Here you can find resources for understanding issues of accountability, and for help in implementing effective assessment policies at the classroom and program level. Planning Assessment Program Planning Guidelines for Selecting, Administering, and Taking Tests Accountability & Policy

Questions answered by this page:
How can I find out what students already know?
How can I find out what students need to know?
How do I plan instruction based on students' needs?
How do I find out what students have learned?
How do I select the most appropriate assessment for the need?
How can I understand how assessment, curriculum, and instruction intersect?

Authentic Assessment - Basic Definitions and Perspectives
An overview and definitions of assessment terms.

Authentic Assessment Tools
The author details authentic assessment strategies and tools, including those that students can use to assess their own learning.

Adventures in Assessment
For 14 years (1991-2004), Adventures in Assessment provided a forum for adult literacy practitioners to critically reflect upon a range of issues and experiences pertaining to assessment, both alternative assessment early on and, later, standardized assessment. Search the 16 volumes at the site by using the search tool in the upper right-hand corner, or browse through each volume.

Assessment Information at the Adult Literacy Education Wiki (ALE Wiki)
The ALE Wiki Assessment Information page provides a glossary, weblinks, guidelines for selecting assessments, contact info for test publishers, and archived discussions from the field on this topic.

Coalition of Essential Schools - Authentic Assessment
This website provides a collection of articles and resources focused on the benefits and requirements of authentic assessment. (High School)

Evaluation as an Element in Good Literacy Practice
A thorough discussion of the need for and benefits of assessment, both in general and in adult literacy classrooms.

9 Principles of Good Practice for Assessing Student Learning
These principles provide information on best practices in assessment as well as information on how to make assessment the most effective.

Performance-based assessment: promoting achievement for English language learners
A discussion of the need for assessments that focus on classroom learning.

A Performance Framework for Teaching and Learning with the Equipped for the Future (EFF) Content Standards
This publication offers ideas for beginning to think about assessment within the EFF framework.

Equipped for the Future Assessment Report: How Instructors Can Support Adult Learners Through Performance-Based Assessment
Specific performance-based assessment methods useful for basing instruction on EFF standards.

Exploring Formative Assessment - Assessment for Learning
AtoL = Assess to Learn. This online professional development presentation focuses on formative assessment developed for the K-12 sector but is relevant to the adult sector as well. The Power Point offers definitions, research, implications for classroom practice, a self-evaluation, discussion points, links to further resources, and an overview of the theory behind convergent and divergent models of assessment (New Zealand).

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Program Planning

Questions answered by this page:
How do I structure my program based on students' needs?
How can I find out what students already know?
How can I find out what students need to know?
How can I involve students in program planning?
How do I select the most appropriate assessment for the need?
How can I understand how assessment, curriculum, and instruction intersect?
How can I use data for instructional and program improvement?

The Case for Authentic Assessment
Based on material prepared for the California Assessment Program, an argument in favor of authentic assessment is presented, and authentic assessment is contrasted with traditional standardized tests.

Adult ESL Learner Assessment: Purposes and Tools
The article describes a broad range of issues in high stakes and classroom assessment.

Field Notes, Volume 10, Number 3: Assessment
Dedicated to assessment issues ranging from accountability to professional development to aligning curriculum and classroom assessment.

Knowledge in Action: The Promise of Project-Based Learning
In its simplest form, project-based learning involves a group of learners taking on an issue close to their hearts, developing a response, and presenting the results to a wider audience. The author links project-based learning to other approaches to teaching and learning, such as community action research, participatory education, and functional contexts, and discusses the benefits to be derived for adult learners, particularly in areas related to second language acquisition and preparation for the world of work.

Project-Based Learning at the Adult Literacy Education Wiki (ALE Wiki)
The ALE Wiki Project-Based Learning page provides fundamental questions, research, resources, examples, and archived discussions from the field on this topic.

Involving Learners in Assessment Research
Early in 2001, the International Language Institute of Massachusetts (ILI) launched a program-wide effort to develop an approach to assessment which would be consistent with their learner-centered teaching philosophy. This article describes a process which involved their students in the research and critique of various assessment methods and tools.

I've come a long way: learner-identified outcomes of participation in adult literacy programs
The Learner Identified Outcomes study brings learners' perspectives to the ongoing research conversation on outcomes of participation in adult literacy education.

"I've Opened Up" Exploring Learners' Perspectives on Progress
This project explored what constitutes progress in community-based literacy programs from the perspective of learners. The research took place between December 2004 and January 2006. (Canada)

Crafting curricula aims for instructionally supportive assessment
This article analyzes how state curriculum can be optimally configured to foster instructionally supportive assessment. (K-12)

Persistence Among Adult Basic Education Students in Pre-GED Classes
Adults must make active decisions to participate in each class session and often must overcome significant barriers to attend classes. Every adult education program should help adult students persist in their learning until they reach their educational goals. The purpose of this study is to develop and test advice for adult basic education practitioners on how to help adult learners persist in their studies, and to develop and test advice for policy makers on how to structure funding and accountability systems in ways that will support learner persistence.

Learner Persistence at the Adult Literacy Education Wiki (ALE Wiki)
The ALE Wiki Learner Persistence page contains a wealth of information including research and resources, as well as several archived discussions that have occurred within the field on this topic.

Assessing Mathematical Knowledge of Adult Learners: Are We Looking at What Counts?
This technical report from NCAL was written by Joy Cumming, Iddo Gal, and Lynda Ginsburg in 1998. It discusses assessment principles and evaluates their implementation in common numeracy assessment tools.

Focus on Basics, Volume 3, Issue C: Standards-Based Education
Driven by general interest and by the Workforce Investment Act, more and more states and programs are moving towards standards-based education. Various authors write about their experiences understanding and implementing standards-based education.

What Works Literacy Partnership: Making Data Work for You
An overview of the What Works Literacy Partnership (WWLP), a nationwide program that brought together 12 adult education programs interested in building their capacity to collect, manage and analyze data.

Analyzing Your Organization's Data to Tell Your Story
The authors describe how their program uses data to improve its performance.

Using Data for Program Improvement
The author discusses how her program is moving beyond collection and reporting of data to using the data to strengthen her programs. The article discusses how measuring and understanding student performance helps programs, partnerships, and government to demonstrate and promote the impact on communities.

Scale Score Correlations for ABE and ESOL
Scale scores are often reported rather than GLE (Grade Level Equivalents), SPL (Student Performance Levels), or other measures. This practice makes data comparable across different forms of tests as well as among programs across a state. This site describes how the state of Massachusetts reports learning gains using scale scores.

Measuring Program Outcomes: A Practical Approach
With 150,000 copies in circulation, this is the most widely used measurement guide in the United States. The manual promotes the use of logic models to clarify and communicate outcomes. Available for $5.00 purchase.

Adults with Basic and Below Basic Literacy Levels: Findings from NAAL and Implications for Practice
The National Institute for Literacy hosted this webcast on Tuesday, August 15, 2006 to discuss the results of the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) 2003, specifically relating to Americans who tested in the Below Basic and Basic literacy levels.

Content Standards at the Adult Literacy Education Wiki (ALE Wiki)
The ALE Wiki Content Standards page provides websites and online resources on standards and standards implementation within the United States and Internationally.

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Guidelines for Selecting, Administering, and Taking Tests

Questions answered by this page:
What does a large-scale, standardized test measure?
How do I connect large-scale tests to classrooms?
How do I help prepare students to do well on large-scale tests?
How can I help students understand their test scores?
Where can I find guidelines for selecting assessments?

Questions To Ask When Evaluating Tests
This article identifies the key standards applicable to most test evaluation situations. Sample questions are presented to help in your evaluations.

Code of Fair Testing Practices
The Code of Fair Testing Practices in Education is a guide for professionals in fulfilling their obligation to provide and use tests that are fair to all test-takers.

Code of Professional Responsibilities in Educational Measurement
The Code serves as a guide for those involved in educational assessment of their obligations to uphold the integrity of the manner in which assessments are developed, used, evaluated, and marketed.

Rights and Responsibilities of Test Takers: Guidelines and Expectations
This document is intended to encourage positive and high quality interactions between testing professionals and test takers.

A Basic Primer for Understanding Standardized Tests and Using Test Scores
The purpose of this article is to equip readers with a basic understanding of what goes into standardized test making and what test scores purport to show about learners' skills and abilities.

How to Do Your Best on Standardized Tests: Some Suggestions for Adult Learners
You can't get a high school diploma, go to college, join the military, get a professional license or certificate, or get a job without passing a test. You can't even get a driver's license without passing a test. With so many standardized tests around, adult learners would be wise to learn how to do their best on them, and to help their children do well on them, too.

Assessment Information at the Adult Literacy Education Wiki (ALE Wiki)
The ALE Wiki Assessment Information page provides a glossary, weblinks, guidelines for selecting assessments, contact info for test publishers, and archived discussions from the field on this topic.

CASAS FAQ for teachers/test administrators
Frequently asked questions about CASAS are answered.

BEST Plus FAQ for teachers/test administrators
Frequently asked questions about BEST Plus are answered.

Managing BEST Plus data
Frequently asked questions focused on how to effectively manage score data within the software system of BEST Plus.

Principles for Fair Student Assessment Practices for Education in Canada
This resource contains a set of principles and related guidelines generally accepted by professional organizations as indicative of fair assessment practice within the Canadian educational context. Assessments depend on professional judgment; the principles and related guidelines presented in this document identify the issues to consider in exercising this professional judgment and in striving for the fair and equitable assessment of all students.

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Accountability & Policy

Questions answered by this page:
What does a large-scale, standardized test measure?
How do I connect large-scale tests to my program and classrooms?
How do I help prepare students to do well on large-scale tests?
How do I structure my program in order to meet accountability mandates?
How can I utilize assessment so that it serves purposes of instruction as well as purposes of accountability?

Developing performance assessments for adult literacy learners: a summary For NRS guidelines
States that develop their own assessments must follow the procedures outlined in this paper in order to use them for National Reporting System accountability.

Performance Puzzles: Issues in Measuring Capabilities and Certifying Accomplishments
This article explores issues involved in using assessments as a means of defining standards and encouraging efforts to meet them.

A User's Guide to Standards-Based Educational Reform: From Theory to Practice
The ideal model of standards-based reform described in this article will provide some context for understanding why an indicator such as this one is needed - in theory - to make Goal 6 and the standards connected to it work. It will also provide some perspective on why - in practice - this particular indicator is problematic. (U.S. National Education Goal 6: "By the year 2000, every adult American will be literate and will possess the knowledge and skills necessary to compete in a global economy and exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.")

Equipped for the Future Assessment Report: EFF/NRS Data Collection Project, 2000-2001
The goal of the project is to enable programs using EFF as a framework for instruction to report student progress from level to level on the NRS.

Outcomes of participation in adult basic education: the importance of learners' perspective
This paper suggests that learners have a different perspective on performance than the authors of the Workforce Investment Act.

Assessment in Support of Instruction and Learning: Bridging the Gap Between Large-Scale and Classroom Assessment, A Workshop Report, National Research Council
Presentations from a dozen programs highlight their efforts to bridge the gap between assessment that focuses on accountability and that which focuses on learning.

Building Tests to Support Instruction and Accountability: A Guide for Policymakers
The paper presents nine requirements for a new generation of statewide achievement tests. (K-12; prepared by The Commission on Instructionally Supportive Assessment, NEA)

Assessment and Accountability in Programs for Adult English Language Learners: What Do We Know? What Do We Have in Place? What Do We Need?
A discussion of the field's vision for ESL program accountability and learner assessment.

Assessment and Accountability A Modest Proposal
Heide Spruck Wrigley
The article gives an overview of the present accountability system, and provides suggestions for addressing the mismatch between classroom content and high-stakes testing.

Contested ground: performance accountability in adult basic education
This policy paper lays out key issues in performance accountability and presents recommendations for policy and action.

Assessing Results That Matter: Equipped for the Future's Approach to Assessment for Adult Basic Education Accountability and Improvement
This policy brief explains the EFF approach to developing good assessment tools.

Testing and Accountability in Adult Literacy Education
This report provides information on the design and evaluation of workplace literacy programs.

Accountability at the Adult Literacy Education Wiki (ALE Wiki)
The ALE Wiki Accountability page provides fundamental questions, research, resources, and archived discussions from the field on this topic.

Large-Scale Authentic Assessment
The author discusses federal and state initiatives for using authentic assessment, presenting the issues, obstacles, and challenges surrounding its use on a large scale.

Think about Authentic Learning and Then Authentic Assessment
The author discusses the theoretical foundations of authentic assessment, reviewing psychological, cognitive, and sociological views of learning. The chapter provides an extended example of an authentic assessment practice that connects authentic teaching, learning, and assessment with learning theory.

Devil is in the details: Evidence from the GED on the role of examination system details in determining who passes
An analysis of data collected over 10 years that illustrates that the details of examination systems have marked impacts on the racial/ethnic composition of passers.

Assessment and accountability issues in distance education for adult learners
This paper discusses various issues and recommends best practices for counting distance learners under the current NRS system.

Review of statewide learner competency and assessment systems
This paper outlines the initiatives undertaken by 11 states to develop program accountability and assessment systems.

Student Assessment in Adult Basic Education: A Snapshot
The purpose of this document is to report on the findings from a national survey on student assessment in adult basic education (Canada).

Literacy Education in Adult Basic Education
In his overview of literacy assessment in ABE, John Kruidenier discusses definitions of literacy and assessment and commonly-used assessment terms; influences on the development of adult literacy assessment, including standardized testing, criterion-referenced testing, performance or alternative assessment, and other innovations in testing, as well as federal legislation; assessment tools and approaches used to measure specific components of reading and writing ability; the most frequently used assessments and issues related to their administration; large-scale assessments in the US, from intelligence tests conducted during World War I to the National Adult Literacy Survey; and a discussion of persistent issues in assessment and recommendations for research, policy and practice.

New Zealand Council of Educational Research: Assessment for Foundation Learning
The purpose of this research study is to contribute to an understanding of what is required to enhance the assessment capability of tertiary education providers of learning in literacy, numeracy, and language. The research began with the development of six broad principles of good assessment practice in foundation learning settings derived from the relevant research literature combined with ideas expressed by key informants in the sector. The principles provided a framework for examining current assessment practice, in terms of initial/diagnostic assessment, formative assessment, and summative assessment, in 12 diverse foundation-learning settings focused on adults (New Zealand).

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