The Tylerian Evaluation Approach
Tyler had a tremendous influence on both evaluation and education., His work influenced the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965, the first federal act to require evaluation of educational programs. At the end of his career, he chaired the committee that started the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which in the United States today remains the only way to examine educational achievement across all 50 states because of the different standards in each state. In the 1920s and 1930s, while working closely with teach- ers and schools, Tyler began to formulate his views on education and evaluation. His writings and work foreshadowed today’s concepts of continuous improvement and multiple means of assessment. He saw objectives as a way for teachers to
Chapter 6 • Program-Oriented Evaluation Approaches 155
define what they wanted students to learn. By stating objectives in terms of what students should be able to do, Tyler believed that teachers could more effectively plan their curricula and lessons to achieve those objectives. Unlike later versions of behavioral objectives, however, Tyler believed that objectives should concern principles, not minute behaviors. He worked closely and cooperatively as an evaluator with teachers to make evaluation and education cooperative endeavors (Goodlad, 1979; Madaus, 2004; Madaus & Stufflebeam, 1989).
Tyler considered evaluation to be the process of determining the extent to which the objectives of a program are actually being achieved. His approach to evaluation followed these steps:
1. Establish broad goals or objectives. 2. Classify the goals or objectives. 3. Define objectives in behavioral terms. 4. Find situations in which achievement of objectives can be shown. 5. Develop or select measurement techniques. 6. Collect performance data. 7. Compare performance data with behaviorally stated objectives.
Discrepancies between performance and objectives would lead to modifications in- tended to correct the deficiency, and the evaluation cycle would be repeated.
Tyler’s rationale was logical, scientifically acceptable, readily adoptable by evaluators (most of whose methodological training was very compatible with the pretest-posttest measurement of behaviors stressed by Tyler), and had great influence on subsequent evaluation theorists. Tyler advocated multiple measures of different types and considered many elements of a program during an evalua- tion. However, the objectives-oriented approaches that evolved from Tyler’s work in the 1960s and 1970s and that continue to be used in some settings today fo- cused on a basic formula: articulate program objectives; identify the means, typi- cally tests, to measure them; administer the tests; analyze the data in reference to previously stated objectives; and determine program success.
This basic, objectives-oriented approach is largely discredited by professional evaluators today. However, many funding sources have not caught up with present-day evaluation approaches and require evaluations to make use of this traditional approach. Its strengths and limitations are discussed in the conclusion of the chapter.