Suggests that mandatory placement of underprepared students in developmental courses may actually provide the key to opening the door to true academic, vocational, or community success, despite criticism by some that it excludes students and restricts their freedoms. Discusses ethical balances between access, student success and academic…

Objective: The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and the Liaison Committee on Medical Education have mandated the transition from written global evaluation methods to competency-based assessments in resident and medical student training. Assessment of competency requires analysis of performance data from numerous sources. This…

An overview is provided of the activities of the President's Study Group on Student Learning Outcomes, established in 1990 at Lehigh County Community College to identify associate degree and certificate competencies and to develop strategies for their implementation and assessment. Introductory materials list the Study Group's members and review…

At present, states have no consistent manner in which limited-English-proficient (LEP) students are assessed on statewide or district-level minimum competency examinations. In some states, LEP students need to take the same minimum competency examinations under the same rules as other students to graduate or be promoted. Competency tests have the…

The 32 tests described in this bibliography cover grades K-12 and are used to assess minimum competency in individual subjects such as mathematics, reading, or writing, or other basic academic areas. Several of the tests are state minimum competency examinations which students must pass in order to graduate. This document is one in a series of…

The objective of the study was to determine whether Competency-Based Testing (CBT) schools altered their curriculum differently than Non-Competency-Based Testing schools (NCBT), and, if so, what selected factors were identified as contributing to the differences among the responses secondary schools made to CBT. The data from 410 member high…

Eleven judges representing 11 different geographic regions in the United States participated in a standard-setting session designed to determine the possibility of obtaining interjudge consensus and intrajudge consistency simultaneously. Each judge had experience in the field for which standards were being set. The judges rated 65 multiple-choice…

While southern States are attempting to provide academic and job training for high school dropouts whose earnings are below poverty level, a more effective solution would be to encourage high school completion and to assure the mastery of skills. Educational efforts are, therefore, now being focused on programs in elementary schools with the hope…

This manual, accompanying the New York State Regents Examinations and Competency Tests, is intended for use by school administrators, guidance counselors, teachers, and proctors. Regents examinations measure the quality of instruction and learning that has taken place in high schools, and provide information for educational and vocational decision…

In the Louisiana Basic Skills Testing (BST) program, initiated in 1982, criterion-referenced tests of language arts and mathematics were administered to all second grade students. Longitudinal data over three years tracked four cohorts of students to address when retention appears to be most effective and whether a combination of repeated…

Essential to the definition of an effective school is an operational definition of minimum academic mastery as the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and concepts that enable the student to be demonstrably successful in the next grade level in the same school or in any other school in the United States. An effective schools program, such as the one…

This monograph on developing and implementing admission testing for prospective teachers includes information on: (1) competency assessment activities in 31 selected states, the basic skills assessed, and time of testing--prior to admission and/or certification; (2) competency test development; (3) competency testing for admission into teacher…

The articles in this monograph provide a framework for reflecting on a variety of educational issues. In section one the historical roots of teacher education are examined. The second section deals more directly with what a teacher is and how the definitional properties of "the teacher" begin to dictate a curriculum for teacher…

To assist low achieving students in the mastery of instructional objectives in major subject areas, the Ministry of Education of Israel published definitions of Minimum Achievement Requirements (MAR) for specific subjects at all grade levels. To examine the feasibility of the MAR approach and to determine whether it contributed to the attainment…

Reported research and analysis concerning competency tests required for high school graduation and concerning dropping out of school point to ambiguous hypotheses about the effects of graduation tests on early school leaving. A review of the literature indicates the existence of data on the process nature of dropping out, the centrality of…