Achieving learning standards is at the forefront of current educational philosophy, and is the goal of sound educational practice. That "all children can learn" and there will be "no child left behind" presume that teaching and assessment practices must benefit all children. Agreement in principle is nearly universal. Practical implementation,…

This article investigated the design of appropriate measures to assess the outcomes of schooling. (Author/RK)

Identifies and describes six differences between formative and summative evaluation in career education. Formative evaluation involves more coordination, more stress, special observation and teaching skills, criterion-referenced measures, learner safeguards, and choosing priorities among objectives. (SK)

Majority of testing programs is designed to demonstrate the superiority of performance of one student over another rather than evaluate the degree to which an individual has mastered specific skills. The necessity of changing this orientation is discussed. (RW)

Criterion-referenced measurement has been hailed as one of the most significant developments in the recent history of educational evaluation. Its presence should be felt in the social studies over the next few years. The first part of the paper illustrates the differences between criterion-referenced and norm-referenced measurement--purpose for…

the steps taken by a large urban school district to develop and implement an objectives-based curriculum with criterion-referenced assessment of student progress are described. These steps include: goal setting, development of curriculum objectives, construction of assessment exercises, matrix sampling in test administration, and reporting of…

Grades, as conventionally conceived and used, are failing the educational system. There are numerous mistakes made in the computation of grades and grade point averages. They become the end of the educational endeavor instead of an evaluation procedure. They are psychologically damaging to two-thirds of the students because of their inability to…

Clearly stated educational objectives can help in educational evaluation. Because objectives sans assessment are little more than rhetoric, criterion-referenced tests are advocated for assessing objective-attainment. Performance standards are viewed as appropriately separable from objectives. Five guidelines regarding objectives are suggested for…

A school and community must state their goals for students and then, avoiding the use of commerical tests, design a means of evaluation to determine if those goals have been met. (Author/JM)

The Michigan accountability system, based on statewide objectives-referenced testing at two grade levels generated considerable controversy, including this response to criticisms of an evaluation of the program by a panel of three persons. The contract under which the evaluation was performed is quoted to show that the authors of the report were…

Consideration is given to the degree of congruence between objectives and test items in the evaluation of objective-based testing. An analytic technique that measures congruence is described, and a bibliography is provided. (CK)

Review the progress and refinement of educational assessment during the past 40 years. Discusses the dynamic effects of the interaction between persons in various fields of educational practice and persons specializing in educational evaluation. Mentions adoption by the U.S. Army of psychological and educational tests for purposes of selection and…

Alternative procedures for assessing college student educational progress and sources of additional information are presented. Traditionally, written tests have been used for assessing educational progress at the college level, but it is now common to think in broader terms of the specific developments and attainments that students are expected to…

The Mathematics Evaluation Materials Package (MEMP)is a set of objectives and companion test items for mathematics education in Grades 4 to 6. The educational objectives are stated in terms of student performance and are coupled with companion test items. In this package are some companion items for objectives that are commonly used for the topic,…