In the 1992-93 school year, in response to a request from the Board of Trustees of the Austin Independent School District (Texas) (AISD), the district's Office of Research and Evaluation conducted a retrospective examination of the 1991-92 AISD programs to determine cost-effectiveness when possible. This report describes the review process.…

A survey to obtain a sample of representative opinions on tests and testing in the public schools is reported. Three categories of respondents (teacher union representatives, teacher trainers, legislators) indicate that teachers' attitudes toward standardized tests should be changed. (MLW)

A recent California Supreme Court ruling required San Diego Unified School District to implement a course of study in its minority isolated schools that would result in 50 percent of the students achieving at or above national norms on the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills. In response to the court order, the district initiated the Achievement…

Those who are charged with the evaluation of an educational program or school or effects of teaching often must consider how well students do on the variety of standardized tests they take in the course of a school year. This overview describes common types of tests students take in large-scale programs. Criterion-referenced tests are tests that…

The 1975 Community/Junior College Conference sought to define and describe evaluation, discuss measuring devices, and underscore the ethical reasons for fair evaluation. William P. Gorth began by discussing the purpose of evaluation--to provide data to a specified decision-maker for decision-making--and the implications which could be drawn from…

The Dallas School Accountability Program is described, and a step-by-step method for determining how well a school performs relative to other schools is presented. The Dallas program is a two-part program. Beginning with criterion-based improvement plans, goal levels are set by determining the discrepancy between the actual and desired levels of…

Chapter 3 of the State School Aid Act was enacted to improve achievement in the basic cognitive skills of low-achieving puPils in Michigan. The program provided funds and considerable program discretion for local school districts with high concentration of low achieving children in the grades K-6. These districts received funds for a three-year…

A norm-referenced achievement test, in combination with supplementary items, can be used to produce norm-referenced data as well as objective-referenced data. The experiences of the Palm Beach County (Florida) school district in developing and using such a test are described. (EGS)

Project activities were conducted to accomplish three major objectives: (1) to develop a definition of minimum mathematical skills necessary to complete vocational skill training in fifteen areas, (2) to develop learning activity packets relevant to each vocational area, and (3) to make the process and packets available to other vocational…

The Transitional Curriculum Program at Virginia State University, which is designed to develop underprepared, dependent learners into independent university students, is described. After distinguishing several types of underprepared learners, the following variables are considered: learner success, role of the instructor, and instructor…