These two pamphlets describe the evaluation process for Elementary Secondary Education Act Title I programs. In nontechnical language, they define evaluation, discuss the evaluation method used with Title I programs, and explain the format and content of the summary evaluation reports. The first pamphlet is in English; the second is a Spanish…

The purpose of the research was to explore an alternative implementation strategy for Elementary Secondary Education Act Title I evaluation Model A; that is, the use of Rasch calibrated item banks rather than traditional norm-referenced tests. A methodology for obtaining normative information for such banks involved equating a normed test with…

The equipercentile assumption states that students in traditional classrooms who receive no other instructional assistance, will maintain their relative rank order over time. To test this assumption, fall to fall test results on the SRA Achievement Tests were obtained for grades 2-3, and 6-7. Total reading and total mathematics growth scale values…

An alternative is proposed to the legally required uniform procedures and criteria for reporting the results of Elementary Secondary Education Act Title I projects. It is suggested that Congress is unlikely to respond to nationwide impact data on the effectiveness of Title I even when such data are available. It is further proposed that the RMC…

Seventeen instruments were used to provide the answers to the design and evaluation questions for the 1979-80 ESEA Title I regular program in the Austin (Texas) Independent School District. In the final technical report, a separate appendix for each instrument includes a description of its purpose, procedure, and results as related to specific…

A liberal interpretation of Section 151 of Public Law 93-380, to implement effective local evaluation of Title I programs, is supported. Weaknesses are cited: (1) nationwide impact data, (2) unsound aggregation of Title I achievement gains, and (3) lack of consideration of alternative evaluation methods. (MH)

To explain discrepancies in Utah's elementary school test results under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act's Title I Evaluation and Reporting System (TIERS), researchers investigated the adequacy and validity of TIERS evaluation models. Model A (norm-referenced testing) is used in most Utah school districts, in preference to Models B or C…

Normative data reported by publishers of the California Achievement Test, the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills, and the SRA Assessment Survey were used to illustrate a procedure for specifying goals for Title I programs in terms of normal curve equivalent (NCE) gains. The procedure was based on the amount of growth reflected in student reading…

Seven considerations in designing the Title I Evaluation and Reporting System are reviewed: satisfying state, local, and federal needs; summative evaluation; differences in Title I subprograms; local use of different achievement tests; comparative analysis data; use of approved evaluation designs; and use of a common reporting metric. (MH)

A comparative case study to evaluate the administration of Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title I programs was conducted in eight state departments of education and 32 school districts. Interviews were supplemented by review and analysis of documents and available data at each site. General findings included: (1) evaluation was…

Twelve common errors which can invalidate an otherwise sound evaluation are identified, and ways to avoid them are presented. The hazards are: (1) grade-equivalent scores; (2) inappropriate statistical adjustments with nonequivalent control groups; (3) administering norm-referenced tests at inappropriate times of the school year; (4) inappropriate…

This study explored the assumption that the percentile rank of a group of students should be expected to remain the same on a post-test as on a pretest when the treatment of the group in the intervening period was the same as the treatment of the norms population. This assumption is basic to the use of the norm-referenced model for the assessment…

Major conclusions highlighted in the summary of the 1980-81 ESEA Title I evaluation of the Austin (Texas) Independent School District are: using Title I and local funds to lower pupil/teacher ratios to 15:1 produced an effective compensatory education program; across grades, low-achieving students benefited more from lower pupil/teacher ratios…

Data from 24 instruments used to evaluate the 1980-81 ESEA Title I Migrant program in the Austin (Texas) Independent School District are presented. A separate section for each instrument includes a description of purpose; procedures and results; and, where appropriate, relevant communications, instructions and statistical data. Summaries describe…