This report presents Austin Independent School District 1984 test results on the Texas Assessment of Basics Skills (TABS). It was administered to all third, fifth and ninth grade students and to high school students not meeting ninth grade state-set mastery criteria, the minimum competency requirement for graduation. Results are presented as…

There is a great deal to think about in a minimum competency program: What competencies? How to measure? When to measure? One minimum or many? How high the minimum? Minimums for students or for schools? What to do with the incompetent? (Author/IRT)

A process called focused holistic scoring has been developed for use in the Texas Assessment of Basic Skills to assess student performance on writing samples. This process is "holistic" because it evaluates a total piece of writing, and it is "focused" because it evaluates the writing in terms of two specific objectives…

This paper describes the methods used for revising the Cincinnati Mathematics Inventories, a battery of criterion-referenced tests of basic skills used in the Cincinnati Title III program and other city-wide special programs. Each of these tests is designed to cover a half-year of work; items are included to sample skills listed in the Catalog of…

This paper represents a summary statement on an investigation into the area of statewide testing of minimum basic skills conducted last year for the New Jersey Task Force on Competency Indicators and Standards. Survey work and the study of source documents led to the following conclusions: (1) there was no obvious and agreed upon set of employment…

Procedures for administering the Proficiency Testing Program, adopted by the Idaho State Department of Education, are explained in this test administration manual. The tests are described as given on a district optional basis to ninth grade students in the basic skills areas of reading, writing, spelling, and mathematics. Criterion-referenced…

Rasch model statistics and domain-referenced test development methods were used in the Virginia Basic Learning Skills (BLS) testing programs and the Graduation Competencies testing program in order to increase the fairness and effectiveness of those programs. Mastery of each of the 83 objectives in reading and mathematics for grades one through…

This study was designed to illustrate the use of the Rasch model procedure to equate the Dade County Compensatory Education Skills Test (DCCEST) to the State Student Assessment Test (SSAT) for both mathematics skills and communications skills. The SSAT was a test developed by the Florida State Department of Education to measure students' level of…

Sample test questions are given for the Proficiency Testing Program adopted by the Idaho State Department of Education. Except for the writing skills test item, which requires a writing sample, all questions are objective, multiple choice items. Sample questions are given for reading, spelling, and mathematics. (MH)

A number of significant policy issues related to the use of competency tests in basic skills as a requirement for high school graduation are discussed. Issues contributing to the interest in this practice include test score decline, the widespread offering of electives in high school, the complaints of employers about the skill level of high…

Implementation of the Proficiency Testing Program, adopted by the Idaho State Board of Education, is explained in the districts coordinator's manual. The tests are described as administered on a district optional basis to ninth grade students in the basic skills areas of reading, writing, spelling, and mathematics. Criterion referenced tests are…

The Georgia Criterion Referenced Tests (GCRT), tests of basic skills, administered to Georgia students in grades four, eight, and ten measure competency in reading and mathematics. Results are reported for students in Atlanta and throughout the state. The reading and mathematics objectives were organized into skill areas. Atlanta students scored…

The Georgia State Department of Education administers criterion-referenced tests to all fourth-, eighth-, and tenth-grade students enrolled in public schools throughout Georgia. The testing program was initiated in the spring of 1976 with the administration of criterion-referenced tests in reading, mathematics, and career development to students…

The statewide implementation of the Georgia State Board of Education (GSBE) policy for high school graduation requirements was begun in September, 1980. It specifically stated that the GSBE would be responsible for assessing the basic skills, or learner skills, of students enrolled in public schools. It further stated that each local school system…