Ralph W. Tyler (1902 94) was an American educator who worked in the field of assessment and evaluation. He served on or advised a number of bodies that set guidelines for the expenditure offederalfunds and influenced the underlying policy ofthe Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.Tyler chaired the committee that eventually developed the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). He was professor of education and dean of the Division of Social Sciences at the University of Chicago.