on a series of achievement tests. This article examines the procedures the…

A model depicting dropping out of high school as a process is presented. Against a longitudinal mapping of student experiences, questions about standards or exit tests are addressed. Existing research on dropouts provided the empirical basis for the model. The central features of the model are the academic and social systems of the school.…

Recent criticism of public education has led to demands for educational improvement. Responses to this criticism include the development of minimum competency tests (MCTs) and calls for increased academic requirements. This paper reviews a national survey of state graduation requirements that reveals a wide variance in requirements. Eighteen…

This brief report states that recent emphasis on minimum competency testing has been on using the test results to make better decisions for improving the instructional program and providing remediation. State and local school districts, using advisory committees and commissions, are in various stages of identifying instructional goals and…

More than thirty states, as well as numerous local school districts, have adopted some form of student minimum competency program. Such programs vary widely in their purposes which range all the way from instructional and curriculum planning to deciding whether students are promoted from grade to grade. Thus far, there has been little actual…

In 1972, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia instituted the Regents' Testing Program (RTP) to provide systemwide information on the status of student competence in reading and writing and to provide a uniform means of identifying those students who fail to attain minimum levels of competence in these areas. Since 1972, some…

This report consists of data tables summarizing test results statewide for students in grades 11 and 12 who took the New Jersey Minimum Basic Skills (MBS) test in March, 1987. The MBS assesses minimum skills in reading and mathematics. It is used as the graduation test for students who entered ninth grade prior to September 1985 and have not yet…

This test booklet contains a two and one-half-hour achievement test in Social Studies 30, administered in June 1985. It is used as a twelfth grade diploma examination in Alberta, Canada. The multiple choice section, comprising 70 percent of the total score, contains 70 items. For the essay test, which counts toward 30 percent of the total score,…

This test booklet contains a two and one-half-hour achievement test in Social Studies 30, administered in January 1985. It is used as a twelfth grade diploma examination in Alberta, Canada. The multiple choice section, comprising 70 percent of the total score, contains 70 items. For the essay test, which counts toward 30 percent of the total…

This handbook contains suggestions for the use of results from the New Mexico High School Proficiencies Examination (NMHSPE) and describes procedures for developing programs and planning intervention strategies. The information and guidelines will facilitate administrative action for program improvement through integration of the NMHSPE results…

Six goals are essential to basic skills mastery. Goal one is the identification of specific competencies and performance indicators which are necessary for students to master to become a coping adult. The appendix lists 17 competencies modeled after the Adult Performance Level Project (APL). Competencies are organized into five knowledge areas:…

An historical sketch of minimum competency testing programs and issues is presented. Among the state and local programs briefly described are: 1960, Denver Public Schools, CO; 1976, Richmond Public Schools, VA; 1977, Kern Union High School, CA; 1977, Berea High School, OH; 1977, Westside High School, NE; 1973, Oregon; 1975, California (High School…

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…