The "Washington English Language Proficiency Assessment" (WELPA) is a No Child Left Behind (NCLB)-compliant instrument that is used in Grades K-12 as a formal and standardized method of measuring language proficiency. The test results provide important information for classifying English Language Learners (ELLs) and subsequently for…

The current literature indicates a need for quality studies on how best to close the achievement gap between elementary English language learners (ELLs) and their English speaking peers. The purpose of this sequential explanatory mixed methods research study was to determine the relationship between standards-based differentiated instructional…

This paper provides information about New Mexico High School Competency Examination (NMHSCE), a minimum competency test. Its purpose is to meet a state mandate. It will be replaced by the Grade 11 Standards Based Assessment/High School Graduation Assessment (SBA/HSGA) in spring 2011 as the state's high school exit exam. The NMHSCE was administered…

During the last decade many school systems began to define minimum levels of competency for their students and to construct tests to measure whether students had achieved these minimums. Many states have passed laws which require high school students to pass minimum competency tests in order to graduate. This digest overviews four areas of…

Summarizes and supports the position of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development Project Committee, which favors a state-provided educational framework of goals, funding, and monitoring technical assistance, and the establishment by local school districts of their own instructional programs that meet individual needs rather than…

This study compared elementary and special education teachers' knowledge of when K-3 students develop key reading competencies, their knowledge of who is responsible for teaching K-3 students key reading competencies, and teachers' perceptions of their own instructionally relevant competencies to those standards articulated within their state's…

From the concern over the poor educational performance of school children nationwide has evolved the question of setting higher standards via testing. This paper focuses on the state's responsibility to require performance standards for children. Topics discussed include general issues related to the testing controversy, recent state efforts to…

This document is designed to assist classroom teachers in preparing students to successfully complete the Alabama High School Graduation Exam (AHSGE). It consists of activities that are correlated with the Alabama Course of Study: Mathematics, Bulletin 1997, No. 4, and Standards and Objectives (Reading Comprehension, Language, Mathematics, and…

This study analyzed documentation from 50 state departments of education concerning high school graduation requirements for students in general and for students with disabilities. Preliminary information reviews research on graduation requirements, research on minimum competence tests, and legal issues and implications. Study findings are then…

A number of forces are likely to contribute to future issues in educational assessment: (1) reduction in government resources, (2) financial pressures broadening the diversity of post-secondary applicant pools; (3) adult student emergence at the post secondary level; (4) concern with accountability of schools and educators; (5) strengthening of…

Examines state high school graduation requirements from the perspectives of academic effectiveness and educational equity. Predicts that minimum competency testing, which is now widespread, will gradually be replaced by further increases in academic credit requirements. (KH)

This report offers advice on the issues to be considered and the steps to be taken when implementing a high school graduation test. The research was conducted, specifically, to address problems with Mississippi's high school exit test. An external panel, developed by Southeastern Regional Vision for Education (SERVE), reviewed data obtained…

This report presents baseline findings from a 3-year study of state exit exams. The study involved data from all states with current or planned exit exams; case studies of five states; and research review. Researchers examined: why so many states are adopting high school exit exams, impacts of exit exams on students, what the exams are like, and…

Comparison of state graduation requirements found significant differences in the exit documents awarded to students with disabilities, with similar requirements sometimes earning different types of exit documents in different states. It was also found that 44 states use Carnegie course unit requirements and 17 states have minimum competency…

Standard setting practices in states using the NTE (formerly the National Teacher Examinations) were examined for 1987. The NTE is composed of two segments: (1) a Core Battery covering the communication skills and general knowledge skills; and (2) a test of professional knowledge about teaching. The processes used to establish passing scores for…