During the last decade many school systems began to define minimum levels of competency for their students and to construct tests to measure whether students had achieved these minimums. Many states have passed laws which require high school students to pass minimum competency tests in order to graduate. This digest overviews four areas of controversy that have arisen from minimum competency testing: accountability; social issues; instructional implications; and psychometric issues. Minimum competency testing has been seen as a method of holding schools accountable for graduating literate students with at least basic skills. Because of the historically greater failure rate of some minority groups, opponents of minimum competency testing have characterized it as a racist means of denying educational credentials to minority groups. Instructionally, these testing programs must be based on taught objectives and must have remedial programs available to students who fail. Because minimum competency tests are used to make decisions having serious consequences for students, they must be psychometrically sound and conform to or exceed quality standards set forth by the testing profession. (BS)