ABSTRACT
The word evaluation is one of the most difficult concepts in the whole of curriculum studies. It is difficult because the word is used in a variety of ways with imprecise overlapping sets of meanings. In trying to clarify the use of ‘evaluation’ definitions are less useful than contextual descriptions. A number of writers have pointed out that evaluation is almost inevitably concerned with decision-making. Cronbach (1963; quoted in Stenhouse, 1975, p. 98) has discussed three types of decision where evaluation may be involved:
Course improvement: deciding what instructional material and methods are satisfactory and where change is needed.
Decisions about individuals: identifying the needs of the pupil for the sake of planning his instruction, judging pupil merit for the purposes of selection and grouping, acquainting the pupil with his own progress and deficiencies.
Administrative regulation: judging how good the school system is, how good individual teachers are, etc.
