Basic Skills Testing

Judy R. Wilkerson

Basic skills tests measure the knowledge and skills examinees have in core areas that will impact future performance. These core areas typically include reading, mathematics, language arts, and sometimes other prerequisite skills. A fine line exists between exit requirements from one level and entrance requirements to the next level. Basic skills testing straddles that line and can cross over in either direction. Minimum competency tests, especially those required in high schools as part of No Child Left Behind, include basic skills assessment as an exit requirement. College entrance tests, taken at the same time and with similar items and content, serve as predictors of future success based on performance in basic skills areas. The most common use of the term basic skills relates to the 3 R's—reading, writing, and arithmetic—also known as literacy and numeracy. Speaking and computing are sometimes added to the generic list, Basic ...

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