Heading Off Legal Challenges to Local Minimum Competency Programs

Abstract

One of the current reforms in public education is the minimum competency movement. This reform came in response to complaints, from many segments of society, that there need to be higher standards in the schools. From business interests came the complaint that a high school diploma no longer insured the fact that an employee, or a consumer for that matter, could read, write or solve simple arithmetic problems; from job seekers came the complaint that they did not feel they had the basic skills to be employable; from parents came complaints about discipline and a general dissatisfaction with the schools; and finally, from teachers came complaints that there was a need to instruct for literacy. Minimum competency testing has brought to light a paradox that the public schools now face. One of the goals in American society has been universal education. That goal has been attained. Ninety percent of school-age pupils attend high school, with 76 percent graduating (Cawelti, 1977). However, a consequence of attaining this goal is a lowering of standards. For several years, the SAT scores of college-bound students have been declining, a fact widely reported in the press. Keefe (1978) reports that the Association of American Publishers has revised its textbook study guides for college freshmen by lowering the reading level down to the ninth grade. Keefe also reports that independent studies have concluded that one out of five adults do not possess the minimum skills needed to cope with the requirements for a citizen in contemporary society. While the public continues to be committed to universal education, it wants standards more clearly defined. Madaus and Airasian (1977) report that 65 percent of those surveyed in a Gallup Poll would prefer to have a standard national examination.