Some insights into the development of an eleventh grade test of "adult functional competency" are provided. The evolution of the test from its first mention to its translation into a test item pool is traced. An attempt is made to identify some of the instructional, measurement, and legal implications inherent in various decisions which…

The New Mexico High School Proficiency Examination (NMHSPE) assesses the extent to which New Mexico students have mastered the skills and knowledge specified on the New Mexico Basic Skills Plan. The test includes an objective portion and a writing assessment. A student passing both sections receives a diploma endorsement from the State Department…

Findings are reported based on an overall assessment of the impact of the North Carolina mandated competency test on eleventh graders of the class of 1980. The first part of the study examines the extent to which students who failed the first test showed improvement on subsequent testing. The second part studied those students who failed the…

The Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS) exit level test was first administered to all eleventh grade students in October 1985. A make-up testing was conducted in January 1986. This report contains the results of the May 1986 retesting of approximately 3,200 11th-grade students who had previously failed to master either the…

This booklet contains the 14 exercises that are used in the Bloomington, Minnesota, school system's writing assessment program. Depending on their applicability, the exercises may be used to assess the writing performance of fourth-, eighth-, or eleventh-grade students. Thirteen of the exercises are from the National Assessment of Educational…

This summary of the Bloomington, Minnesota, public schools writing assessment program includes background information about the selection of exercises that assessed fourth-, eighth-, and eleventh-grade students' writing abilities, a list of these exercises that were used, and information about the students who were assessed. The results of the…

The relationship between school-level minimum competency testing (MCT) programs and student reading proficiency measured by the 1983-84 National Assessment of Educational Progress was studied in subsamples of 10,367 fourth graders, 10,829 eighth graders, and 13,513 eleventh graders. No advantages of MCT programs were seen in grade 4. (SLD)

Changes in mathematics achievement at grade 11 before and after the implementation of the Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS) were studied in an urban school district in Texas. High stakes tests are used by state education agencies and school districts to monitor and increase educational achievement. The TEAMS is a minimum…

This paper compares descriptive information based on analyses of the pilot and live administrations of the Alabama High School Graduation Examination (AHSGE). The AHSGE, a product of decisions made in 1977 and 1984 by the Alabama State Board of Education, is composed of subject tests in reading, mathematics, and language. The pass score for each…

The two exploratory studies presented in this research report used multilevel data obtained in the 1983-84 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) to investigate the relationship between minimum competency testing (MCT) programs and student reading proficiency. A "school effects" paradigm was used in Study 1 to assess the effect…

Results of the second year of the New Jersey Minimum Basic Skills Tests in reading and mathematics, mandated by the New Jersey Public School Education Act of 1975, are summarized. Approximately 397,000 students in grades three, six, nine, and eleven were tested. Results of the tests showed that a smaller percentage of sixth-grade students met…

Results are summarized of New Jersey's Minimum Basic Skills reading and mathematics tests which were administered to all state public school students in grades 3, 6, 9, and 11, in March, 1979. These results are also briefly compared to the results of the 1977-1978 testing program. Almost 300,000 students are reported to have taken these tests,…

Results of the administration of the Nevada Proficiency Examination Program in 1988-89 are presented. The program, established by legislation in 1977 and amended in 1983 and 1987, provided for the administration of examinations of proficiency and achievement in reading, writing, and mathematics before the completion of grades 3, 6, 9, and 12. It…

The Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS) was developed by the Texas Educational Agency (TEA), in response to Texas House Bill 72 (1984), which mandated a new basic skills assessment program for mathematics, reading, and writing at grades 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11. The test given to students in Grade 11 is an exit-level examination,…

The Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS) was developed by the Texas Education Agency (TEA), in response to Texas House Bill 72 (1984), which mandated a new basic skills assessment program for mathematics, reading, and writing at grades 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11. The test given to students in Grade 11 is an exit-level examination, and…