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The text contrasts arguments from Senator Claiborne Pell, conference addresses, and published commentary, highlighting tensions between basic skills emphasis and broader educational goals. 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Education is a national associationopen to all individuals concerned with the value and effectiveness of highereducation.Each year AAHE's National Conference on Higher Education bringstogether approximately 3,000 educational administrators,faculty,students,government and foundation officials,representatives from accrediting andtesting agencies,and others,to clarify issues,disseminate effective education-al practices,and discuss the future of higher education.Presentations de-livered at the conference are selected by a review committee for inclusionin an annual series,Current Issues in Higher Education.  \nPapers in this series were prepared for presentation at AAHE's 1978 Na-tional Conference on Higher Education and published by AAHE.In somecases they have been revised by their authors and therefore differ somewhatfrom the actual presentation.They have not,however,been extensivelyedited or revised,since the purpose of the series is to disseminate as rapidlyas possible the conference presentations.  \nPoints of view and opinions reflected in this series are those of the au-thors,not the Association.Authors'addresses are listed at the end of eachpaper,so readers may follow up with them on issues of substance and refer-ences.  \nPapers from the 1978 National Conference series may be purchased fromAAHE at the prices listed on the back cover.AAHE members automaticallyreceive one copy of each paper in the series.  \nTHE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR HIGHER EDUCATION  \nBoard of Directors(1978-1979)  \nPresident  \nWilbert J.McKeachie,director,Center for Research on Learning and Teaching,Uni-versity of Michigan  \nVice President (President-elect)  \nMartin A.Kramer,senior fellow,Carnegie Council on Policy Studies in Higher Educa-tion,Berkeley  \nImmediate Past President  \nBarbara S.Uehling,chancellor,University of Missouri-Columbia  \nMembers  \nAlexander W.Astin,professor of higher education and president,Higher EducationResearch Institute,University of California,Los Angeles  \nMarie Childers,graduate student,Department of Higher Education,Indiana Univer-sity,Bloomington  \nMorton Darrow,vice president,planning and analysis,Prudential Insurance CompanyNolen M.Ellison,district chancellor,Cuyahoga Community College,Cleveland  \nPatricia Locke,director,Education Components,National Tribal Chairmen's Fund,Inc.,Boulder  \nSr.Colette Mahoney,president,Marymount Manhattan College  \nJames J.O'Toole,associate professor of management,Graduate School of BusinessAdministration,University of Southern CaliforniaDonald Stewart,president,Spelman CollegeElizabeth Wells,consultant,Washington,D.C.  \nProfessional Staff  \nRussell Edgerton,executive director  \nJane Lichtman,director of conference programsLiza Mickle,editorAnne C.Yates,assistant executive director  \nWHAT SHALL WE DO ABOUTDECLINING TEST SCORES?Willard Wirtz  \n## WHAT SHALL WE DO ABOUT DECLINING TEST SCORES?Willard Wirtz\n\nAt the recent National Conference on Achievement Testing and Basic Skills,'Senator ClaibornePell outlined the basis on which the Senate Education Committee has been moving toward legis-lation that would authorize the development of national standardized academic tests-to be used as\"models\"and in no way made mandatory.When he sensed a degree of reservation in the ques-tions subsequently put to him,the Committee chairman suggested a straw vote.Among the 400conferees,most of them teachers or state or local school-system officials,two raised their handsin support of the national model test proposition;any abstainers were lost in the cloud of armsthat went up in opposition.\"Something here,\"the always thoughtful and deeply concerned Sena-tor commented wryly,\"is obviously screwed up.\"  \nWhatever the merits of the Senate Committee's apparent views about national model tests,Chairman Pell's observation aptly describes the current state ","cbCaiejoohBQl5tZ","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiejoohBQl5tZ","pdf",3011288,17,"English","# CURRENT ISSUES in Higher Education\n## WHAT SHALL WE DO ABOUT DECLINING TEST SCORES?\n## National standardized tests debate\n## Minimal competency and high school diplomas\n## Federal aid-to-education budget proposal\n## “Back to basics” vs complexity","[{\"question\":\"What controversy does the document focus on regarding declining test scores?\",\"answer\":\"It centers on debate over national standardized academic tests and renewed curricular emphasis on basic skills in American education.\"},{\"question\":\"How are “minimal competency” laws discussed at the conference?\",\"answer\":\"The document notes that many states have adopted such laws or moved them into planning, while a related report argues that statewide minimum competency standards are unworkable.\"},{\"question\":\"What is the document’s viewpoint on basic skills versus broader educational aims?\",\"answer\":\"It highlights disagreement, including a cited view that students are not necessarily worse on traditional “basics,” and that schooling should return to complexity rather than only basic skills.\"}]","CURRENT ISSUES in Higher Education - WHAT SHALL WE DO ABOUT DECLINING TEST SCORES? - Willard Wirtz | PDF",1790712177,43]