Content area
The purpose of this study was (a) to collect demographic data pertaining to the individual job characteristics of North Carolina's mathematics supervisors and their respective school districts, (b) to investigate the impact that North Carolina's mandate for minimum competency testing has had on the high school mathematics curriculum, and (c) to determine if the impact of minimum competency testing on the mathematics curriculum is significantly related to selected demographic variables.
Data presented in this study were obtained from a questionnaire which I developed. The questionnaire was completed by 128 (89.51%) of the 143 mathematics supervisors in North Carolina's public school districts.
The data provided by North Carolina's mathematics supervisors in response to the questionnaire were tabulated to obtain frequencies and percentages for each statement. To identify significant differences, data from the second part of the questionnaire which deals with the perceived impact of minimum competency testing on mathematics were tabulated to obtain comparisons for the paired groups. The chi-square test of independence was used to provide statistical analysis of the data.
Statistical analyses resulted in the acceptance of the five null hypotheses and revealed the following: (1) The objectives for high school mathematics have changed since the 1977 mandate for minimum competency testing. However, mathematics supervisors were almost evenly divided on whether the changes were related to the mandate. (2) Remedial and advanced level courses have been added to the mathematics curriculum. Additional remedial courses were perceived as being related to minimum competency testing, but advanced level courses were unrelated to the mandate. (3) A large majority did not perceive a change in passing standards. However, most respondents indicated that student achievement in mathematics had increased and was related to minimum competency testing. (4) A change was clearly evident in the selection of materials for mathematics. This change was perceived as being directly related to the mandate for minimum competency testing. (5) The availability of basic skills/tutorial programs has increased since 1977. A majority of respondents perceived these increases as being directly related to the mandate for minimum competency testing.