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AN INVESTIGATION WAS MADE TO DETERMINE TO WHAT EXTENT TWO METHODS OF ITEM ANALYSIS - NORM REFERENCED AND CRITERION REFERENCED - YIELD THE SAME RELATIVE EVALUATION OF TEST ITEMS. ITEMS WHICH DISCRIMINATED WELL BETWEEN STUDENTS SCORING HIGH AND LOW ON POST-TESTS WERE STUDIED TO SEE IF THEY ALSO DISCRIMINATED WELL BETWEEN PRETRAINING AND POST-TRAINING GROUPS. TWO SETS OF INDEXES WERE COMPUTED FOR THE ITEMS ON EACH OF TWO ARITHMETIC TESTS (ADDITION AND MULTIPLICATION), WHICH HAD BEEN GIVEN BOTH AS PRETESTS AND POST-TESTS IN AN INDIVIDUAL INSTRUCTION PROGRAM IN A PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. IT WAS FOUND THAT THE METHOD OF ITEM ANALYSIS ATTEMPTED IN THIS STUDY (PRETEST AND POST-TEST METHOD) SEEMS TO PRODUCE RESULTS SUFFICIENTLY DIFFERENT FROM TRADITIONAL METHODS TO WARRANT ITS CONSIDERATION WHEN CRITERION REFERENCED TESTS ARE DESIRED. TRADITIONAL ITEM ANALYSIS PROCEDURES WERE DEEMED APPROPRIATE IN THE SELECTION OF NORM REFERENCED MEASURES. (GD)

Instructional System Technology in recent years has been characterized by an increase in individualized instruction and the modularization of the curriculum. In traditional systems the learners are forced to take blocks of instruction the size of entire courses and these are much too large. The courses can now be broken down into conceptual subdivisions and these into series of modules. Each module has clearly stated behavioral objectives regardless of the nature of the intellectual performance prescribed in it. The test items of the module are derived from the objectives rather than from the instructional materials currently in use to attain them. The instructional materials for a module may be offered on different tracks which feature different levels of abstraction thus accommodating the different learning characteristics of individual learners. Most instructional system developers today are looking ahead to a time when good modules will be developed at many localities and circulated widely for use at various institutions. There is a growing need for a valid and widely applicable method of evaluating modules of instruction. Three basic criteria are relevant to the evaluation of a module of instruction: (1) the amount of learning that results, (2) the dollar equivalent cost to the instructional organization of providing the module, and (3) the amount of learner time consumed by interaction with the module. An example is given comparing three different versions of a module. (CK)

This study asked whether or not points which could add to a student's grade would reinforce studying in high school students. The study was conducted in a tenth grade biology class of 33 college bound, lower-class students. Four additional people were present in the class: two observers and two teacher aides to administer points. To accurately record the behavior, 12 students were randomly selected and observed in detail. Students were given either a point score, a signature, or nothing for their daily study behavior. Results showed that the giving of signatures did have an effect on the behavior of the 12 students. The average study behavior increased when points were given and decreased when they were not given. The predicted pattern of increased studying during contingent point giving occurred in seven out of 12 students. The present study has shown that grade increments will serve as a reinforcer for typical secondary school students. (KJ)

Planning, funding and operating anti-poverty programs require skilled community organizers. Training organizers deals with problems of how to motivate others and what tactics should be used when difficulty is encountered. Two approaches to these problems determined by images of 20th Century Man have been employed: (1) rational economic man who emphasizes punishment as sole means for social change; and (2) irrational, destructive Freudian man who brings about social change by altering the inner lives of other people. Both approaches rely on selective portions of what is apparent in human conduct. A new perspective on man's behavior (operant psychology), which holds that the understanding of man comes through examining his behavior and the conditions under which it occurs, has emerged. A training situation was set up which placed trainees in a state of deprivation (arranging for an event to be reinforced), followed by successive approximation (gradual build up from current behaviors to the training goal behaviors). (Author/MC)

How modules are organized to provide flexibility in a curriculum is described. (Author)

The first section of this report is a general model developed to guide efforts in this evaluation project on adult basic and high school equivalency education at eight centers (Berwind, Bradshaw, Appalachian, Iaeger, Rolfe, Thorpe, Warriormines, Vivian) in McDowell County, West Virginia. This model places enrollment, attendance, diplomas received, student characteristics, and other educational data in a framework of more general significance. The next section summarizes major points (including adult population statistics in areas served across all eight centers). The third section presents the failings of the program and some recommendations for future programs. (Author/LY)