The 32 tests described in this bibliography cover grades K-12 and are used to assess minimum competency in individual subjects such as mathematics, reading, or writing, or other basic academic areas. Several of the tests are state minimum competency examinations which students must pass in order to graduate. This document is one in a series of…

Minimum competency testing (MCT) programs for students are growing in popularity and being adopted by many states. In order to determine the extent of the MCT movement, researchers at North Carolina State University surveyed state departments of education in all 50 states. In updating these data for 1986-1987, it was found that 64 percent of the…

Explores such myths as competency-based graduation requirements are a repudiation of humanistic concerns, the public won't accept subjective measures of competence, and requiring students to pass proficiency tests before graduation will increase public support for education. Offers suggestions for developing new kinds of graduation requirements.…

This article argues that, despite the demand for competency-based testing of college graduates, such efforts may be simplistic, costly, and counterproductive in light of the varied missions of higher education institutions. The assessments useful to improving higher education (campus-based, faculty-developed, and mission-related) do not appear to…

Discusses implications of states' requiring use of high school graduation exams. Finds testing requirements already blocking thousands of students from getting diplomas required for college admission, and complicating colleges' efforts to recruit black and Hispanic students. At the same time college officials praise tests for helping ensure that…

This report describes court challenges to high school exit exams for students with disabilities, explores the legal and public policy issues, and discusses implications for educators. Legal challenges include claims brought under the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment, and under disability statutes, including the…

The intent of this chapter is to emphasize the student evaluation aspect over other legal principles. Several cases illustrate that courts will interfere with school boards' authority to determine placement of pupils only when a violation of constitutional or statutory rights of a student occurs. In the matter of sanctions against students that…

A study begun in a Texas school district in 1988 focused on families of Mexican origin, studying characteristics of their schools and studying what the families and schools did or did not do to promote graduation from high school. The sample of 100 15-year-olds labeled as "at risk" was fairly typical of Latino students in the school…

The 1986-87 graduating classes of public high schools in New Jersey were the third set of classes that had to satisfy the state's High School Graduation Requirements Law (Chapter 241). Data reported by the districts are summarized, although no individual district data are presented. The statewide graduation requirements include: (1) passing a…

The Nevada Proficiency Examination Program was established by the Nevada State Legislature in 1977 to identify students who might require additional assistance to maintain normal academic progress through school and to serve as a minimum competency examination, insuring that each student who receives a high school diploma has met certain minimum…

A major provision of the South Carolina Education Improvement Act of 1984 established the requirement for a high school exit examination (HSEE) for all 10th-grade students. Passage of the HSEE is a condition for the receipt of a state high school diploma. The HSEE is an outgrowth of the South Carolina Basic Skills Assessment Program, which…

The public schools reform movement has led to a proliferation of minimum competency testing programs by states. At the 11th/12th grade level, the Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS), mandated by Texas House Bill 72, is an exit exam, divided into two sections which measure minimum competencies in math and language skills.…

Since the mid-1970s, at least 20 states have instituted standardized tests that must be passed before students can receive a high school diploma. This paper draws on data collected in four states to explore some of the lasting effects of competency test legislation. Of particular interest is student awareness of these tests. A survey of 733…

To establish an objective measure of English skills for graduation candidates and to determine whether objective and subjective measures of English skills produce different results, 101 volunteers completed a writing sample and the Reading and Written English Expression tests of the Comparative Guidance and Placement Program (CGP). Scores obtained…

Criteria for the selection of judges (evaluators) for setting item-based standards involved in tests for which cutting scores must be established are investigated. Focus is on cases in which test standards are based on specialists' judgments concerning the difficulty of test items in tests used to determine who will be awarded a diploma, admitted…