Most people seem to think the test will lead to improvement in education. Teachers, however, feel they are being made scapegoats and blacks feel that one crop of eleventh graders is being punished for not being able to make up in one year what they haven't learned in eleven. (Author/IRT)

Discusses seven important issues that should be considered by educators in developing a minimal competency testing policy. (JG)

The faculties of the postsecondary institutions in Florida, using the authority of the State Board of Education, have implemented a testing program that increases the assurance that all students who complete their sophomore year in college have achieved the communication and computation skills expected of them. (Author/MLW)

Convergence of disciplines is taking place among library science, information science, communication and instructional technology. Basic competencies running throughout the information disciplines are user information and communication; information and communication technologies; and policy studies. As a result of this convergence, library science…

Reviews history of the use of the concept "core curriculum" and its decline. Includes a discussion of educational ethics and excellence centering on the need to evaluate the push toward a more academic curriculum and the effect it is having in pushing some students out of the system while developing excellence for a smaller group of…

Holds that current competency tests for teachers do not predict actual ability to teach and cause educational, social and cultural problems by exacerbating teacher shortages and reducing the number of minority teachers. Calls for development of valid measures of teacher competencies and training and support of minority teachers. (GC)

Five legal questions are discussed in the conflict between the move to institute minimum competency testing (MCT) for students and the effort to protect the educational rights of handicapped children. The threshold question is whether handicapped children should be subject to the same MCT requirements as the non-handicapped. (PS)

Testing of teacher competence is traced from colonial times to the present. Various forms of teacher testing were commonplace up through the nineteenth century. A major educational reform movement in the early twentieth century succeeded in eliminating teacher tests in favor of proper and uniform preparation through teacher education. (BS)

Opinionnaires were sent to one person in each of the 50 states who was knowledgeable about minimum competency testing. Results showed significant differences in opinion, but there was agreement that tests should be used to improve instruction and identify students needing remedial help. (JHZ)

This description of a formative evaluation of the instructional systems doctoral program at Florida State University includes a mail survey of program graduates who were asked to rank instructional systems competencies, the questionnaire and evaluation methodology used, results of the study, and subsequent modifications to the program. (MBR)

Reviews the development of composition research and suggests ways to forestall minimum competency policies in writing instruction. (AEA)

Discusses trend toward minimum competency tests (MCTs) as a requirement for receiving high school graduation. Summarizes criticisms of such testing, and discusses Florida's experience with the MCT, especially in relation to minorities. Concludes that the use of MCTs is potentially discriminatory. (CJM)

This report presents an analysis in text and tables of performance on the 1995 and 1996 General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) examinations by students who attended special educational schools in England. The main conclusions were: (1) nearly 70 percent of English special schools who have students at Year 11 (15 to 16 years old) had no…

This study analyzed the written accommodation guidelines for students with disabilities in 18 states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia) that use graduation examinations. Each state uses a…