Results are reported for 3 years of in-service training provided to managers and direct care personnel employed in community, residential, and vocational programs for developmentally disabled adults. The data demonstrate the efficacy of the training model in that 1015 (97%) of 1080 training objectives attempted were completed by the trainees at…

A description of the difficulties encountered in constructing a criterion-referenced test to assess end-of-year skills as part of a program evaluation is presented. The problems encountered in preparing the customized test are described in humorous detail. The first problem involved the listening test obtained from a publisher without…

Describes two types of criterion-referenced testing that districts can use to measure achievement outcomes of their instructional programs: a random sampling assessment plan and an item-response theory assessment plan. (Author/JM)

The Chicago Public Schools have been developing and implementing a citywide instructional program of continuous progress/mastery learning in reading. It includes the delineation of a K-8 continuum of instructional objectives; a criterion-referenced testing program which serves as the basis for instruction, promotion, and administrative monitoring;…

Traces the history of military efforts to systematize the design, development, installation, and operational training for a weapons system and discusses the current status of criterion referenced instruction in Army training programs. Steps being taken to remedy identified problems are described. (MER)

This paper provides descriptive information about the implementation of prescriptive criterion referenced testing and its impact on a compensatory reading laboratory program in the Houston public schools. After describing the program and the rationale for the selection of a criterion referenced test, a study of the teachers' utilization of the…

This case study shows how testing in Mississippi is used as an effective part of a statewide accountability and instructional improvement program. By using criterion-referenced testing as one aspect of a program evaluation requirement, Mississippi is basing instructional improvement on student performance. (Author)

The Louis D. Brandeis High School Bilingual Program served 900 New York City Hispanic students with limited proficiency in English. In addition to developing English and Spanish language skills the program provided content area instruction in Spanish in social studies, mathematics, and science. Staff development, mainstreaming, parental…

The report is an evaluation of the 1979-80 High School Title I English as a Second Language Program. Two types of information are presented: (1) a narrative description of the program which provides qualitative data regarding the program, and (2) a statistical analysis of test results which consists of quantitative, city-wide data. By integrating…

Recent changes in the structure of curriculum and the instructional system in Texas have required a major reorganization of teaching, evaluating, budgeting, and planning activities in the local education agencies, which has created the need for a database. The history of Richardson Instructional Management System (RIMS), its data processing…

A statewide sustained effort to improve student learning in Missouri by adopting and adapting promising research-based educational practices is described. The concept of an Instructional Management System (IMS) with desired learner outcomes determining both instruction and testing was suggested to local school districts beginning in 1980. In 1985,…

In 1984 an evaluation team examined the Maryland Functional Testing Program (MFTP), a statewide competency-based, criterion-referenced testing program that was instituted to limit awarding of high school diplomas to those students who had earned scores above cut scores on a series of achievement tests. This article examines the procedures the…

As a result of the 1976 Educational Accountability Act, minimal competency tests were developed for grades 3, 5, 8 and 11 by the Florida State Board of Education. Results of the first administration of the 11th grade tests showed that the failure rate for minority black students was much higher than for white students. Results of the tests…

This report of the Community Educational Aides in Open Space School project evaluates the role and function of educational paraprofessionals in open space schools, in this case the elementary-level Bruce-Monroe School in Washington, D.C. The project entailed the employment of 13 aides during the 1973-74 school year to assist 23 Bruce-Monroe…

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)