The Title I Evaluation and Reporting System (TIERS) was mandated to meet the requirements of the 1974 amendments to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. It was hoped that TIERS would lead to a clear report of the effectiveness of Title I programs, based upon a synthesis of nationwide data. It has been extremely difficult to compare achievement data from all schools, local school districts, programs, states, and so on. It is not feasible for the federal government to mandate that one achievement test be used, since curricula are chosen at the local level. A certain amount of testing and calibrating must be performed before a set of tests are truly equated tests. The RMC Models' normal curve equivalent (NCE) scores have not reflected a common metric, as indicated by Jaeger's analysis of the Anchor Test Study. However, the NCE method shows promise as a metric which can be used for aggregation of Title I data from various sources. This method may be used to assign projects to rough categories of effectiveness (very effective to ineffective); if project variables are more controlled (such as statewide use of the same test), comparisons of project effectiveness would be even more valid. (GDC)