Restricted equating samples are often used to equate test results. Previously eligible students may be excluded because this group of students is not stable from year to year and their inclusion may bias the results. The present study evaluated the impact of including previously eligible students in the equating samples, where the percentage of…

A US sample (N = 360) of psychology educators assessed 73 writing skills and competencies with regard to (a) the importance of each and (b) the typical performance of the top half of local psychology majors. An analysis of gap scores yielded results showing that specific skills, such as supporting claims with citations and proofreading ability,…

This research aims at examining the Students' perceptions of the effectiveness of the English program implemented in the College of Technological Studies in Kuwait. A sample of 242 students was randomly selected from the population. The students were asked to respond to a 21-statement questionnaire designed to obtain information about how they…

This report discusses a plan to help Georgia school systems develop their own evaluation instruments for student writing. The report indicates that the use of actual writing samples in assessing writing skills can be valid, reliable, and economical. It includes attachments with sample writing scores from a school, the purposes and statistics that…

A competency test for writing that tests writing competency as an interdisciplinary skill called "academic writing" has been developed at The American University. The test focuses heavily on the subject and lightly on the writer or on the writer's sensibility. It avoids asking the student to write introspective "meditations," to take and defend a…

This criticism of writing competency tests questions both the efficacy of a test developed by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and the reliance of individual states on the products of private testmakers. The paper suggests that a hidden curriculum is being developed by independent and semi-independent organizations that…

Suggests that those who feel the need for competency testing in their program should find or construct a test that reflects the faculty's expectations, locate a coordinator to put the test into the curriculum, and find ways to bring the marginal student up to expectations. (EL)

Beginning with the fall semester, 1983, California required all community colleges to test their students on minimal writing competency before being granted an Associate in Arts or Associate in Science degree. This guide explains the ways in which students at Bakersfield College may complete this requirement (i.e., by initial placement into…

Examines three standardized college composition tests in terms of the context of the assignment and the impact of social influences and the testing situation. Stresses inadequacies inherent to standardized composition testing. (HTH)

Supports "The Ohio Literacy Initiative" (a document the Ohio Department of Education developed as a resource for districts interested in designing and implementing an effective, comprehensive literacy framework) as it calls for community efforts to help districts attain and support confident and articulate readers and writers. (NH)

Many states have adopted minimal competency testing in reading or writing, assuming that goals of basic education are measurable and that testing for such goals is technologically feasible. It is not clear that such testing comes at a time in history when the quality of education is demonstrably lower than at other times in American education. The…

Many secondary school English teachers have had no formal training in the teaching of writing and consequently equate written discourse with language propriety. This has been aggravated by the back to basics movement that has influenced secondary teaching across the country--especially as it has led to the development of legislation establishing…

Results from the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) indicate that English as a Second Language (ESL) and English Literacy Development (ELD) students have comparatively low success and high deferral rates. This study examined the 2002 and 2003 OSSLT test performances of ESL/ELD and non-ESL/ELD students in order to identify and…

A writing competency exam has been developed at a Vermont state college as a uniform method of judging attainment of a specified minimum standard for writing. The test was designed to meet four primary criteria: to judge student ability to create discourse, to yield specific evaluative information, to involve all academic divisions in test design…

Competency testing in composition fixes goals that convey to students, teachers, parents, and the general public inaccurate notions about the nature of composition and what competency in writing comprises. The trend toward competency testing comes from the public's realization that many high school and college graduates are functionally…