As part of the statewide Illinois Articulation Initiative, a panel was formed in October 1993 to develop a model articulated nursing curriculum and minimum nursing competencies. This report presents the findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the panel. Following a brief introduction, the history of articulation efforts and policies in…

Describes the significant change in Arkansas State public policy on education during the tenure of Governor Bill Clinton. Details the political ups and downs of Clinton's initiatives, particularly teacher competency tests. Offers a postscript on Clinton's initiatives and a side bar on the Home Instructional Program for Preschool Youngsters. (JB)

Describes two state-mandated programs for institutional accountability in New Jersey (i.e., Basic Skills Assessment Program and College Outcomes Evaluation Program), which function through cooperation between the state's higher education agency and its colleges and universities. Highlights research objectives, procedures, responsibilities,…

This paper summarizes the results of a study of the local consequences of implementing statewide minimum competency tests. For American education to be the best in the world, the use of statewide and nationwide standardized testing as a primary policy tool for stimulating reform must be discontinued. Second, school district responses to such…

This report is a brief analysis of survey results from 43 states and 2 non-state jurisdictions regarding the status of their implementation of a new provision in the 1997 Amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act that requires each state to establish performance goals and indicators for children with disabilities. The survey…

Issues surrounding the statewide competency testing of at-risk students are discussed. Sanctions, such as negative evaluations of educational programs associated with such tests, used to fall most heavily on schools and staff, but tests are increasingly becoming prerequisites for promotion and graduation, with increasing impact on students.…

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. This is one in a series of Instructional Strategies Guides designed to…

Teacher competency testing is not new, but since the mid-1970s the number of states requiring new teachers to be tested has grown rapidly. States differ in their definition of competence, in the methods they use to assess competence, and in the treatment of teachers who do not meet competency requirements. This monograph describes a national…

Practical and technical advice is provided for staff responsible for planning evaluations of Educational Consolidation and Improvement Act (ECIA) Chapter 1 migrant programs at the state level. The report is limited to evaluating achievement gains in basic skills; this is, however, acknowledged as only one facet of a comprehensive migrant program…

This paper contains a comparison of descriptive information based on analyses of pilot and live administrations of the Alabama High School Graduation Examination (AHSGE). The test is composed of three subject tests: Reading, Mathematics, and Language. The study was intended to validate the test development procedure by comparing difficulty levels…

Increasing numbers of state-mandated testing programs have resulted in the selection of norm-referenced tests (NRTs) for statewide assessment. Adaptation or customization of existing tests has become a viable solution for individual programs. Changes in test instruments have arisen from the behaviorist approach and mastery learning, minimum…

Learning objectives and specifications are provided for use by teachers and test development specialists. Beginning with the 1985-86 school year, the Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS) tests have been based on the objectives in this publication. For grade 9 mathematics, these objectives are: (1) identify the relationship among…

Beginning with the 1985-86 school year, the Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS) tests have been based on the objectives provided in this publication for teachers and test development specialists. For grade 7, mathematics objectives include the ability to: (1) convert decimals or percents to equivalents; (2) add and subtract…

This paper describes the meeting of the Reading and Writing Advisory Committee of the New Jersey Basic Skills Council with selected high school English teachers and administrators. This panel established cut scores for statewide interpretation of the New Jersey College Basic Skills Placement Test (NJCBSPT). The NJCBSPT is administered to all…

The pattern toward an increase in the number of states using some form of competency testing prior to the certification of educators is substantiated in this paper. Competency testing programs are implemented at three distinct levels: (1) before entrance into a teacher education program near the end of the sophomore year in college; (2) at the end…