Educational Evaluation: New Roles and Means - Hardcover

Ralph W. Tyler was the Director Emeritus at the Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences, Formally Professor of Education and Dean, Division of Social Sciences, University of Chicago. Although Tyler published more than seven hundred articles and authored sixteen books, he is best known for his book on curriculum entitled Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction (1949). Tyler suggests four questions that teachers must answer whenever they are planning to teach. These four questions are: 1. What educational purposes should the school seek to attain? 2. How can learning experiences be selected which are likely to be useful in attaining these objectives? 3. How can learning experiences be organized for effective instruction? 4. How can the effectiveness of learning experiences be evaluated? According to an article written in Phi Delta Kappan, Tyler concluded that the effectiveness of education can be improved and that the public call for education reform is a stimulus for improvement. Tyler also believed that learning takes place through the active behavior of the student. In other words, a student learns by doing, not what the teacher does. Tyler's works have also caused many schools and school districts to examine the effectiveness of their current curriculum and evaluation practices. Schools have sought to examine its effectiveness, to identify its problems, and to work together in developing and trying out possible solutions.