[AAACE-NLA] New Interest in FCE: Part 2:other sources

[AWilder106@aol.com]

Art, Tom, others:

This is a real conundrum, especially as testing, assessment and accountability are where  it's at these days--NRS = legitimacy.

How is  EFF accountable?

Back to Art's point, emotions.  In the LPALS study we went into people's homes, went through a complex checklist of types of literacy, the researcher did the writing. First of all, the students had volunteered for the assessment and were paid $10.  Then they were the "hosts" and the researcher  the "guest."  I also always made sure my list was flat on the table so there was no mystery about what was being recorded.Though the student gave time, it was clear that I was doing the work.

Hardly a classroom environment, it wasn't meant to be, our goal was to see real uses of literacy so we went to where people used literacy,the home.

It seems to me that the standardized tests used are themselves cultural artifacts, and should be understood as such--they require mastery and performance.  Maybe taking a standardized test should be included in the Worker part of EFF--it is part of a role and requires performance. Makes sense to me. Art already does this, and Tom's example shows (I think) that  practice increases performance ability.

Andrea