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Twenty-six papers on evaluation, which were presented at the 1971 American Educational Research Association Convention, are summarized. The papers range from a general overview of evaluation concepts to quite specific evaluative applications. A group of reports concerning state assessment efforts in Florida and Michigan is given separate treatment. A list of additional, related references is included. (DLG)

Do varying racial and social school mixtures significantly relate to self-esteem of black and white fifth-grade pupils? The purpose of the present study was to examine several facets of this question. Interrelationships were studied among pupil's self-esteem and the following demographic variables: school's racial composition, pupil's sex, pupil's socioeconomic status, and school's socioeconomic composition. The author takes the position that pupils' attitudes are just as important, if not more important, than scholastic achievement, particularly where attitudes are studied in relationship to school's and pupil's racial and socioeconomic groupings. Self-esteem was measured by 47 items from the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory and six items from the Equality of Educational Opportunity Survey. Two samples were employed. Data were analyzed for 2753 white subjects from 72 schools throughout Pennsylvania. The samples were drawn from a larger Pennsylvania Department of Education state assessment sample of 20,000 subjects from 355 elementary school buildings throughout Pennsylvania. Data were collected in the fall of 1969. The results of this study have implications for pupils' assignments to buildings, as well as implications for the selection of teachers, the allocation of resources, and the offering of special programs. (Author/JM)

The 50 papers on educational evaluation presented at the 1972 AERA Conference are reviewed. The papers were classified into four categories: Theory and Methodology, Empirical Models, Empirical Studies, and Nationwide Evaluation and State Assessment. A list of the papers reviewed, their authors, and, when applicable, the ED numbers concludes the summary. (DB)

The ten goals of quality education formulated as the basis for the assessment program of the Pennsylvanis Department of Education are presented in detail. This section of Phase II of the Pennsylvania Plan (see TM 000 608) is intended to provide school district personnel with a rationale for measurement within each goal area and a summary of the technical properties for each of the inventories (see TM 000 610-611). (Author/PR)

As part of a continuing study by home economists, in three contiguous New York State counties, of ways to identify and respond to the needs of low-income families, an interview-questionnaire was administered to 150 low-income homemakers who had children at home. The purposes of this data-collection technique were: (1) to identify some of the characteristics of low-income families; (2) to determine some of the homemaking practices and needs of low-income homemakers; (3) to discover what low-income homemakers consider as problems related to food and clothing; and (4) to suggest ways to respond to these problems. The data collected were analyzed by frequency distribution. Results of the study show that the primary concern of these homemakers is getting enough food for the money they have to expend; the same concern showed in clothing problems. A need for help with financial planning is clearly evident. Impressions of the families, as shown by interviewers' notes, are presented; these "word portraits" relate to family characteristics, health, income and money management, and housing and housekeeping. The resolution of these problems will require the efforts of other agencies, as well as Cooperative Extension. (CK)

The Pennsylvania Plan, a statewide educational quality assessment program, first formulated ten educational goals to serve as bases of evaluation and program development. Two of the plan's three phases have been completed. Phase I involved organizing a Bureau of Quality Assessment to establish a working evaluation plan, including the development of measurement instruments and procedures for collecting data, hypotheses concerning pupil achievement, and computer analytic techniques. Phase II was designed to provide patterns of student performance on each of the ten educational goals, reconfirm hypotheses concerning the relationships between pupil achievements and school and community variables, and, based on these relationships, provide regression weights for use in subsequent phases, and establish the adequacy of the measuring instruments. Phase III is characterized by four analysis and reporting procedures: prediction of expected school means, comparison of school means, comparison of student distributions, and evaluation of student responses to key items. This data should enable school personnel to use the tools and techniques developed in Phases I and II. See also TM 000 609-612. (PR)

The first three levels of the taxonomy in the affective domain guided the development of two inventories--the Pennsylvania Inventory of Cultural Appreciations (PICA) for 11th graders and Things People Do (TPD) for 5th graders--to measure appreciation of human accomplishments in seven areas: politics, sciences, sports, literature, visual arts, music, and theatre. Alpha coefficient for the PICA is .92, and for the TPD, .79. Photographs are used in the TPD. With a sample of 3,000 at each grade level, analyses of the instruments included comparison of means, analysis of correlations, factor analysis and analysis of cumulative structure. The hypothesized hierarchical structure is supported by the TPD data but not by the PICA data. Many inferences and implications are discussed. (Author/GS)

This report identifies significant differences in self-esteem and school interest among black fifth-grade pupils when the following differ: (1) the school's racial composition; (2) the pupil's sex; (3) the pupil's socioeconomic status; and (4) the school's socioeconomic composition. The report concludes that while school districts can neither control nor alter the race, sex, or social status or their pupils, they can exert some control over the racial and socioeconomic compositions of elementary school buildings and over the selection of teachers, the amount and quality of resources in a building, and the types of programs offered. The implications are that the process of desegregation may have begun, but the process of integration has yet to begin and that socioeconomic status is as significant a variable for black children as it has been found to be for white children. (Author/LAA)