Presents information about the kind of competency testing being done, how educators view the testing movement, and how it is affecting teacher preparation programs. (SRT)

This report describes a study undertaken to refine the guidelines of the Wisconsin Design for Reading Skill Development and to suggest general procedures for implementing any skill-centered approach to teaching reading. The first part of the report sets forth the purpose and focus of the study, with a literature review to define the nature of…

A profile of state-wide educational assessment programs is constructed, and the means by which such programs have changed over time and may change in the future are discussed. Data for the study were taken from biennial surveys by the Association of State Assessment Programs, first conducted in 1977. This study covers data on time of survey…

Arguing that educational testing has not grown with the theory and knowledge base of the reading field, this paper cites the current configuration of testing as a major contributor to the instructional stagnation, methodological back-to-basics movement, and general lack of excitement and true innovation found in classrooms and schools today. The…