Attention has recently been focused on the need to design and validate instructional materials that guarantee competent student performance. In preparing such products, developers have come to rely on competency-based achievement tests. Unfortunately, expertise for constructing reliable and valid competency-based instruments is not currently…

The feasibility of using criterion referenced tests (CRTs) in a large-scale evaluation conducted in an effectiveness evaluation context was investigated. The study began by examining the theory that structures the development and validation of CRTs to discover whether, on theoretical grounds alone, CRTs are suitable or not suitable for large-scale…