A report on the Michigan project in performance contracting is presented. In contrast to the Office of Economic Opportunity announcement that performance contracting is a failure, the Michigan program has been successful in the initial stage of a major experiment (Texarkana Project). The state legislature has appropriated $22.5 million for…

A methodology for the assessment and prediction of recidivism in terms of degree or extent of environmental deprivation or support is presented. The Environmental Deprivation Scale (EDS) was employed as an objective means of assessing environmental circumstances in a group of recidivists as contrasted with non-recidivists. The EDS consists of a…

In their development of curriculum for the humanizing of learning, Research for Better Schools, Inc., has required the reorganization, reordering, and creation of instrumentation for evaluation in the higher-order cognitive skills, the affective skills, and the interpersonal skills. As part of their design, a critical organization and review of…

Evaluation techniques were designed to improve learner performance through use of pre-specified popular instructional objectives. Current curriculum planning and evaluation practices are examined. Two common evaluation malpractices are: (1) the tendency to treat the content of the program as the most important criterion for evaluation, (2) the…

To provide substantive and methodological information concerning systematic vocational placement and followup to individuals responsible for educational program change, a project was conducted to develop three publications, each for different audiences, including school board members, teacher educators, and local school personnel. Information…

Three innovative instructional approaches in adult education for use in adult basic education programs are presented. The approaches are discussed in these papers: "Individualized Instruction Based on Performance Curriculum in Adult Basic Education" by Atilano A. Valencia, "Team Teaching--An Interacting System for Adult Basic Education" by Atilano…

This document describes the efforts of program administrators to implement an organic curriculum in the Duluth, Minnesota, secondary schools. Major activities included staff development activities and inservice training students in a core of job skills. Organic curriculum is a learner-rather than a teacher-centered course of study utilizing…

Adult teaching and learning is a suggested course of study which emphasizes teacher behavior in relation to adult learning. In the development of the syllabus for this course, a considerable amount of time was spent using the curriculum development process described by Ralph Tyler. A broad range of concepts and behavior patterns were identified in…

This report describes the development of a flexible model program of instruction that included curriculum elements, training objectives, instructional methods and procedures, and measures for evaluating both individual trainee needs and training achievement for Work Incentive Orientation Training. The research is part of an effort to prepare…

A distinction among evaluation, measurement and reports of terminal behavior is presented. For the purposes of evaluation, any response to a speech performance provides useful feedback to the communicator. In addition to the teacher's evaluation of the performance against "established standards", it is argued that a teacher's subjective responses…

This paper examines the development and evaluation of criterion-referenced measures, and elaborates on the distinction between them and norm-referenced measures. The concept of sensitivity is introduced as an appropriate method for evaluating such measures, and a sensitivity index is proposed. The traditional model for the response of a subject to…

This report of the development and validation of a criterion-referenced examination for physician's assistants contains an overview of phase 1 project activities (1972-74) and more detailed description and data on phase 2 activities (1975-76). The overview describes the rationale for the development of the examination. (It was the first certifying…

An instrument for analyzing ethnic studies curriculum materials for grades K-12 is presented. The Social Science Education Consortium (SSEC), Inc. staff designed the analysis instrument to check ethnic accuracy of materials as an aid to classroom teachers who are preparing ethnic studies curriculum. The booklet is divided into two main sections.…

This document describes the development of an observation instrument which could provide an objective record of the content of the learning environment in the early childhood classroom. A team of early childhood specialists explored the critical dimensions of the preschool experience and developed a series of descriptive categories in terms of…

The purpose of this study is to determine how recent elementary education graduates and their principals perceive, in terms of competencies, preparation for teaching. A poll was taken of a group of teachers in their first year of teaching in elementary schools. Their principals were asked to respond to a similar poll. The study was designed to…