Public Act 84-126 amended The School Code of Illinois to include a definition of schooling and a requirement that the goals for learning be identified and assessed. This document identifies state goals for language arts education in grades 3, 6, 8, 10, and 12, and includes a sample set of district level learning objectives consistent with those…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 19 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) the effectiveness of English placement examinations used at five junior colleges in California; (2) the direction and distance of context required by college…

The licensure of public school personnel in Tennessee is a function of the State Department of Education (SDE). Additional requirements for this certification function were added by the Comprehensive Education Reform Act (Senate Bill Number 1) of the 1984 Tennessee General Assembly. The Act mandated that the SDE use tests to assess the competence…

The status of minimum competency testing programs, as of June 30, 1979, is given through descriptions of 31 state programs and 20 local district programs. For each program, the following information is provided: legislative and policy history; implementation phase; goals; competencies to be tested; standards and standard setting; target groups and…

This conference was organized around four policy concerns: (1) the needs of handicapped, gifted, and bilingual students; (2) the use of test results to allocate federal compensatory education funds; (3) the validity of minimum competency testing; and (4) the demand for increasingly sophisticated evaluations. Garry L. McDaniels discussed the…

This report describes the findings of 10 focus group meetings that discussed issues related to the performance of students with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) on Minnesota's Basic Standards Exams. Ten groups were formed, with one group of parents and one of students representing each of the following language communities: Cambodian, Hmong, Lao,…

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…

Adult educators in the state of New Jersey have expressed concern about the adequacy of the 1978 General Educational Development (GED) test. Based on these concerns research was conducted in the use and applicability of the current GED test. The project investigated whether the existing GED test was meeting the needs of the large majority of GED…

Florida state legislation has mandated the evaluation of its compensatory education programs. The Florida Accountability Act of 1976 called for minimum basic skills testing in grades 3, 5, 8, and 11 (subsequently amended to grade 10). In 1977, the Florida Compensatory Education Act mandated remedial programs for students performing below the…

The justification of minimal competency programs relative to perceived educational problems, the focus on individual pupil certification and sanctioning, and the lack of clear resolution on many technical problems, give rise to a number of policy issues critical to minimal competency testing programs which are tied to graduation. Three program…

A statwide evaluation study of Adult Basic Education (ABE) in Virginia was conducted during the 1977-78 school year and its findings compared to those of a 1970-71 study. The program factors addressed include the following: actions taken on the 1970-71 recommendations; student personnel services; instructional program; curriculum design; the…

The movement towards state-mandated minimum competency testing peaked in 1977-1978. Activity now centers on implementation: most programs will be implemented by 1980-81. To initiate programs, twenty-four states have used the state board approach, 20 enacted legislation, and six have passed both board and legislation mandates. Only Maine, Kansas,…

The results are presented of the validation study of reading and mathematics criterion referenced tests, administered to South Carolina students in grades 3, 6, and 8. This testing was mandated by state law to field test a competency based assessment program. The study was based on three activities: (1) test selection; (2) content validation; and…

Extensive public concern about the deficiency in basic skills confirmed by a decline in standardized test scores and widespread implementation of a variety of state and local improvement programs indicates an urgent need for national attention to this timely issue. However, a federal testing program or federally-imposed performance standards are…

About half the states in the U.S., either by legislative or administrative action, have moved toward the imposition of statewide performance standards in their elementary and secondary schools. Typically these standards pertain to the basic skills--reading, mathematical computation, and written and oral expression. Almost all of these programs…