Minimal competency testing is the most recent evolution of the accountability movement and of the competency based education movement. It focuses on the basic academic skills of reading, writing, and arithemtic. It presumes the state will set educational objectives, and that the local school district will conduct its program so that the objectives…

The Hart Act, recently adopted by the state of California, mandates that school districts establish mechanisms of assessing minimal competencies in secondary education before students may receive a diploma. In this report, assemblyman Gary Hart, the bill's author, and Don McKinley, chief deputy to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, discuss…

Student test scores are increasingly used to judge the competence of the educational enterprise. Exaggeration of scores is the result of directing attention away from the individual student achievement to the average scores of schools, districts, and states. Implications and recommendations are discussed. (BJV)

A synopsis of characteristics of effective English as a second language teachers (in the areas of knowledge, skills, and attitudes) is presented as well as a discussion of appropriate approaches (interaction analysis versus assumed teacher competencies) for evaluating teachers. (Author/CB)

State and local policymakers increasingly see the need to adapt workforce and education policies to the economic changes in their states and communities. The new economy is organized around skills, flexibility, and the willingness of all workers and employees to adapt to changing circumstances. For workers, this demands an increased investment in…

Faculty certification increases the chances that online instruction in higher education will successfully meet the needs of students. This paper introduces a new approach to designing a program of faculty certification for online instruction. This curriculum includes preparation in core competencies as well as in enabling and sustaining…

In 1991, Florida passed legislation requiring a master's degree as the professional standard for certification to provide speech and language services in Florida's public schools. The purpose of this rule was to establish certification consistent with American Speech-Language-Hearing Association standards. However, since that time, the…

Utilizes excerpts from an undergraduate elementary education student's journal to examine generalist teachers' attitudes towards musical competency and the necessary qualifications for teachers. Traces one teacher's recognition of her own musicality and the corresponding influence on her feelings of competency to teach this subject in an…

Provides an overview of the recent research concerning the application, benefits, and deficiencies regarding critical-reading skills and college instruction. Discusses how reading skills support cognitive processes necessary for acquiring psychological knowledge. Delineates the differences between narrative (story-like, believable) reading and…

Compares the primary existing documents about the competencies needed for school librarians at the international level and from four different countries. Official documents and statements available in each country are described and compared. The wider context in which school librarians are working is presented, and data about education for school…

Five articles consider archival education in the United States. Topics include a proposed graduate program in archival studies and its relationship to the profession's history; the integration of theory, methodology, and practice; educational effectiveness of current curricula; the challenge of electronic records management; and the importance of…

This article addresses an important problem that faces educators in assessing students' competence levels in learned tasks. Data from 165 students from Massachusetts and Minnesota in the United States are used to examine the validity of five assessment modes (multiple choice test, scenario, portfolio, self-assessment and supervisor rating) in…

Business cares about education standards because the well-being of their companies and every American is at stake. In the international marketplace, says former Lockheed-Martin chief executive officer (CEO) Norman Augustine, the United States is involved in a "battle of the classrooms." As a result, business leaders believe that…

For more than 20 years, the benefits of international mobility for students have been taken for granted. Now, policy makers and educators have started to realize that internationalization and globalization do not magically happen by sending ever higher numbers of students abroad. The quality of international mobility has taken center stage of the…

To assess students' business writing abilities upon entry into the business program and exit from the capstone course, a multitiered assessment package was developed that measures students' achievement of specific learning outcomes and provides "value-added" scores. The online segment of the test measures five competencies across three process…