Identification of schools for improvement of Chapter 1 Programs raises the challenge of selecting the best technical procedures meeting the law and usefully guiding improvement efforts. Failure to demonstrate gains in student achievement has been operationalized on two levels: aggregate performance and desired outcomes. Aggregate performance evaluations have typically relied on norm-referenced testing methods. Though dependency on norm-referenced test data is inadvisable, few school districts have used the desired-outcomes approach, which relies on criterion-referenced tests, state assessment, and end of unit tests, among others. These districts fear that such an approach exposes them to an additional layer of entrapment. A method of triangulation or composite analysis could make a single determination of the need for improvement based on multiple data sources, so that the desired-outcomes method is seen as a contributor rather than as entrapment. Identifying a need for program improvement will guide reform efforts. Methods are needed to ensure teacher confidence in the measures used to gauge progress so that the hope for institutional change will not be limited. (TEJ)