The single most important output of any school is probably the magnitude of its students' growth in academic achievement. A variety of standardized tests has been developed to measure aspects of this achievement; however, only recently have administrators attempted to use such tests to help review and make decisions about educational programs.…

A comprehensive assessment was made of the status of elementary education in Missouri in reading, mathematics, language, and study skills. The Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS) and the Short Form Test of Academic Aptitude (SFTAA) were administered to a sample of Missouri fourth and sixth graders. For each curricular area, Missouri…

School unit achievement gains computed by six different methods are compared. The data include total reading scores from the Metropolitan Achievement Test administered to Title I students in 32 elementary schools. The achievement gains were computed in standard scores, grade equivalents, percentile ranks, residual scores based on individual scores…

The use of standardized achievement tests as the primary criterion measures in the evaluation of basic skills programs has been criticized. In a comparative study of three types of tests, this article examines the major issue behind this criticism. (Author/JAZ)

An integral part of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act programs has been the evaluation of these programs in terms of attainment of increments of gain in reading and mathematics. One of the most widely used methods of analyzing pre and post test norm referenced data has been the six-step historical regression procedure. This…

The Wichita Follow Through Project (Tucson Early Education Model) involved kindergarten through third grade pupils from low and middle income families in four elementary schools. The 1975-76 longitudinal evaluation was based primarily on results from the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (grades three-six). Also included were the Metropolitan Readiness…

This study was mounted to assess the validity of standard score transformations of raw test scores and test bias on the 1970 edition of the Metropolitan Achievement Test Battery, in the context of a controversial federally funded compensatory education program, the Educational Voucher Demonstration (EVD). On an individual level the validity of the…

Many of the evaluations summarized in state and local Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title I reports have been negatively affected by methodological errors or the use of different, incompatible formats. Although new, detailed evaluation and reporting procedures have been developed for Title I research projects, two problems remain:…

Focusing on the use of the Metropolitan Achievement Test (MAT) with Project Follow Through evaluations, this report represents an extended discussion of the appropriateness of standardized tests for evaluation and policy research. First, the development of the MAT and its roots in the Army Alpha intelligence test are described in detail. The next…

The orientation of this report is that of identifying educational projects which can be considered clearly exemplary. The largest section consists of a 22-step procedure for validating the effectiveness of educational projects using existing evaluation data. It is not intended as a guide for conducting evaluations but rather for interpreting data…