Intended to help the laity find their way through the confusion and controversy surrounding minimum competency testing (MCT), this paper explains what MCT is, acknowledges its limitations, weighs the criticisms, and shows how MCT may be used constructively for the benefit of students and for the improvement of schools. Highlights from the paper include the following remarks: (1) MCT can help ensure that all high school graduates possess the requisite skills to be citizens, workers, and continuing learners; (2) MCT can identify students who need help in reaching minimum standards; (3) MCT can aid school districts and states to spot schools, programs, curricula, and instruction that are not effective in meeting the needs of such students; (4) the most suitable purpose of MCT is to test the academic skills students learn in school; (5) there is nothing in the idea of a minimum standard that necessarily causes it to become viewed as a maximum; and (6) MCT alone cannot produce long-term reform or improvement in teaching and learning. (RL)