The New York State Preliminary Competency Test in Reading is designed to measure a student's ability to understand written material of varying levels of difficulty. Results are used to evaluate a student's current level of achievement in reading and to indicate the extent of compensatory or remedial help which may be necessary to pass the final…

Describes (1) the rapid growth in the number of states requiring teacher competency testing prior to certification and (2) variations in teacher testing for other purposes. Discusses the perceived need for teacher testing and outlines some consequences of the testing movement. Widespread testing of school administrators may be next. (IW)

Based on a survey of teacher competency testing practices in all the states, the authors provide an analysis of what areas are covered in teacher tests, which tests are used, and how the tests are used in both current and planned state teacher testing programs. (Author/BS)

There is a continuing demographic shift toward a multiethnic school population, but the teacher population includes few minorities. Teacher selection procedures should examine personal qualities such as adaptation, creativity, self-renewal, and moral orientation. Incentives for attracting minority populations to teaching are proposed. (BJV)

Compares attitudes of Maine elected school officials, teachers, and community members on 18 educational issues including teacher and administrator salaries, merit salary increases, teacher competency exams, tenure, collective bargaining, truancy/drop-out rates, student competency exams, graduation requirements, discipline, substance abuse,…

Testing teachers for recertification to ensure that all certified teachers and administrators can read and write adequately is supported. Insofar as possible, tests must be developed and used in ways that are not demeaning to educational professionals. Recertification testing may recapture public support for education, which has seriously eroded.…

This article identifies as problems both social promotion and minimum competency decisions. The author analyzes the need for attention to individual differences and proposes that educational excellence within a compulsory system can be achieved only when standards are adjusted in accordance with individual differences. (MM)

Reviews issues highlighted during a meeting of educational technology professors in April 1985: a need for core curriculum content; alternative research methods; role of educational technologists in public education; relationships with business; interinstitutional cooperation. Comments on graduate curriculum, researcher training, and an…

Discusses the current status, significance, and future of credentialing in the field of environmental health. Also discusses four phases of a Bureau of Health Professions (BHP) Credentialing Program and BHP-funded projects related to their development and implementation. Phases include role delineation, resources development, examination…

"50 Essential Lessons" is the result of the lessons Jim Burke learned while asking himself how to teach his students the skills they needed to succeed in school and in the larger world. Anchored in standards shared by a range of national literacy documents, these lessons focus on the core cognitive and personal skills--reading, writing, speaking…

This article explores the idea of teacher-training institutions providing a warranty to school districts for each new teacher graduated from the institution and hired by the school district. Implications of such a program, including performance criteria to be established for teachers and ways to remedy a graduate's inadequate performance, are…

Many teachers in Tennessee believe that the primary causes of low scores on state mandated competency tests are the lack of encouragement at home and social promotion; "too much TV, not enough supervision on the part of parents, poor study habits and lack of motivation and self-discipline" are also cited. (CM)

The quality of education in the United States has been seriously damaged by two factors: equality of opportunity equated with the results of education (unless all students perform equally well, the system is judged to be unjust); and societal preoccupation with self-satisfaction and rejection of personal responsibility. (MLW)

After reviewing some problems raised by Minimum Competency Testing (MCT), the authors present ideas on the role of the State Education Agencies in defining minimum competencies. Among the items discussed are the implementation time of MCT, curricular implications, the impact on children, the financing of remediation, and state versus local control…

Describes a study comparing English course-level placement based on writing samples and standardized placement scores, as well as two different methods of grading writing samples. Results support the use of writing samples to supplement standardized placement scores as well as the use of a group holistic method of grading writing samples. Includes…