[NLA] Discussions: alternative assessments

[Sheehan, Susan]

gloria, 
this is wonderful
even more ideas for classroom use
these are much appreciated by teachers!
thank you for practical materials

Susan Sheehan
Coordinator 
ABLE/Workplace Literacy
Parma City Schools
6726 Ridge Road
Parma, OH 44129
Phone:	440.885.8339
Fax:	440.885.8307
E-mail:	susanshee at parma.k12.oh.us

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Gloria W. Gillette [SMTP:resctr2 at ix.netcom.com]
> Sent:	Thursday, November 01, 2001 6:07 PM
> To:	nla at lists.literacytent.org
> Subject:	Re: [NLA] Discussions: alternative assessments
> 
> 	Ohio decided to implement statewide use of a portfolio system last
> year in response to the NRS.
> 	An overview is available on our website
> <http://literacy.kent.edu/NEABLE/> . Click on ESOL Web page and then
> ESOL/OPAS Uniform Portfolio System. There you will find an overview, the
> content standards the system is based on and the documentation logs used
> for the system. (Under ESOL/OPAS Support Activites is dynamite piece with
> simple activites and suggestions  correlated to the NRS levels).
> 	 
> 	I can speak for  ESOL as that was my area of expertise and
> experience.
> 	We were more fortunate in that we had had a  committee working on
> standards when the NRS came in to being. The standards were field driven,
> we had an NIFL Fellow working on assessment instruments and we worked very
> hard to  provide support for the implementation.  It requires work and 
> 	change in approach for many of our teachers.There was a great deal
> of grumbling and as we all know, change does not always come easily.
> 	But I also think they have welcomed the opportunity to more fully
> participate in a more comprehensive 
> 	approach to adult learning. After a year of use, people have grown
> to accept the portfolio system, and many have embraced it, found it to be
> an incredibly useful tool. 
> 	 
> 	 
> 	Gloria Gillette
> 	Director
> 	NE ABLE Resource Center
> 	 
> 	 
> 	 
> 	 
> 	----- Original Message ----- 
> 	From: David J. Rosen <mailto:djrosen at massed.net> 
> 	To: nla at lists.literacytent.org <mailto:nla at lists.literacytent.org> 
> 	Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2001 6:47 PM
> 	Subject: [NLA] Discussions: alternative assessments
> 
> 	Gloria, 
> 
> 	Could you tell us more about Ohio's portfolio system?  Is there a
> Web site which describes it and gives examples of how it is used?  Are all
> Ohio adult education programs using this now?  Is this a model you would
> recommend to other states? 
> 
> 	David J. Rosen 
> 	< djrosen at massed.net <mailto:djrosen at massed.net>> 
> 
> 	Gloria Gillette wrote: 
> 
> 		    In addition to Equipped For the Future (EFF), what
> states, initiatives 
> 		     or organizations are developing valid and reliable
> assessments that fit 
> 		     adult learners' goals? Is any state actually using such
> assessments now? 
> 
> 		Ohio is. We have a uniform portfolio system that is being
> used statewide and is in the process of being validated through the Ohio
> State University.Gloria Gillette ----- Original Message -----From: David
> J. Rosen < djrosen at massed.net <mailto:djrosen at massed.net>>To: <
> nla at lists.literacytent.org <mailto:nla at lists.literacytent.org>>Sent:
> Saturday, October 27, 2001 12:04 PMSubject: [NLA] Cross-post from
> NIFL-Assessment on alternative assessments > NLA Colleagues, 
> 		> 
> 		> The NIFL-Assessment post below, a reply to the post below
> it, raises an 
> 		> important policy point (one made before on this list by
> Massachusetts 
> 		> State ABE Director, Bob Bickerton,) that current federal
> policy allows 
> 		> the use of assessments which are not standardized tests if
> they can be 
> 		> shown to be valid and reliable. Few states, however, are
> taking 
> 		> advantage of that opportunity.  And even if states are
> developing 
> 		> alternatives, driven by accountability for numbers,
> limited in knowledge 
> 		> about these assessments, and lacking time to use them,
> practitioners may 
> 		> fall back on the often easier-to-use standardized tests --
> even if they 
> 		> know these are not valid, e.g. not related to their
> students' goals. 
> 		> 
> 		> Does this matter? 
> 		> 
> 		> Yes. If programs are held accountable to results from
> standardized tests 
> 		> which do not fit with what adult learners and programs are
> trying to 
> 		> accomplish, then the most important learner gains or
> outcomes may not be 
> 		> measured, and successful programs will not shine.
> Eventually, if 
> 		> funding decisions are based on standardized test results
> which do not 
> 		> fit curricula designed to meet learner or program goals,
> programs will 
> 		> tailor their curricula to the tests, making adult
> education and literacy 
> 		> less relevant to students.  It would be unfortunate and
> ironic that in 
> 		> the name of increasing standards and accountability --
> because we lack a 
> 		> good set of valid and reliable assessment options for our
> field -- 
> 		> programs may teach to these tests and, in doing so, may
> lower their standards. 
> 		> 
> 		> In addition to Equipped For the Future (EFF), what states,
> initiatives 
> 		> or organizations are developing valid and reliable
> assessments that fit 
> 		> adult learners' goals? Is any state actually using such
> assessments now? 
> 		> 
> 		> David J. Rosen 
> 		> < djrosen at massed.net <mailto:djrosen at massed.net>> 
> 		> 
> 		>
> 
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