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Minimum competency testing programs have been instituted in many school districts in the United States during the past five years. States and school districts which require for high school graduation a demonstration of minimum competency in required arts areas are in need of guidance in developing minimum competency testing programs in such areas. Models for such programs do not exist.
The major purpose of this study was to develop a model Minimum Competency Testing Program in beginning choral music at the high school level--an arts activity many students elect to meet graduation requirements. Developing the model Minimum Competency Testing Program required the completion of four activities: (1) determination of appropriate minimum competencies, (2) development of appropriate testing devices and activities, (3) institution of instructional and testing programs, and (4) evaluation of the instructional and testing program.
A total of 172 minimum competencies was identified (through a consensus procedure) to be included in the model Minimum Competency Testing Program. Competency statements then were prepared for each identified minimum competency. Each competency statement included: (1) the skill or knowledge stated in behavioral terms, (2) the level of mastery to be exhibited--100 percent in all cases, (3) the conditions of testing, and (4) supplemental information regarding the skill or knowledge to be tested. Tests then were developed for each competency.
During the 1980-81 school year the model Minimum Competency Testing Program was employed with a group of ninth-grade choral music students in a pilot program. Each student in the program was able to demonstrate 100 percent mastery of each competency on a maximum of five administrations of the appropriate competency test. Evaluation of the pilot program resulted in recommendations involving shifts in the presentation sequence of certain competencies, rewriting of some competency handouts, restructuring of certain tests, and reorganization of instructional and testing procedures. It was hoped that the instructional and testing procedures utilized in the model Minimum Competency Testing Program in beginning-level choral music would provide a structural framework for the development of other programs of the same type.