One critical area of concern for governments of small states is the provision and administration of examinations at the end of the secondary school cycle. The problems, faced by all states, of assuring that assessment and certification are carried out fairly, are compounded for small states by the additional difficulties associated with their…

For the past seven years, Missouri has been administering the Missouri Mastery and Achievement Tests (MMAT) to fulfill the requirements of the Excellence in Education Act of 1985. The MMAT, as a criterion-referenced test, can measure student progress on specific key skills over time. This summary presents results of the spring 1993 administration…

The desire for a national picture of educational quality remains a continuing but unresolved goal. A question has been raised among high level policymakers regarding the feasibility of using existing data collected by the states to construct education indicators for state-by-state comparisons of student performance at the national level. A…

In 1984, the Connecticut General Assembly authorized the creation of mastery tests in mathematics and language arts (listening, reading, and writing skills) for grades 4, 6, and 8. Criterion-referenced tests were developed to assess the essential skills that should be mastered at the end of grades 3, 5, and 7 and to identify students in need of…

In 1984, the Connecticut General Assembly established mastery tests in mathematics and language arts (listening, reading, and writing skills) for grades 4, 6, and 8. A criterion-referenced test was considered most appropriate for identifying the strengths and weaknesses of every student. The specific skills to be mastered were identified by…

Fulfilling a legislative mandate in 1984, Connecticut established mastery tests in mathematics and language arts (listening, reading, and writing skills) for grades 4, 6, and 8. Criterion-referenced tests were considered most appropriate for assessing achievement and determining individual remediation needs. The Grade 8 Mastery Test results for…

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…

Schemes for assessing reading achievement with specific tests have been in use since early in this century. The two driving forces behind the testing movement--scientific objectivity and compulsory education--blossomed in the 1920s and 1930s and continued substantially unchanged through most of the 1960s. In the early 1970s, the idea of mastery…