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AN INVESTIGATION WAS MADE TO DETERMINE TO WHAT EXTENT TWO METHODS OF ITEM ANALYSIS - NORM REFERENCED AND CRITERION REFERENCED - YIELD THE SAME RELATIVE EVALUATION OF TEST ITEMS. ITEMS WHICH DISCRIMINATED WELL BETWEEN STUDENTS SCORING HIGH AND LOW ON POST-TESTS WERE STUDIED TO SEE IF THEY ALSO DISCRIMINATED WELL BETWEEN PRETRAINING AND POST-TRAINING GROUPS. TWO SETS OF INDEXES WERE COMPUTED FOR THE ITEMS ON EACH OF TWO ARITHMETIC TESTS (ADDITION AND MULTIPLICATION), WHICH HAD BEEN GIVEN BOTH AS PRETESTS AND POST-TESTS IN AN INDIVIDUAL INSTRUCTION PROGRAM IN A PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. IT WAS FOUND THAT THE METHOD OF ITEM ANALYSIS ATTEMPTED IN THIS STUDY (PRETEST AND POST-TEST METHOD) SEEMS TO PRODUCE RESULTS SUFFICIENTLY DIFFERENT FROM TRADITIONAL METHODS TO WARRANT ITS CONSIDERATION WHEN CRITERION REFERENCED TESTS ARE DESIRED. TRADITIONAL ITEM ANALYSIS PROCEDURES WERE DEEMED APPROPRIATE IN THE SELECTION OF NORM REFERENCED MEASURES. (GD)

THIS WORKING PAPER IS CONCERNED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF SEQUENTIALLY SCALED TESTS FOR STUDENTS RECEIVING INDIVIDUALIZED INSTRUCTION. THESE TESTS WERE DESIGNED TO INDICATE MASTERY OF DESIRED BEHAVIORS RATHER THAN TO DISCRIMINATE AMONG INDIVIDUALS. OBJECTIVES WERE IDENTIFIED AND ARRANGED SEQUENTIALLY. TESTS WERE GIVEN TO KINDERGARTEN, FIRST-GRADE AND SECOND-GRADE CHILDREN IN ORDER TO OBTAIN A WIDE RANGE OF ABILITY LEVELS. THE RESULTS INDICATED THAT IT WAS POSSIBLE TO DEVELOP A SEQUENTIALLY SCALED ACHIEVEMENT TEST. (LP)

The evaluation of an educational innovation can serve as an aid in the development of the innovation, and it can provide a basis for making judgments with respect to it. This report discusses the Individually Prescribed Instruction (IPI) program and its approach to evaluation. IPI evaluation activities are carried out in six areas: the program plan, the operating program, the school context, pupil behavior, teacher behavior, and unplanned influences and other variables. (JY)

The evaluation of a testing program is necessary before or during a sound total project evaluation. Ideally, the testing program study should be concurrent with, and equal in magnitude to, the total project evaluation. Step one in an evaluation is to define the testing program's objectives in operational terms. Step two is a thorough description of the innovation to be studied. Then the evaluation program should examine the instruments used to conduct tests, obtaining validity, reliability, and item analysis data for all such instruments. A summary is then made which interprets the information accumulated in the first three phases. A diagram of such an evaluation procedure is presented. (JY)

This represents the latest in a series of efforts, on-going since 1965, to up-date and revise a listing of continuously received literature which pertains to the Taxonomy. (TL)

The plea has been made to interpret the concept of criterion-referenced measurement in a broader sense, so that the idea will be utilized in more ways in educational measurement. While applications of the concept have been suggested mainly for programs of individualization, there is no reason to limit the ideas of criterion-referenced measurement to such application. There needs to be some thought given to how the criterion-referenced concept can be applied to the typical teacher-made test as well as to standardized tests. Also, if the idea is to be accepted, some alternative to the traditional approaches to reliability, validity, and item analysis procedures must be investigated. (KJ)

Diagnostic instruments of the Individually Prescribed Instruction (IPI) Program measure pupil achievement in the IPI learning continuum. The IPI system employs the instructional unit to define progress in mathematics, reading and science. At the start of a school year, placement tests are administered to start the pupil in appropriate learning exercises. Unit pretests provide mastery criteria for objectives within a unit of work and help the teacher know what lesson material to prescribe for the pupil. Posttests measure the pupil's mastery of unit concepts after he has completed his assigned tasks. For each instructional unit, there is one pre- and one posttest. Curriculum embedded tests (CET) indicate when a pupil has learned a particular skill within a unit of work. The teacher plans the pupil's learning sequence and monitors his progress with the aid of these four kinds of tests. Examples of the tests and models for their use are included. (TI)

THE AUTHORS HAVE COMPILED AN ANNOTATED LIST OF 61 REPORTS OF STUDIES AND OTHER DOCUMENTS CONCERNING THE USE OF THE TAXONOMY AT VARIOUS LEVELS OF EDUCATION. (WO)

THE EVALUATION OF AN EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM TYPICALLY IMPLIES MEASUREMENT. MEASUREMENT, IN TURN, IMPLIES TESTING IN ONE FORM OR ANOTHER. IN ORDER TO CARRY OUT THE TESTING NECESSARY FOR THE EVALUATION OF AN EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM, RESEARCHERS OFTEN DEVELOP A COMPLETE TESTING SUB-PROGRAM. THE EVALUATION OF THE TOTAL PROJECT MAY DEPEND UPON THE TESTING SUB-PROGRAM. IF THE TESTING PROGRAM IS SOMETHING LESS THAN ADEQUATE, THE EVALUATION OF THE TOTAL PROJECT MAY BE SUSPECT. RESEARCHERS SHOULD PAY AS MUCH ATTENTION TO THE EVALUATION OF A TESTING SUB-PROGRAM AS THEY DO TO THE EVALUATION OF THE TOTAL PROJECT. THE PROPOSED MODEL FOR EVALUATING A TESTING SUB-PROGRAM INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING STEPS WHICH WERE ADAPTED FROM A GENERAL EVALUATION MODEL BY C. M. LINDVALL--(1) DEFINE THE UNIQUE OBJECTIVES OF THE TESTING PROGRAM, (2) DEFINE THE TESTING PROGRAM WITH REGARD TO PERSONNEL AND FACILITIES, PLANNED AND ACTUAL FUNCTIONS AND PRODUCTS, (3) PLAN AND CARRY OUT EVALUATION OF THE TESTING PROGRAM CONCURRENT AND CONSISTENT WITH THE TOTAL PROGRAM EVALUATION. THIS WOULD INCLUDE OBJECTIVELY ASSESSING THE ACHIEVEMENT OF THE TESTING PROGRAM OBJECTIVES AND OBSERVING ANY UNPLANNED RESULTS OF THE TESTING PROGRAM, AND (4) ATTACH A VALUATION TO THE TESTING PROGRAM TO ANSWER THE QUESTION, "CAN AN EVALUATION OF THE TOTAL PROJECT BASED UPON THIS TESTING PROGRAM BE CONSIDERED SOUND." THIS PAPER WAS PRESENTED AT THE AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATION CONVENTION, CHICAGO, ILL., FEBRUARY 9, 1968. (AUTHOR)

Three roles of evaluation used in Individually Prescribed Instruction (IPI) projects are defined in this monograph: the regular and systematic evaluation of pupil achievement for the purpose of adapting instructional experiences to individual needs, the continuing evaluation of all elements of a developing educational program as an aid to this development process (formative evaluation), and the evaluation of the results produced by an educational program for purposes of making judgments concerning its value (Summative evaluation). Each role, based on a systematic perception of educational program goals, planning, operation, and assessment, is then described in terms of the operations that the Learning Research and Development Center of the University of Pittsburgh is carrying out in the context of the IPI projects. (Author/SP)

The term evaluation is used here to mean either the procedure of gathering pupil data to use in planning and monitoring individual programs or the procedure of gathering and analyzing data in such a way that it leads to improvements in materials and in the instructional system. The author reviews the Winnetka Plan and the Eight-Year-Study. He then proposes a model which makes use of criterion-based measures of pupil achievement and demonstrates how this evaluation program is carried out using the program for Individually Prescribed Instruction as an example. He describes the computer-based instruction program, the Bucknell Continuous Progress plan, and Project PLAN, together with their measures for evaluation. Some future directions are suggested for evaluation procedures in programs for individualized instruction. (JY)

Achievement tests may be either norm-referenced or criterion-referenced. The norm-referenced test indicates an individual's proficiency level with respect to other individuals. A criterion-referenced test measures an individual's performance with respect to a specific level along the continuum of attainment. Further, an achievement test may be designed to show the characteristics of an individual's present behavior, or it may be used to provide information about the conditions or instructional treatments which produced that behavior. The purpose for which a test is to be used has implications for the construction of that test. Norm-referenced measures will suffice if grading of pupils is desired; alternative methods of test construction must be considered when criterion-referenced tests are desired. (JY)