[Bestplus] Carol's response to Teresa's Scoring quesiton

[Fischer, Janet]

Hi all. I agree with Iris -- the new BEST Plus rubric IS different from
the one for the old BEST. In many trainings that Stacey did, she
specifically pointed this out to practitioners, emphasizing the
difference in how "communication, language structure, etc" are defined
in the new rubric. I think this is an important point to continue to
highlight in the trainings. 

Jane and Carey are co-training today at ALRI. Hope it's going well! Have
a nice weekend all, Janet

Janet S. Fischer
Associate Coordinator
Northeast SABES (System for Adult Basic Education Support)
Northern Essex Community College
45 Franklin Street, Lawrence, MA 01840
Tel: (978) 738-7307,  Fax: (978) 738-7115
jfischer at necc.mass.edu 
 

-----Original Message-----
From: bestplus-bounces at lists.literacytent.org
[mailto:bestplus-bounces at lists.literacytent.org] On Behalf Of
iris.broudy at SDH.state.ma.us
Sent: Thursday, July 08, 2004 4:12 PM
To: JaneS at doe.mass.edu; Bestplus at lists.literacytent.org
Subject: RE: [Bestplus] Carol's response to Teresa's Scoring quesiton

My reaction to this question--and the subsequent comments--has been that
teachers who have a lot of experience with the old BEST oral are getting
confused by the rubric for that test, where communication was a very
different thing. So I think we're seeing some interference.  This may
happen with new trainees until they feel comfortable with the B+ rubric.
But I guess we as trainers just have to keep repeating the mantra:  Look
at the rubric!  
Hope it's going well with everyone.  My training is still weeks away.
Hope I don't forget everything before then!

Iris

P.S. Carey:  I FINALLY received an e-mail from you at work through the
listserv.  I don't know why it didn't happen before, but looks like
problem solved.--I

Hampden County Sheriff's Department
627 Randall Road
Ludlow,  MA   01056
413-547-8000  ext. 2468
Fax:  413-583-3099


-----Original Message-----
From: Schwerdtfeger, Jane [mailto:JaneS at doe.mass.edu]
Sent: Thursday, July 08, 2004 3:43 PM
To: 'Bestplus at lists.literacytent.org'
Subject: [Bestplus] Carol's response to Teresa's Scoring quesiton


Hi, everyone--we have a response from Carol Van Duzer as well.  She
writes:


I think this is covered in the training and explained in the rubric. 
The expected response to "Tell me about this picture." is words,
phrases, or a simple sentence. (that is in the powerpoint)

If an examinee answers at the word level--e.g., "shopping...eggs" (and
the picture is of someone in a supermarket buying eggs)--the score is 2
for Listening Comprehension, 1 for Language Complexity, and 3 for
communication if the vocabulary words are clearly understood. Check the
scoring rubric.

To get a 1 or 2 in communication with such a response, there would have
to be severe interference from pronunciation--which would cause
difficulty in catching the meaning or confusion about what was being
said. See the rubric.

In the situation she [Teresa]described, there were no inaccuracies--just
words--and she understood them perfectly. The examinee is operating at
the vocabulary level so there is nothing to "fill in." The score for
answering in words is awarded under language complexity. In general,
hesitation does not cause a lower score (unless it interferes with
understanding meaning).

This is Jane again.  Any other comments from the listserve group? Thanks
for bringing it up Teresa--

Jane



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