Minimum Competency Testing: Assessing the Effects of Assessment

Abstract

Minimum Competency Testing (MCT) is an attempt to establish minimal acceptable levels for educational attainment. MCT is mired in controversy. This research aimed to answer five principal questions: 1) Has MCT increased academic performance among high school students? 2) Does MCT, over time, affect achievement? 3) What role does remediation play in the potential for academic improvement of students in MCT programs? 4) Does MCT differentially and negatively affect achievement among minority students? And 5) Does MCT implementation increase the likelihood of dropping out of school? Based upon this research the following conclusions were advanced. MCT differentially affected high and low achievers. While MCT serves to decrease the likelihood of a student scoring in the lowest academic categories, it does so at the expense of those who might score in the highest. The presence of these requirements also serves to decrease the likelihood of a student scoring in the highest categories. Thus, MCT by raising the academic floor also lowers the academic ceiling. There also may be an increased tendency toward dropping out of school associated with MCT implementation. Higher dropout rates may be noticeable among those schools attended primarily by Asian American and European American students.

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