European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 25, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Hension Tan. He noted educator problem of what to do with As not teamed to read. Do Tea tit failure to the Young 5w him a social promo m him to the next Grade x he has not mastered the Otthat about the student medial training but is still the minimum competency Ktut a answer Wise notion of values. The m that would attach to h a result of these mint by taws May be. Alet than getting out of without being Able to i the minimum competency my they Don t have solutions bums. Educators Are still top acceptable tests. / minimal competency Multi h a testing and measure Tor which no one has All thei a a. Wilson director of in mint for the National As a National Progress. Nap e Federal government and Isi education commission of ated to cd Calora and test meeting in Denver last state and local school Dis using an item Bank ap-8 Large Pool of test items did be used to establish a Iab from which state and wild Sample or select items particular needs at a Given testing services already i proposed exams. One such actions designed to find out Lent can follow written i understand such items Asand can use Road maps or apes to get the information of districts Are trying to11 in the area of mini by y to measure the Impact of rat but a look at the diver toe proposals under Devil a dues about the directions King. Two states California and Florida combined minimum competency testing with the Early out concept whereby a student who passes the test can leave school with a diploma before the usual Legal age. About 20.000 to 30,000 students in califor Nia have taken the minimum competency test Pipho said but no studies have been completed on the Impact of the Taw and How it is working. Implementation of the Law in Florida was delayed when Legisla tors discovered there was no Standard readily available minimum competency test the Early out approach appears to be in the minority Pipho said adding that there Are questions about the Impact of the program on College enrolment and about what happens to the student who leaves school at is or 16 and cannot find a Job. The City of Denver has been giving mini mum competency tests since 1962. Two years ago the Colorado legislature passed a Law requiring any school District which decides to give such a test to meet certain standards the test must first be Given in the ninth Grade tests must be Given twice a year remedial classes must be provided during the regular school Day for All students who do not pass the test. Some educators argue that testing in the ninth Grade is too late. The state of Washington in legislation passed last year requires that local school districts develop learning objectives Start ing with the kindergarten year and that students be tested at least  Virginia legislature ordered school districts last year to give highest instructional priority to developing the Reading communications and mathematics skills of All students with particular attention to the primary grades and the intermediate the Law also directs the state boards of education to establish minimum educational standards on a statewide basis and to test students annually for Reading and communications  says the minimum competency tests could Lead to a major overhaul of the educational system within the decade with changes in what is taught and How. Educa tors Are still debating the form that the changes should take and what areas should be stressed. But Pipho notes the Man on the Street has no doubt As to the meaning of minimum competency. Minimum compe Tency Means Reading writing and Arith  the functional illiterates Wen cannot apply classroom skills to practical situations. May 25, 1977 today s students have Learned the traditional skills of Reading writing and arithmetic but they often do not know How to us those abilities in everyday  s the general conclusion of a series of studies by the National assessment of educational Progress Nap a federally funded project de  measure children s knowledge in a variety of Fields. Educators generally agree that the concern which used to be focused on whether Johnny could read has shifted to worry Over whether Johnny under stands the words and is functionally As Well As technically literate. The . Office of education estimates that there Are 23 million adults More than 10 per cent of he population who Are functionally illiterate unable to perform such Basic skills As Reading a train schedule. Recent court cases in California and new York have raised the question of whether schools like doctors can be charged with malpractice for falling to prepare students for adult  Are designed to measure How Well students can take information they Are Given and use it to answer common questions involving Money nutrition and  Nap recently summarized the results of tests Over the past decade to develop profiles of Stu dents at Ages 9,13 and 17. The findings were most encouraging when it came to the youngest group. Educators report that it is too soon to say whether these findings mean that the Quality of education is definitely improving. But they express Hope that the test scores will continue to Rise As the youngsters move through school. The study found that 9-year-Olds have improved their Reading and writing skills in recent years. They can read simple stories and write letters to their friends they Are tolerant of peo ple s cultural differences and believe in an or Derly society. Comparing the results of two sets of tests the Nap reported that Black 9-year-Olds in particular increased their Reading skills from 1971 to 1975. The average percentage of this group answering Reading items correctly increased 4.8 percentage Points in the four year period the increase for White 9-year Olds was 1.2 per  Nap study found that 13-year-Olds can read write add subtract Divide and multiply if told to do so. But they Don to by themselves use these skills to solve everyday  Ino v. S. Mullis an analyst with the Nap and one of the authors of the latest study said com pared to 13-year-Olds at the turn of the Century the tact that today s 13-year-Olds have. A variety of skills and knowledge could be considered quite encouraging. However 13-year-Olds, in general do not re Alize the potential uses of the skills and facts they have  As an example the study noted that Only about half the students could read and understand detailed instructions in order to determine Long distance Tele phone rates or the conditions of membership in a  study also found that 13-year-Olds knowledge of reference materials and How to use them is superficial. Ninety four per cent of those surveyed knew that a dictionary is used to find the meanings of words but Only 78 per cent of them could take the first three letters of a word and figure out. From the guide words on the dictionary Page where the word they were looking up would be located. The students also were Given a Sample Index from a newspaper and asked five simple questions to test their knowledge. Only 40 per cent answered All questions correctly in 1975, a decrease of two percentage Points from 1971. In both years girls achievement Levels were about s percentage Points higher than boys. When it came to arithmetic the students were asked to compare prices for different site packages of Rice and choose the one with the lowest Cost per ounce. Only one fourth of the students were Success Ful half chose the biggest Box Wvori though it Cost More per ounce. The Nap profile of 17-year-Olds was the least encouraging. Seventeen year Olds can read write and compute in Well structured situations said Don Phillips an Nap analyst. But they have difficulty applying their knowledge in new  Don t do Well on problems that require More than one step and can t organize their thoughts in writing. Indications Are that 17-year-Olds knowl Edge Levels have slipped slightly Over the last seven  the study showed that most 17-year-Olds thin that they Are Good readers but Only half Are Able to read at the College freshman level Roost have thought about their future jobs but less than one third have talked with a Counselor about career plans they support political and Legal Equality but almost one third think it is not important to vote. Only 1 per cent could balance a Check Book. Among the studies used in preparing the latest profile were Nap tests conducted for the right to head program of the  office of education in 1971.1974 and 1975. The tests involved More than 4,200 students across the country who were asked to answer 86 questions. In order to be considered functionally literate they had to give the right answers to at least 04 questions. By this Standard about 13 per cent of All the 17year-Olds were functionally illiterate. Over 21 per cent of students from disadvantage Urban areas were functionally illiterate As were 42 per cent of Black students and 20 per cent of the students from the Southeast. The study showed that 17-year-Olds gained slightly in Basic Reading skills from 1971 to 197$, but virtually All the change occurred in the first three years. Royh. Forbes director of Nap said there was no significant change in Overall functional Reading ability from 1974 to 1975, although some groups taken individually did improve or decline on certain types of  1971 to 1975. The number of 17-year-Olds Able to read such Basic things As Street signs store Cou Pons and Telephone directories increased by two percentage Points. There was a gain of five percentage Points among Blacks and two percentage Points among Whites. Correct responses among mates in creased by three percentage Points among females the increase was Only 1.5 percentage Points. Forbes said the improvement was encouraging but noted that the questions asked in the study rep resent relatively simple Reading  he added at least one out of 10 of those students hear ing the end of High school is still not Able to do Basic Ever Day Reading  Gilbert b. Schiffman. Director of the right to read program said the Gap in functional Reading performance is definitely closing. Particularly encouraging is the rapid improvement among those groups of students who traditionally have had read ing problems. Nevertheless a great Deal remains to be done before we can claim to have eradicated i lit  Nap studies have found that 17-year-Olds also have problems with writing particularly if they Are not specifically told what to do. They have Trou ble for example answering a Job advertisement. In Sample letters most of them stated the Job the were applying for and gave their qualifications in general terms but Only about one third listed a phone number or return address to which a prospective employer could respond. The stars and stripes Page 17