The Department of Education has been under attack by people motivated by the perceived failure of the system to improve educational achievement on the elementary and high school levels or the desire to dramatically reduce spending and waste during troubled economic times. A new program introduced in four states seems to address competency and…

This study compared elementary and special education teachers' knowledge of when K-3 students develop key reading competencies, their knowledge of who is responsible for teaching K-3 students key reading competencies, and teachers' perceptions of their own instructionally relevant competencies to those standards articulated within their state's…

A pilot test of 29 (78 percent) first-year trade and industrial (T&I) teachers who took the Connecticut Competency Examination for Prospective Teachers compared their scores with those of general education majors. Only 21 percent of the T&I teachers passed, suggesting the need for better basic skills preparation in T&I teacher…

Three statewide assessment programs in Connecticut developed in response to the State Board of Education's goals and objectives are described. These include: (1) the Connecticut Assessment of Educational Progress; (2) the Educational Evaluation and Remedial Assessment Program; and (3) the Connecticut Mastery Testing Program.

Connecticut's experience with four different standard-setting methods regarding multiple choice proficiency tests is described. The methods include Angoff, Nedelsky, Borderline Group, and Contrasting Groups Methods. All Connecticut ninth graders were administered proficiency tests in reading, language arts, and mathematics. As soon as final test…

The Connecticut Statewide Basic Skills Proficiency Test is required for all ninth-grade students in Connecticut public schools, vocational-technical schools, and endowed or incorporated high schools and academies. The examination covers basic reading, language arts and mathematics skills. Students who score below the level of expected performance…

Results are presented of the Connecticut Statewide Basic Skills Proficiency Test, which was administered to Connecticut ninth graders for the fourth time in 1983. The history of the test is summarized; it was designed to identify students who are performing so far below grade level that they require remedial instruction to succeed in the ninth…

This booklet interprets and summarizes the results of the Connecticut Statewide Basic Skills Proficiency Test as administered to ninth graders in October, 1986. The test measures basic skills in reading and mathematics, and basic writing skills in the language arts. The test is used to identify students who require further remediation in order to…

Connecticut's Basic Skills Proficiency Test, administered for the sixth time in October 1985, measures reading, language arts, mathematics, and writing skills. The test was intended to identify students who require further diagnosis and remediation in order to participate successfully in ninth grade classes. Results indicated that over 90 percent…

This conference was organized around four policy concerns: (1) the needs of handicapped, gifted, and bilingual students; (2) the use of test results to allocate federal compensatory education funds; (3) the validity of minimum competency testing; and (4) the demand for increasingly sophisticated evaluations. Garry L. McDaniels discussed the…