ERIC Number: ED256872
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1982-May
Pages: 56
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Massachusetts: Out of Step or Ahead of the Times?
Beach, Joyce
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has had a competency-based vocational instructor approval process for more than two and one-half decades. Perhaps the most important element in this process has been the vocational competency testing. Although some say that Massachusetts is out of step, others feel that Massachusetts has a well-established testing component and will soon be recognized for being in the forefront of competency-based teacher education. Court decisions since Griggs v. Duke Power Co. uphold the right of the state to use competency testing as a criterion for employment. Various cases, however, reinforce the notion that employment tests must be demonstrably job-related, should predict job performance, and must be content valid. Furthermore, due process is guaranteed in the Fourteenth Amendment, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination. Massachusetts has developed a User's Manual for the Vocational Competency Testing Program, which describes procedures for validating tests and developing job-related tests and the Appeals Process. Recommendations have been made for validation studies. (Appendixes include a survey of necessity of occupational examinations for certification, uniform guidelines on employee selection, and vocational instructor approval requirements.) (YLB)
Descriptors: Competency Based Teacher Education, Court Litigation, Due Process, Equal Protection, Federal Legislation, Minimum Competency Testing, Occupational Tests, Social Discrimination, State Programs, State Standards, Teacher Certification, Test Validity, Validity, Vocational Education, Vocational Education Teachers
Publication Type: Opinion Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Massachusetts
Identifiers - Laws, Policies, & Programs: Fourteenth Amendment
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A