4 DOCUMENT RESUME.. ED 066 499 TM 001 983 AUTHOR- LiebermanItMarcus; And Others TITLE Intermediate Larojuage Arts: Behaviora-1--Objectives and TeCt Items: INSTITUTION Institute for Educational Research, Downerti Grove, Ill. ., PbB DATE.. 11 , .. art . 236p. 4 , VAILA-BLE FROM fnstitute for Educational Research, 1 400 West Maple . !Avenue, Downers Grove, Illinois 60515 ($8.00) EDRS PRICE \ ME-80.65 HC-E9.87 DEsewmons \\ *Behavioral Objectives; Curriculum Development; \*Elementary Grades; *Individualized Instruction; *Itei Banks; 7*Language'Arts; Program Evaluation -- I DENTIFIERS SEA Title III; *Eviluation fcr IndiVidualized instruction R roject ABSTRACT. .ThObjective-Item Dank presented covers 16 sections CO pf four subject ar as:in each of four grade levels. The four areas are: Language Arts,,Math, Social Studies, and Science. The four grade levels are: Primary Intermediate, .3unitir High, and Hicjh School. The Objective-Item Bank provides school administrators with an initial starting point for c rriculum development and with the . instrumentation for program evaluation, and offers a .mechanism to assist teachers in s ating more specifically the goals of their instructional progiamIn addition, it provides the means to determine the extent which the objectives\ are accomplished. This document presepts the Objective item Bank for intermediate language \ arts;(CK) e a INTERMEDIATE LANGUAGE ARTS BEHAVIORAL .011JECTIVES AND TEST ITENS EVALUATION FOR INDIVIDUALIZED-1NSTRUCTION CP` A Thin HI ESEA prohsst edmininsred by cr- Downers Grove, Illinois U.S. DEPARTMENT Of HEALTH, EDUCATION II WELFARE School District 90 4:0 OFFICE OF EDUCATION THIi DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRD DUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM. a THE PERSDN OR ORGANIZATION ORIG- INATING IT PDINTS OF VIEW OR OPINA IONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT DFFICIAL OFFICE OF EDU insene ice uJ CATION POSITION OR POLICY 13 _ suitthoid, 1400 West Maple Avenue Downers Grow, Illinois 60515 Phone: 312-971-2040 Intermediate Junior k I NTERMEDI ATEl:ANGUAGE' ARTS. .13E4JAVFORAL.OBJ E CT I VES' AND TESTI TEMS 4 by Dr. Marcus Lieberman, Director Dr. Les Brown, Project Associate .Mr. William Neidlinger, Project Assoc itite Mrs. Linda Swansop, Project Associate. Evaluation for Individualized Instruction Project AN ESEA TITLE III PROJECT Adm in istereil by 1 Downes Grove Public School District 99 , 1 9 7 1 I. BEHAVIORAL .OBJECTIVE - TEST ITEM BANK BACKGROUND . The Evaluation 'for Individualized Instruction Project, an ESEA Title IILproject administered by the Downers Grove, Illinois, School District 99, has developed an Objactive-Item Bank covering, sixteen sectors Of four subjectareas in each of four grads levels. Subject:Area 'LA NA SS . SC , 11 12 013 14 , 21 22 23 24 31 32 33 34. 41 43 Language Arts 1 gorimary MA Math 2 Intermediate SS Social Studies 3 JuniOr High SC Science 4 High School Nearly 5000 behavioral objectives and oifer 27,000 test items based on these 'objectives 'were recently pub4shed as the culmination of thie three-year project. The complete output of seventeen volumes totals over 4500 pages. These pUbli- cations have been reproduced by the Institute for Educational Research to make them available at cost to teachers and administrators. The objectives and items were written by over 300 elementary and secondary teachers, representing fOrty Chicago suburban school districts, who participated in. workshops of three to nine weeks duration throughout the project. In..these workshops they leirned to write effective behavioral objectives'and test based on the objectives. The results of. their work 'were edited for content and *c° measurement quality to compile the largest pool of objectives and test itemsever asSembled. PRINCIPLES AND MERITS Unfortunately, the Objective-Itemlank is ofteaviewedmainly.as a source of test. items. Although 'this is an importaat function,its greatestpotentialimpact . lies not in the availability.of a multitude of test iteesc'but rather in the ability of these items 'to measure carefully selected.educational 'goals. The, alaost frenetic search for test items on thepart of.some educators has been spurred by the current emphasis on measurement.Some educators:have become so enamored with measurement that they'semi more. interested in Obtaining a numer- ical index than examining- what they are really*Tingto measure.Further, it is. 3. 3 o" a t. not:in:usual for teachers to speak about a child obtaininga score'of.95%on particular test.Frequently, they encounter considerable difficulty in inter- preting.the real meaning of a score and are content to just acCept its numeral value.A much 'more important question would seem to be:Mat are our .goals of measurement?Unless we can answer/this question precisely, the only real pur- posit that testing serves is to gather data concerning pupils to facilitate the marking of report cards.This is it to say that this function is not legiti- mate - it is rather to say that such a view of measurement is much too constric- ting.The goal of measurement should be to proVide feedback both to the teacher and the child regarding the success or failure of the learning- experiences in realising specifically stated objectives.- ... One ot the main .strengths of the Eli Objective and Item Bank is that all the items are directly tied to specifically stated objectiVes. ;Bach group of items is designed to measure 11 specific objective and therefore provides the means whereby -the teacher can obtain feedback on.the success pf the educational program. It is° disheartening to observe so many districts attacking the, complex problem -of curriculum development independently. / One cannot help reflecting on the .isamuilth duplication of efforts involved.The Objective-Item Bank offers a poisi- / ble alternative to this duplication.. Utilising its resources, the curriculum / committee is provided, with,30010 point of departure. .The efforts of ithree hundred teachers participating inithe Evaluation Project's workshops and the thoughts of/ forty districts can be evaluated and utilized.This is az, to suggest that any. set of objentives ,should be viewed as the "answer" to an individual district's I curricular problem. but rather the efforts 9f others offer/a Convenient point of / departure and may serve to .stimulate diverse opcnioris abott the direction of curricular thrust within the individual district.The words of Sir Isaac Newton seem appropriate; "If I have :leen further, it .is by standing upon the shoulder . of giants."The efforts of others, whether we consider them giant-like-or pygmyish, ° do offer a throhold to view the immense, complicated problem of curricular development in botter-perspective. The title of in article in a recent educational journal, "If You're Not Sure Mere You're .Going, You're Liable to End, up Someplace Else," succinctly describes continuing dilemma inour educational system.The vagueness of Our-goals often. ,promotes the idea.that "anything goes."Without a guiding beacon'many classrooms become activity-centwed rather\than goal-oriented.Meeeducator recently cos- parel the all-too-typical classroom with Henry Ford's observation 'concerning his- tory.He-defined history as, ".0ne damned thing after another."Is 'this true of the succession of activities within our classrooms? .Does--the teacher really know the educational purpose of each activity?Perhaps, even more importantly, do the 'children know the purpose?,,,/ . : . The0jective-ItemBank offers a mechanism to assist teachers in stating raPre speciAiCelly the.goals of their instructional program and .'further .provides the means to' determine the extent to which the objectives are accomplished.The specification-of. goals assists the .teacher in discovering whether favored acti vities advance learning, or are merely time fillers; whether they get the "mate-. riali" across, or are merely perfunctory exercises. Much discussionhas beendevoted to the topic of"Ayindividualized instruction?" and occaaionally some dialogueheseven centered on theliaw"But an even more basic question is one thatAsoften ignored: -"Individualize01.?" Pliny school districts mention their individualized programs,inreading or mathe- matics. What isindividualizedwithin these programs? Are certain skillsdoff.= nitely identified? Isthe practice of pretesting to determine the child's level of proficiencywhen he enters the-program a guideline? The Objective-Item Bank has two potential contributions to make to all school dis- trictsembarking on orpresentry engaged in individualized instruction.progrems. Thesecontributionsare: 1. A group of well-specified objectives which could forethe "what" of the progrsm. , 2. A set of items designed to provide informa- tion on the degree of mastery of the objective. APPLICATIONSAND TFMINIQUES The versatility of the Objective-Item Bank is evident in the value and usability by both teachers and administrators.. To the Administration the Objective-IteMBank: 1. Provides an initial starting pointforcurriculum development. The existence of many objectivesavoidsthe necessity of each district 'duplicating the efforts of another. The task of the curriculum com- mittee becomesoneof selecting and/or rejecting objectives from the Objective - Item°Bank and then supplementing them with objectives drieloped at the local level.Past-participants of the Evaluation Project workshops would be valuable resource people in this endeavor. 2. Provides the instrumentation for program evaluation. Tile selection of items from those oNectives representative of the main ymphases of the local