Increasingly frequent journalistic accounts report that schools are responding to No Child Left Behind (NCLB) by engaging in what has come to be known as "educational triage." Although these accounts rely almost entirely on anecdotal evidence, the prospect is of real concern. The NCLB accountability system divides schools into those in…

This study examined the reading achievement scores of 66 third- and fourth-grade students who were referred by their general education teachers on the basis of a suspected reading disability. Before a reading disability diagnosis was conducted, each student was reviewed by an Intervention Assistance Team and intervention assistance was provided.…

Interest in applied performance testing and concern about the quality of the high school diploma are finding a common ground: graduation requirements. A competency is a complex capability applicable in real life situations, and can be used as program objectives in a competency-based, criterion-referenced program. In such a program, applied…

The conference's keynote address is presented by Bernard C. Watson. Papers include: Vantage from the State Department of Education, by Robert G. Scanlon (Pennsylvania); Minimum Competency: As the Public Sees the Question, by Jacqueline Grennan Wexler; Minimum Competency Testing (MCT): A Tripartite Response from the Profession, by W. James Popham;…

This report presents results of a study addressing two questions: (1) the role of certificates, licenses, diplomas, and other creditials in a decentralized vocational education system of public and proprietary schools, community colleges, union apprenticeships, the military, and correspondence schools and (2) the role that certification can play…