In exploring factors inhibiting formal evaluation at the school district level, and limiting the utility of conventional achievement monitoring, this paper begins with a review of the actual origin of the Elementary Secondary Education Act's (ESEA) evaluation requirements, and the attempts to implement national evaluation of ESEA Title I programs. The review indicates that a major factor inhibiting evaluation is the contradiction between the assumptions underlying prevailing approaches to evaluation and the actual logic of school-based instruction. The obvious contradiction include: (1) conflict between promise and performance of national evaluation, based upon the experimental research paradigm; (2) attempts to use the experimental paradigm for evaluating school instructional programs; and (3) utilization of standardized norm-referenced tests for reporting externally funded program outcomes. (Author/GK)