The Effectiveness of the Concept/Process Section of the Assessment Instrument for the Science Curriculum Improvement Study First Grade Biological Science Unit Entitled 'Organisms.'

Eighty first-grade students, randomly selected from eight elementary schools, participated in this study. Four of the schools were located within the city and four in the rural area surrounding the city. The assessment instrument was the Organisms Evaluation Supplement, designed to evaluate students' attitudes in science, students' perception of the classroom environment, and how well students are achieving the specified cognitive objectives of the unit. The instrument was administered as a pretest and a posttest to all students. The treatment consisted of instructing the students in the "Organisms" unit of the Science Curriculum Improvement Study (SCIS) program. Significant positive change in pupil performance as a result of instruction was found. The gain scores were subjected to a t-test at the .05 level. No pretest or posttest differences were found when examining urban versus rural populations. It was concluded that the "Organisms" assessment instrument is effective in terms of content validity, reliability, objectivity and interest. (Author/EB)