A rationale is provided for integrating steps that are necessary both in minimum competency testing programs and in the process required under Public Law 94-142 (the Education for All Handicapped Children Act) for developing individualized education programs for handicapped children. (Author)

Minimum competency testing programs may discriminate against handicapped students. Action must be taken, this article warns, to assure that such programs do not emerge as an exclusionary practice that will require years to overcome. (Author)

Contends that the imposition of competence standards might compensate for the climate of permissiveness that allowed students to graduate from high school without having developed high school level skills in the basics. (DD)

Issues of state control over private schools are expected to center primarily over the questions of literacy testing of students and minimum competency testing of teachers. Available from Headmaster U.S.A., Post Office Box 21587, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33335; sc $4.00. (Author/MLF)

Examines the political influences on minimum competency testing in Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, and California. (IRT)

Outlines a method for constructing minimum competency tests that are legitimate, answerable, and useful. At the heart of such tests is an item bank that is open to all to view. (Author/IRT)

The article analyzes three policy options in the competency testing of handicapped students: (1) requiring the handicapped to pass a competency test; (2) exempting the handicapped from such tests if their Individualized Education Plan requirements are met; and (3) development of differential competency standards for these students. (Author/DB)

During the 1986-87 school year, 4,299 handicapped students were given New Jersey's competency test which measures academic achievement in reading, mathematics, and writing. Twelve percent of these students passed the test. There was a variance across student classifications; the math subtest was particularly difficult for the students. (Author/DB)

Standards-based score reports interpret test performance with reference to cut scores defining categories like "below basic," "proficient," or "master." This article first develops a conceptual framework for validity arguments supporting such interpretations, then presents three applications. Two of these serve to introduce new standard-setting…

This paper traces the evolution of the statutory reforms passed by the Illinois General Assembly to upgrade the quality of those entering the teaching force in Illinois. Part one briefly examines the national trends in testing for admission into teacher education programs prior to certification. Part two focuses on the Illinois movement to test…

Setting standards for the purpose of certification is frequently performed using judgmental techniques such as the Angoff method. This study was performed to identify types of items that judges find hard to rate accurately, that is, types of items on which examinees perform differently than predicted by the judges. Once identified these item types…

Literature on the background, causes, and current prevalence of competency based programs is synthesized in this report. According to one analysis of the actual and probable costs of minimum competency testing, estimated costs for test development, test administration, bureaucratic structures, and remedial programs for students who cannot pass the…

The study was designed to determine the variables which may be strong indicators of possible failure or difficulty on the minimum competency test (MCT) for 88 handicapped seniors (learning disabled, mildly retarded, and emotionally disturbed). Fifty-six Ss had not successfully passed the MCT prior to their senior year, while the comparison group…

Developed to improve the educational testing program and to reflect the content of the state curriculum for students in Texas, this paper lists words selected from all state-adopted basal reading series, plus several other appropriate sources, which may be included in test items on the Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS) tests.…

Developed to provide Texas school districts with information about the scope of the spelling objective on the writing test of the Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills, this list includes all spelling words eligible for testing at each specified level. The paper contains lists for students in grades 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and the exit level of…