Seventeen nationally normed, standardized achievement tests were judged appropriate by the Illinois Title I Test Review Committee for use with Model A-1 in evaluation of Illinois Title I programs. They are the California Achievement Tests, CIRCUS, Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests, Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, Iowa Tests of Educational Development,…

This paper explores problems of construct validity in the evaluation of the Follow Through Planned Variation program. Comments center around political ramifications of the program evaluation design, insufficient knowledge on the part of program planners, the diversity of the experimental options, and the instability of the sample. It is suggested…

To help Education Consolidation and Improvement Act Chapter 1 personnel work more effectively with test publishers, a survey was conducted of selected publishers of norm-referenced tests commonly used by Chapter 1 Local Educational Agencies (LEAs). The test publishers included: (1) CTB/McGraw-Hill; (2) The Psychological Corporation; (3) the…

The Title I Evaluation and Reporting System (TIERS) was mandated to meet the requirements of the 1974 amendments to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. It was hoped that TIERS would lead to a clear report of the effectiveness of Title I programs, based upon a synthesis of nationwide data. It has been extremely difficult to compare…

As part of the development of a functional literacy test for fourth through eighth grade children in Title I compensatory education programs, this report enumerates a set of criteria for selecting appropriate tests. The criteria are grouped into six categories: (1) test background; (2) psychometric quality; (3) examinee appropriateness; (4)…

Since grade-appropriate levels of standardized achievement tests must frequently be used in Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title I evaluations, there may be large discrepancies between test difficulty and the achievement level of those being tested, with resultant inaccuracies in the scores. Procedures based on the Rasch scaling model were…

As part of the development of a functional literacy test for fourth through eigth grade children in Title I compensatory education programs, this report defines functional literacy for children and enumerates criteria for evaluating existing tests. Criteria for selection of a test include: (1) content, empirical, and construct validity; (2)…

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)

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)

In this report, Boston's Title I Elementary Enrichment Program (reading, math, and language arts), Middle and High School Program (reading/language arts), and the PL 81-874 Program (reading/language arts) for 1979-80 are examined. Elementary reading and language arts students had mixed gains, while math students at all elementary levels exceeded…

Oregon has recognized the problems involved in the evaluation of Elementary Secondary Education Act Title I programs, and has worked toward solutions, while recognizing the differing needs of local, state, and federal departments of education. In order to provide help to the local school districts with respect to evaluation, a statewide committee…

Kindergarten pupils enrolled in Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title I schools were selected for the Kindergarten Extended Day (KED) Program if they showed marked underachievement on the Cooperative Preschool Inventory (CPI). KED students attended kindergarten for an additional half day. Since previous evaluations of KED may have had…

Out of level testing is defined and reasons for administering out of level tests, especially in compensatory education programs are explained: (1) to achieve optimum test reliability; (2) to test student achievement--provided out of level test scores are interpreted in terms of the appropriate in-level population; (3) to avoid carelessness and…

The effectiveness of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title I reading and mathematics laboratories were evaluated to assess the improvement of underachieving elementary school students' academic skills. Laboratory students were selected on the basis of academic (rather than socioeconomic) criteria in grades 2 through 5; the control…

Use of the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests (WRMT), individually administered wide ranging reading tests, was explored, using Title I evaluation Models A1 and A2. Attention was focused on: (1) relationship of the Title I curriculum to the WRMT and the SRA Reading Test; (2) comparative reading achievement gains on both tests, using Model A1; and (3)…