Reports on the steps undertaken and the discoveries made by the English department of Illinois State University in its development of a valid, reliable measure of student competency in freshman composition. (HOD)

Compares multiple choice testing with free response formats in terms of the cognitive operations each type demands. (HOD)

The New Jersey law permitting a period of silence in schools was struck down by a federal court judge who held that the law was intended to circumvent the proscription against government entanglement in religion. The New York Supreme Court has upheld the competency test for obtaining high school diplomas. (MLF)

This document is designed to assist classroom teachers in preparing students to successfully complete the Alabama High School Graduation Exam (AHSGE). It consists of activities that are correlated with the Alabama Course of Study: Mathematics, Bulletin 1997, No. 4, and Standards and Objectives (Reading Comprehension, Language, Mathematics, and…

This document on Academic Literacies is an update of the original 1982 Statement on Competencies in English Expected of Entering College Freshmen. Incorporating findings from a Web-based survey submitted to faculty across the disciplines at the University of California , the California State Universities, and the California Community Colleges, and…

Forest Grove High School (FGHS) is a suburban school in Oregon that implemented an extensive remediation program to increase the mathematics scores of its learners taking the state-mandated competency examination, the Oregon Statewide Assessment Test (OSAT). Learners who failed at least two of the mathematics sections of the 1998 OSAT, taken when…

Research indicates that people tend to use only five percent of the capabilities available in word processing software. The major objective of this study was to determine to what extent word processing was used by businesses, what competencies were required by those businesses, and how those competencies were being learned in Mid-South states. A…

A competency test was developed to assess students skills in using electronic library resources. Because all students were required to pass the test, and had multiple opportunities to do so, multiple test forms were desired. Standards had been set on the original form, and minor differences in form difficulty needed to be taken into account.…

In the 1996?1997 school year, the ABCs of Public Education was implemented as a comprehensive plan to reorganize public schools in North Carolina. The ABCs focus on accountability, on the basics and high educational standards, and on maximum local control. To encourage a strong academic emphasis, the state testing program emphasizes the basic…

Regulation and legislation make the role of the classroom teacher more bureaucratic. Legislators can contribute to the improvement of education by policy analysis and by making teacher salaries more competitive with the alternatives available to competent people. (MLF)

The trend toward competency-based education and competency testing is the work of legislators and politicians, not educators. Some of the latter express serious reservations about it. The minimum competency testing movement is a result of the effort to integrate minorities into the mainstream of society. (JOW)

Development of the mathematics functional literacy test (MFLT) is described, issues of predictive and content validity are discussed, and implications for educational policy are presented. Ten basic skill areas identified by the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics were used as the basis for the development of the MFLT. (RL)

At a series of three workshops, 25 principal competency statements were developed to define more clearly administrative roles in community education administration. A table organizes the 25 statements into eight essential task areas and then lists the minimal competencies needed in each area. (MLF)

Indicates that national statistics show declining numbers of unskilled jobs and large numbers of semiliterate and illiterate high school graduates; argues that minimum competency requirements can benefit both individuals and society. Observes that recent judicial decisions have usurped the right to set educational policy, which constitutionally…

Concludes that valid reading tests are needed for adults and should be designed differently than tests for academic or school-related reading. (AEA)