| Abstract: | In the last decade, the ACT COMP Composite Exam and Objective Test have been the most frequently used standardized measures of cognitive general education outcomes. This article reviews the literature addressing uses of the COMP measures in order to evaluate valid and reliable uses of the COMP measures. It concludes that worthwhile evaluations of uses of the COMP measures can only take place in wellcrafted general education program evaluations, and that many reported general education program evaluations incorporate both untenable assumptions and flawed practices. The article concludes with suggestions for improving general education program evaluations.Donald B. Yarbrough received his B.A. in English literature from Hendrix College, his M.A. in Germanic languages and literature from the University of Kentucky, and his Ph.D. in educational psychology from the University of Georgia. He is currently an assistant professor of educational psychology at the University of Iowa, where he teaches and conducts research in two specialty areas, program evaluation and the cognitive psychology of school learning. This article grew out of an on-going investigation of how best to define and measure the cognitive outcomes of post-secondary general education programs.A portion of this research was presented at the Annual Forum of the Association for Institutional Research, San Francisco, CA, May, 1991. |
