Raises three issues of competency testing: how competency is to be defined, tested, and paid for. (JL)

The potential of minimum competency testing cannot be realized unless school districts engage in the complex processes of competency-based program development. (Author/MLF)

Explores materials in the ERIC system that discuss all sides of the minimum competency issue. (RL)

Reports on the positive outcomes that resulted from implementing a competency program in writing at a high school. (RL)

Discusses two reasons why the state of writing performance may worsen when, beginning in 1983, Tennessee high school students must pass a proficiency test as a condition for graduation; reasons are the objective nature of the test and the language performance objectives which the test proposes to measure. (NEC)

Competency-based graduation requirements provide students with a meaningful diploma, reduce illiteracy, and provide a system of quality control for schools. (Author)

The major issues addressed include the extent to which handicapped students should participate in or be exempt from the testing program, whether tests and scoring criteria should be adapted for individual handicapped students or categories of students, and whether differential diplomas should be awarded to handicapped students on the basis of test…

Proficiency, or competency, testing is a recent attempt to meet the public demand for accountability. But instead of placing the responsibility on the educational organization, competency testing appears to be a sophisticated approach to holding students and teachers accountable. Although some form of student assessment is needed, it is not yet…

The status of competence-based education (CBE) in Illinois secondary schools is examined in this article. The authors cite some strengths and weaknesses of those programs in existence. They surmise from their findings that CBE is not widely planned or implemented in Illinois secondary schools. (Editor/SJL)

A project combined precision teaching techniques and a flashcard approach known as SAFMEDS, with 4 students with learning disabilities or behavior disorders, age 14-18. Project results determined that the techniques provided students with necessary skills to pass the school district's minimum competency test in the area of local, state, and…

The process of setting performance standards must be examined within the particular context in which specific approaches have been used to construct or select the criterion performance measures being utilized. (Author/RLV)

Competency testing is only one component of competency-based education (CBE); the others are: educational objectives, instructional process, remedial instruction, and program evaluation/reconceptualization. To implement only competency testing may result in disillusionment with the entire concept of CBE, which seeks to improve programs, not fail…

Suggests sources of information on minimum competencies and minimal competency testing, including publications and conference proceedings, policy statements from professional organizations, and resource lists available from various organizations. (MKM)

Investigated compensatory education teachers' opinions/attitudes toward the Florida minimum competency program. Compensatory education, math, and English teachers from semi-rural (N=67) and urban (N=200) areas were surveyed by questionnaires mailed to their homes. Results focus on value of the approach, program implementation, and unanticipated…