Evaluating the Quality of Basic Skills Programs. AIR Forum 1981 Paper.

A project designed to evaluate the quality of basic skills programs in writing, reading, and mathematics, which was implemented at a regional university and a community college within a statewide system in the Southeastern United States, is described. A multiple-indicator strategy was used, involving both short-range and long-range postprogram measures. Additionally, multiple-designs were employed to compensate for methodological problems. After the first year of the basic skills evaluation project, it was found that developmental studies programs at both the regional university and the community college are experiencing a demonstrable degree of success in achieving stated objectives. Students generally begin and end their coursework with positive attitudes about and perceived need for the academic experience. Additionally, they tend to report that they have made progress in developing those basic skills in which they have been deficient. There was also substantial improvement in students' ability to perform on faculty-developed and/or faculty-selected achievement tests, and the performance gains were observable in writing, mathematics, and reading. For each of the three remedial areas, postprogram test performance shows a moderate and significant positive association with initial ability as assessed by appropriate American College Testing subtest scores. When relationships between initial ability and performance gains are assessed, the positive relationships are much weakened, and, in the case of reading, actually become negative. While the mathematics and writing programs appeared to be somewhat more effective at the community college than at the regional university, the reverse was true for the reading programs. A bibliography is included. (SW)