Reports a study on minimum competency testing in American high schools. Discusses the effects on students who fail to pass it, and the perceptions of educators and administrators about the value and barrier aspects of these tests. Implications of the findings for research, policy making, and educational practice are explored. (JS)

One of the few states to link reform in elementary and secondary education to higher education is Maryland, which is working toward linking statewide minimum competency testing to business hiring practices, college admission, and eventually even scholarship money. The plan is designed to end the need for remediation classes for recent high school…

Reviews 14 selected conferences and 11 key reports and documents regarding professional preparation and the development of professional standards in health education, starting with a 1943 statement from the American Public Health Association. The review was developed from an analysis of original documents containing conference proceedings and…

Examines the Texas Academic Skills Program (TASP), which tests all freshmen entering Texas public colleges. Suggests shifting emphasis from the testing instrument to reasons for poor student performance, since emphasis on testing has resulted in large increases in remedial instruction. Concludes that although TASP is a valid diagnostic tool, the…

The purpose of this study was to explore how often 159 practicing teachers enrolled in a university Master's degree principal preparation program observed their mentor principals model the four mandated Texas standards-based instructional leadership competencies for the principalship. The competencies focus on leadership through curriculum and…

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…

This document presents data on the student performance of North Carolina students for the year 1994. Section 1 traces the development of school and student accountability measures, outlines the implementation of actions designed to enhance program equity throughout the state, and describes specific program and student performance standards as they…

Although there is disagreement among educators about performance standards and their relationship to student performance, performance standards are central to the reforms under way in many states and large school districts, including Philadelphia. They are also mentioned explicitly in the Goals 2000: Educate America Act and in the re-authorization…

A Carnegie Foundation survey, conducted in 1988, found that teachers were critical of the education reform movement in general and standardized statewide testing in particular. This paper presents findings of a study that examined the impact of state-mandated testing programs on the work lives of teachers and students. It compares two states'…

Questions about the effectiveness of efforts to increase scores on minimum-competency tests and the appropriateness of their use were answered by teachers, education students, and administrators in Ohio, Georgia, and Texas. The first questionnaire was completed by 59 current teachers and 152 education students, who were asked if 30 listed…

A dissertation-study focused on 210,305 non-categorical third and fifth grade reading results of the 1987 Pennsylvania Test for Essential Learning Skills (TELS). The data given by the Pennsylvania Department of Education was analyzed through descriptive statistics for the following purposes: (1) to determine a difference and a magnitude of a…

Much of what has developed in the testing of reading harkens back to the days of the "Cult of Efficiency" movement in education that can be largely attributed to Frederick Winslow Taylor. Taylor spent most of his productive years studying time and motion in an attempt to streamline industrial production so that people could work as…

Recognizing the rapid establishment of the computer as a routine instrument of instruction, this guide demonstrates with lesson outlines and materials the many ways in which English and/or computer literacy teachers can use microcomputers to teach RCT (Regents Competency Test) English Writing Practice topics. Front matter consists of a foreword,…

Public school districts that have new policies establishing minimal competency programs that consequently deny some handicapped students a standard diploma have been subjected to litigation. Legal decisions are discussed, addressing, first, the question of fair standards and, second, the fairness of the procedures for administering new graduation…

This paper explains some of the policies, procedures, and standards now in effect as a result of educational reform efforts within the State of South Carolina. Approval of a teacher education program is based on a comprehensive evaluation incorporating the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC). An…