Minimum Competency Testing and the Handicapped

Ewing, Norma J.; Smith, James E.

doi:10.1177/001440298104700705

Cited by 13 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…Further, there is fear that creating a "special education" diploma will assign an obvious stigma that follows the person into later years. Ewing and Smith (1981) argued that linking high school graduation certification to competency test requirements is potentially harmful to handicapped students; they reasoned that such a linkage may cause many to suffer unnecessary humiliation as a result of test requirements that are unfair and discriminatory.…”

Section: Minimum Competency Testing and Handicapped Studentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of Mathematics Competence of Learning Disabled Adolescents

et al. 1987

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Minimum competency testing is currently a reality in American education; the practice presents a number of problems for regular class and handicapped students. In this research, the mathematics performance of learning disabled (LD) students and their nondisabled peers on the Florida State Student Assessment Test-II (SSAT-II) was evaluated, and employers' opinions about the importance of mathematical skills assessed on the SSAT-II were analyzed. It was reasoned that information such as this would provide valuable benchmarks for use in planning, organizing, and implementing educational programs for high school students. Skill performance and mastery scores were tabulated and compared for adolescents classified as learning disabled and their regular class peers; the relative importance of various skills to employers was also tabulated and compared. Strengths and weaknesses in basic math competencies were identified and relations among these skill performances and employer opinions were identified. In general, LD students performed better on skills requiring literal use of numbers and worse on skills requiring application of mathematical knowledge. Employers' ratings of the extent to which various skills were required in the world of work supported the importance of competence in these basic skills.

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Section: Minimum Competency Testing and Handicapped Studentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of Mathematics Competence of Learning Disabled Adolescents

et al. 1987

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“…Six years after Congress authorized the Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1975, individuals working in special education began to investigate the development of effective and appropriate accommodation for students with disabilities during standardized testing procedures (Ewing & Smith, 1981). The number of students with documented disabilities who participate in high-stakes tests has greatly increased in recent years (Do-Hong, Schneider & Siskind, 2009).…”

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confidence: 99%

The Effect of a Noise Reducing Test Accommodation on Elementary Students with Learning Disabilities

Smith

Riccomini

2013

Learn Disabil Res Pract

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Researchers in the fields of cognitive psychology and education have been studying the negative effects of noise on human performance for almost a century. A new empirical study that builds upon past relevant research on (1) test accommodations and (2) auditory distraction and academic performance was conducted with elementary age students. Reading comprehension tasks were completed by students with and without learning disabilities while wearing and not wearing noise‐reducing headphones. Results of three independent statistical analyses are presented. Implications, limitations, and the need for future research are also discussed.

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“…There is so much variation within the handicapped population that establishing standards across that population, or even within categories, is likely to be as unfair for some individuals as would be using the same standards or assessment procedures as those used with nonhandicapped students (Pullin, 1980). There also remains the larger question of whether MCT is an appropriate vehicle for identifying and remediating those academic deficiencies associated with certain types of exceptionalities (Danielson, 1980;Ewing & Smith, 1981;Fenton, 1980;Grise, 1980). In the case of students whose handicap does not entail a basic inability to perform at or near grade level, MCT may be useful.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How do Adolescents Perform on a Statewide Minimum Competency Test?

1989

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The purpose of this research was to compare the performance of mildly handicapped and nonhandicapped students on a test designed to measure functionalliteracy in math and communication skills. Random Samples of 300 students w m drawn from performance data available for all students participating in a statewide assessment program. Separate i&m scores as well as percentages of mastery on specific skills and sfandards were analyzed. krformance of students with individual handicap ping conditions on the hm standards (communication and mathematics) was compared across exceptional student groups and with the performance of nonhandicapped peers. A high percentage (8ZOVo) of nonhandicapped students demonstrated mastery levels of performance on the communication and mathematics items. Students classified as emotionally handicapped (EH) and learning disabled (LD) achieved mastery within 5% of one another on the communication and mathematics items and performance of students classified as educably mentally handicapped (EMH) was far below that of other exceptional students. In general, scores were highest in communication skills involving writing (i.e., being able to complete money orders, checks, and common brms) and in mathematics skills involving the use of equivalent amounts of change and curmncy. in rne m i a -~~/ u s , minimum comperency iesrrng iegisiarion was irirusi uri public schools to ensure that all high school graduates attained a given level of literacy (Klein, 1984). The enthusiasm for competency tests stemmed from a belief that the testing of essential skills and competencies would help raise academic standards and increase educational achievement (Haney & Madaus, 1978). Enoch (1978) put it this way: "The program was not set up as This research was supported in part byagrant (No. 6008402050) from the United sttdes Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs; the opinions represented are those of the authors and should not be construed as an agency perspective.

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Minimum Competency Testing and the Handicapped

Cited by 13 publications

References 0 publications

Analysis of Mathematics Competence of Learning Disabled Adolescents

Analysis of Mathematics Competence of Learning Disabled Adolescents

The Effect of a Noise Reducing Test Accommodation on Elementary Students with Learning Disabilities

How do Adolescents Perform on a Statewide Minimum Competency Test?

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