This report examines how high stakes assessments affect dropout and high school completion rates. The focus is on five suggestive lines of evidence about this relationship. This evidence is drawn in part from studies done at Boston College or by researchers for the National Board on Educational Testing and Public Policy. The conclusion drawn is…

Four considerations that enhance the instructional importance of tests are content match, use of feedback, a flagging function, and the increasing tendency to attach sanctions and rewards to standardized test results. These sanctions are apt to force greater attention to the other three characteristics, strengthening the links between instruction…

Outlines four limitations inherent in using a minimum competency test to determine eligibility for a high school diploma and, in some jurisdictions, to determine advance to the next grade. Discusses the appropriate uses of testing in an overall program.(MP)

The high failure rate of Black prospective teachers in the southern states raises the challenge to change the quality of education for all Americans. (MLF)

A survey of students and personnel from 28 schools in 20 counties to assess the impact of the Florida State Student Assessment Test and remedial practices on vocational enrollments revealed that, contrary to belief, vocational education enrollments increased while total school enrollments declined. (Author)

Predicts that the availability of computers and demands for competency testing could drastically alter the character and uses of standardized testing by the end of the century. Warns administrators to begin preparing for the future in order to prevent misuse of the new computer capabilities. (PGD)

A judicial decision on issues raised by state diploma denial found that competency testing of Florida's high school students as a graduation requirement violated due process by not providing students with adequate notice. The court prescribed some degree of curricular validity to determine whether the test covered materials actually taught.…

Describes development and implementation of the Indiana University French Communicative Ability Test, designed to provide valid and reliable evaluation of minimal communicative ability. (BK)

Introduces the University of Wisconsin-Parkside's Collegiate Skills Program which requires that students exhibit competencies in reading, writing, mathematics, library skills, and the research paper before the end of their sophomore year. Details placement procedures, course sequences, competency testing, and indicators of the program's success.…

Results of a statewide study on student teaching programs in Indiana indicated that school supervisors needed help in improving the quality of on-site supervision. One improvement strategy was the use of school supervisor evaluation as an inservice tool. (JN)

The bare minimum mathematical competencies for all college graduates are listed. It is felt too many people know too little mathematics, and ignorance is seen as a form of "functional illiteracy". The ideas presented were generated by a panel established by the Committee on the Undergraduate Program in Mathematics. (MP)

In addition to stigmatizing and prejudicing the future of young people, the denial of a high school diploma based on test scores represents a waste of public funds and human resources. In recent years, however, the educational system has been increasingly concerned with testing school children rather than teaching them. (Author/GC

Comments on state legislative intervention in curriculum during the past decade. Discusses attempts to establish minimum competency testing and legislative mandates regarding subjects and minimum instructional time. Addresses back-to-basics and saleable skills issues and reviews a Presidential Advisory Committee report with a discussion of…

Argues against using results of minimum competency testing (MCT) as the sole determinant of student classification, promotion, or condition for graduation from high school. Favors accountability, but asserts that MCT is not the best alternative available. (WD)

Despite demonstrated success of a graduation competency testing policy in Tatnall County (Georgia), a judge ruled that the policy violated due process because the school district could not show that the items on the test were actually taught in the schools. (WD)