In studying the effectiveness of different instructional programs, a criterion measure can favor one of the programs because there is greater overlap between the content covered on the test and in that program. This overlap can be measured using teacher estimates or teacher estimates combined with curriculum analysis. (Author/BW)

When a program evaluation is conducted on the basis of gains made in standardized achievement test scores between a pretest and a posttest, serious bias can result where a floor effect exists on one or both of the test levels. Based upon the expanded standard scores on the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills from three successive regular spring…

The current study is an extension fo the Instructional Dimensions Study (IDS), part of a comprehensive study of compensatory education programs. This study had two purposes: (1) to investigate achievement changes over the summer of 1977 and during the 1978 calendar year for IDS students, and (2) to compare summer gains of compensatory and…

The effectiveness of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title I reading and mathematics laboratories were evaluated to assess the improvement of underachieving elementary school students' academic skills. Laboratory students were selected on the basis of academic (rather than socioeconomic) criteria in grades 2 through 5; the control…