Reflecting an increased awareness of the need for comprehensive curriculum evaluation, a monograph series has been initiated, focusing on major aspects of curriculum design and development. This introduction to the series defines curriculum evaluation as the collection, processing, and interpretation of two main kinds of data: (1) The objective descriptions of a curriculum's goals, environments, personnel, methods, content, and outcomes; and (2) personal judgments by the evaluator of the curriculum's goals, environments, etc. Available tests related to the evaluation of instruction seldom go beyond achievement testing. New techniques of observation and judgment of total curriculums are needed, with greater attention given to diagnostic testing, task analyses, and evaluation of goals. As reported in the growing literature on measurement and evaluation, special techniques employed in the behavioral sciences need to be utilized in curriculum evaluation. Through its sponsorship of the monograph series, the American Educational Research Association recognizes its obligation as well as its opportunity to cultivate a methodology for the evaluation of education programs. (JK)