[NLA] Discussions: alternative assessments

[Gloria W. Gillette]

  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 
  To: 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> 

  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>To: <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> 
    > 
    >

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