Summative evaluations help school districts analyze their unique characteristics and choose the program that will best achieve their pedagogical goals. An example is the evaluation of the adaptability and success in the work force of students who have emerged from a program. It attempts to determine if new programs, launched without readily predictable results, are achieving the desired goals. Here the data generated by continuous analysis are compared over time and, when available, compared with data of similar pilot programs. Verifications of reliability and validity are the litmus tests of these standardized evaluation tools.
Reliability is the achievement of consistency in results.
Validity is the degree to which a test actually measures what it claims to measure, that is, the successful appropriation of intended subject matter. However, standardized testing involves a plethora of statistical uncertainties that have led some program evaluators to adopt other techniques to measure student attainment. The role of citizen judgments in program evaluation was the focus of four studies conducted by the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory in Portland, Oregon. Based on the American tradition of local control of education, it is thought that increased parental participation on boards developing new educational philosophies and innovative curricula would make school district programs more responsive to local ideological, economic, and cultural values. The study concluded that citizen judgments must be used judiciously to avoid bias, but that such judgments can be predictive of community responsiveness and receptivity to future collaboration.