This manual, part of a long-range planning model concerning goal formulations, is a revision and update of an earlier work on writing educational performance objectives (ED 073 529). It modifies and extends the former manual to provide the total system description necessary for curriculum development as well as curriculum implementation. The first…

Outcome-based education is rooted in earlier ideas, such as Tyler's objectives, Spady's outcomes, Glaser's criterion-referenced measurement, Bloom's mastery learning, 1970s accountability concerns, and the 1960s competency-based education movement. Minnesota's experience suggests various practical implementation challenges concerned with…

In developing criterion-referenced reading tests, staff in a Skokie (Illinois) school district answered parents' concerns about accountability, participated in a valuable inservice learning experience, and achieved coordination between elementary and junior high programs. (Author/WD)

The 1981-82 System-Wide Testing Program (SWT) introduced the initial administrations of the Assessment of Baseline Curriculum Survey and the Language assessment scales. The Basic Objectives Assessment Tests, the Texas Assessment of Basic Skills, and District-adopted, norm-referenced tests were continued as implemented in previous years. The…

Changes in Scotland's curriculum have led to changes in student testing. A system of grade-related criteria has been developed--descriptions of expected performance in key aspects of a subject at different grade levels. (GDC)

This manual was developed to aid local school districts in complying with the requirement of California's Pupil Proficiency Law that districts provide extra help to students not making adequate progress towards basic skill mastery. Guidelines for the development of instructional packages keyed to the school districts proficiency tests, various…

This paper presents a model of an interactive mode for instructional research and development that might yield both curriculum products and scientific knowledge concerning learning and instruction. Curriculum development is discussed as an applied science and as an art, using specific research and development efforts conducted at the Learning…

The weaknesses of standardized testing are apparent in assessing student achievement in the social studies. State mandated criterion referenced tests, aligned with objectives on the state level, may be better for assessing social studies achievement, but they also have weaknesses. The development of portfolios has been an attempt to compensate for…

Designed to help school administrators and board members promote instructional excellence, this publication reports survey results involving over 35 school districts in Northern California, Utah, and Nevada engaged in instructional improvement efforts. Specifically, the report describes alternative strategies used to organize and manage three…

This is an age of backlash, as illustrated by many developments in the field of education. Backlash against performance assessment is very evident, but it must be remembered that backlash has its uses. It forces advocates to rethink, reformulate, and restate why they put so much faith in the program under attack. Events have pushed advocates to…

A city-wide elementary school reading program that emphasizes mastery learning and continuous progress in Chicago, Continuous Progress--Mastery Learning, is blamed for the declining reading test scores of high school students there. The program's origins and evolution are described along with a new program, Chicago Mastery Learning Reading, which…

Described in the final report is a project designed to develop, field-test, and disseminate a dual, compatible system of curriculum and criterion-referenced evaluation based on a sample of 40 trainable mentally retarded students (5-15 years old) in self help, basic language, number, and prevocational skills. Program summary information includes a…

This paper details the development of the high school general mathematics examination and reading comprehension tests for grades one through eight for the curriculum referenced testing program in Charleston County School District, South Carolina. While the basic developmental approach was similar, problems encountered in developing the two types…

Many problems are encountered by school districts regardless of size. State and federal involvement in education provides certain financial resources, but also makes demands for accountability. This creates conflicts between local program development and the requirements of state and federal regulations, and particularly complicates the…

Designed to coordinate composition instruction between the primary and senior high school years, this curriculum guide presents a system for both the direct teaching of specific composition objectives and the assessment of student achievement and program effectiveness. The first of the guide's five major sections explains the curriculum's scope,…