This address presents recent developments in the Florida movement toward entry and exit examinations in higher education. During the 1970s, parents, business leaders and state government leaders had expressed concern that students from Florida's schools, colleges, and universities were not demonstrating sufficient quality in job performance,…

The education and economic status of Blacks and Hispanics is the foremost crisis facing the United States today. The viability of this nation as a participant in the global economy is directly related to its solution. Supporting these statements is a demographic analysis of the current economic and education situation. The following related topics…

A study was designed to assess the effects of the introduction of a state-mandated minimum competency test (MCT) on students' acquisition of basic and high-level mathematics skills. Subjects of the study were ninth-grade students, all of whom attended the same schools in the Austin (Texas) Independent School District, and took the same form of the…

A study was conducted to ascertain whether additional focus on test-taking strategies might significantly improve the passing rate of Miami-Dade Community College (MDCC) students on the College Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST). All students who took the summer and fall 1984 administrations of the CLAST were included in the study. Original…

In 1984 an evaluation team examined the Maryland Functional Testing Program (MFTP), a statewide competency-based, criterion-referenced testing program that was instituted to limit awarding of high school diplomas to those students who had earned scores above cut scores on a series of achievement tests. This article examines the procedures the…

This document contains clinical evaluation tools that reflect the increasing degrees of independence and competence expected as students move through the sequential clinical courses of an associate degree nursing program. Two tools are provided for each of the seven clinical courses. Tool 1, Program/Course Objectives and Evaluation Criteria,…

A follow-up study was conducted in 1987 to assess the use and effectiveness of "Minimum Library Use Skills: Standards, Test, and Bibliography" (MLUS), which had been distributed to all members of the Wisconsin Association of Academic Librarians in 1985. Some copies of this publication had been sold, and it is also available in ERIC…

A model depicting dropping out of high school as a process is presented. Against a longitudinal mapping of student experiences, questions about standards or exit tests are addressed. Existing research on dropouts provided the empirical basis for the model. The central features of the model are the academic and social systems of the school.…

A methodology for investigating the influence of correction-for-guessing directions and formula scoring on test performance was studied. Experts in the test content field used a judgmental item appraisal system to estimate the knowledge of the minimally competent candidate (MCC) and to predict those items that the MCC would omit on the test under…

Recently, the definition of functional literacy has been broadened to include the completion of a secondary education or its equivalent. This definition focuses on obtaining the functional competencies required to perform adequately in adult life. Three major sets of functional competencies are represented in models developed by the Adult…

This report presents an analysis and synthesis of student performance data collected through state-mandated testing programs. The common performance areas assessed were basic skills achievement. The unique performance areas assessed were content skills within a particular state. Achievement data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress…

Recent criticism of public education has led to demands for educational improvement. Responses to this criticism include the development of minimum competency tests (MCTs) and calls for increased academic requirements. This paper reviews a national survey of state graduation requirements that reveals a wide variance in requirements. Eighteen…

This brief report states that recent emphasis on minimum competency testing has been on using the test results to make better decisions for improving the instructional program and providing remediation. State and local school districts, using advisory committees and commissions, are in various stages of identifying instructional goals and…

More than thirty states, as well as numerous local school districts, have adopted some form of student minimum competency program. Such programs vary widely in their purposes which range all the way from instructional and curriculum planning to deciding whether students are promoted from grade to grade. Thus far, there has been little actual…

Part of a volume which explores current issues in service delivery to infants and toddlers with handicapping conditions (ages birth to 3), this chapter treats the subject of competencies needed by the early childhood special educator specializing in infancy. First, the following context variables are discussed as they relate to definitions of…