In 1979, Act 187, known now as the Educator Improvement Act, was mandated by the legislature of the State of South Carolina. One tenet of Act 187 was the establishment of an Educator Improvement Task Force to develop an instrument which could effectively measure minimal teaching competencies. To help in the content and design of the instrument, more than 50 state and national teacher evaluation forms were amassed, and, from these forms, 51 variables were identified as those skills essential to good teaching. The Assessments of Performance in Teaching (APT) instrument, developed from these variables, is divided into 5 performance dimensions (planning, instruction, management, communication, and attitude), each measured by means of 8 to 11 observation statements. Each teacher to be observed is first given an orientation to the APT. The teacher then prepares three model demonstrations and schedules observors to come in and evaluate those lessons using the APT, which is intended to measure minimal competency only. Because of Act 187, the role of colleges and universities has become one of preparing students to successfully complete the APT assessment during the first year of teaching. Clemson University (South Carolina) conducted a study of 112 student teachers, using the APT as the evaluation instrument, to discover whether lengthening student teaching would improve student teachers' skills and performance. Study results showed that extending a student's teaching experience would be beneficial. APT observation sheets are appended. (JMK)