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CHAPTER 3 SELECTING AND USING ASSESSMENTS Introduction This chapter will address three issues: (a) the institutional assessment needs of workforce development organizations, (b) the assessment needs of individual youth to help make informed choices about their careers, and (c) the practical needs of practitioners for information about how to select and use different assessment tools. At the end of this chapter, Exhibit 3.1 contains information that can be used to help with the selection and use of assessments, including a directory of commonly used published tests. Meeting Institutional Assessment Needs Agencies and organizations in the workforce system use assessments to meet institutional needs in two ways-to determine a youths eligibility for services and to document achievement of program goals by assessing the progress of program participants. The number of participants served and achievement of program goals can impact the amount of funding an organization receives. Funding for the youth programs considered in this guide may come from the Department of Education, the Department of Labor, other federal agencies, states, local governmental agencies, or a combination of these. Table 1.2 in Chapter 1 summarizes the eligibility and assessment requirements of IDEA, WIA Title I, and the Rehabilitation Act. More specific information on assessments mandated or permitted by several federal funding sources may be found in Appendix A. (Mandated assessments are those required for all applicants or participants. Permitted assessments may be provided for some applicants or participants if appropriate or under certain circumstances.) Assessing progress can be complicated, since the outcome measures required by different funding sources often vary, sometimes significantly. In order to address this problem, the Presidents 2001 Management Agenda included the development of common performance measures for the evaluation of similar programs. Each federal agency and