Midwest LINCS Assessment: Teacher/Tutor Page

Here you can find resources for understanding different approaches to assessment, selecting appropriate assessments, and developing classroom assessments.

Planning Assessment
Classroom
Guidelines for Selecting, Administering, and Taking Tests
Accountability & Policy

Planning Assessment

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?

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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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Classroom

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 do I develop appropriate assessments for the need?
How can I involve students in self-assessment?
How do I assess in various content areas?

Classroom: Authentic Assessment

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

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

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.

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

Student Health Education Teams in Action
This model for student learning and leadership development is highly participatory, and it incorporates a variety of performance-based assessments including conducting needs assessments, carrying out research, and delivering information in accessible ways to other adult students.

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.

Classroom: Content Standards

Focus on Basics, Volume 3, Issue C: Standards-Based Education
Practitioners share their experiences implementing standards-based education at the teacher, program, state, and national levels.

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 ("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") and the standards connected to it work. It will also provide some perspective on why - in practice - this particular indicator is problematic.

EFF Hot Topics: An Introduction to the Ten-Step Cycle as an Important Learning Tool for You
The ten-step cycle conveys the ways in which assessment gets integrated throughout the process of instruction.

Active, Purposeful, and Contextual: Assessment in the EFF Classroom
The author describes how using EFF as a framework for assessment and instruction has helped her to become a more intentional and informed instructor and learner.

Classroom: Portfolios

Assessing Adult Learners Through Project-Based Learning Instruction
This describes project-based learning and assessment and how these are incorporated into students' instruction via portfolios.

Classroom: Rubrics

Using Rubrics
This article introduces rubrics and their use for evaluating student performance and managing the instructional process.

Using Rubrics. Teacher to Teacher
The article describes the steps involved in developing an analytic rubric.

Using Rubrics to Promote Thinking and Learning
The author describes how instructional rubrics help teachers to teach as well as evaluate student work. In addition, the article discusses how creating rubrics with students is a powerful instructional tool.

Creating Rubrics Through Negotiable Contracting and Assessment
"Negotiable contracting" is a method of assessment that involves students in the process of their instruction and evaluation.

Understanding Scoring Rubrics: A Guide for Teachers
This collectio of papers provides an introduction to using scoring rubrics in the classroom. When good rubrics are used well, teachers and students receive extensive feedback on the quality and quantity of student learning. When scoring rubrics are used in large-scale assessment, technical questions related to interrater reliability tend to dominate the literature. At the classroom level, concerns tend to center around how, when, and why to use scoring rubrics.

Developing Classroom Performance Assessments and Scoring Rubrics - Part II
This Digest addresses developing scoring rubrics, administering performance assessments, and scoring, interpreting, and using results.

Scoring Rubric Development: Validity and Reliability
The purposes of this article are to provide clear definitions of the terms "validity" and "reliability" and illustrate these definitions through examples, and to clarify how these issues may be addressed in the development of scoring rubrics. The ideas presented here are applicable for anyone using scoring rubrics in the classroom, regardless of the discipline or grade level.

Scoring Rubrics Part I: What and When
This Digest describes different types of scoring rubrics and explains why they are useful. A distinction is made between analytic and holistic scoring rubrics. Rubrics are also divided into general versus task-specific rubrics, and may be designed to contain both general and task-specific components.

Scoring Rubrics Part II: How?
This Digest provides a process for developing scoring rubrics, and lists resources available to teachers who wish to use scoring rubrics in their classrooms.

Classroom: Reading

Assessment Strategies and Reading Profiles
The site describes a process for developing an individual's reading profile that illustrates his or her strengths and instructional needs. Based upon the Adult Reading Components Study from the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL).

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

Classroom: Writing

A Writing Rubric to Assess ESL Student Performance (REEP)
The authors describe the rationale and development process of the rubric, and discuss their experiences and lesson learned.

Using the REEP Assessment for ESOL and ABE Classroom Instruction
The authors describe the steps involved in using the REEP Writing Process and Rubric in both ESOL and ABE classrooms as an instructional tool.

Classroom: GED

GED 2002 Making New Connections
This is a self-paced training that provides teachers with information and hands-on experiences for use in the classroom.

Northwest LINCS GED Quick Guide for the Classroom
This site provides classroom guides ranging from general information to developing lesson plans.

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.

GED Research at the Adult Literacy Education Wiki (ALE Wiki)
The ALE Wiki GED Research page provides research, resources, and archived discussion from the field on this topic.

Classroom: Math/Numeracy

Will This Be on the Test?
This article discusses the importance of including significant mathematics on tests. It includes a good example of a test item that goes beyond procedural skills.

NCTM Assessment Principle
This document in an overview of National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' assessment principle for K-12 mathematics.

Illuminating Understanding: Performance Assessment in Mathematics
The author describes how to use performance assessment to teach math.

Teaching to the Math Standards with Adult Learners
From the introduction by the author: "By 'standards-based,' I mean a set of values and important ideas used to judge methods of instruction and assessment. With respect to math instruction, I mean both content and methodology based upon the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics (1989), which was adapted for ABE instruction by Massachusetts teachers."

Classroom: Science

Alternative Assessment: A Family and Consumer Sciences Teacher's Tool Kit
This manual, which is designed for home economics teachers who are interested in using alternative forms of student assessment, shares current thinking, research, and practices regarding the use of alternative forms of assessment in family and consumer sciences occupational programs.

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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 my classroom?
How do I 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.

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.

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 classroom?
How do I prepare students to do well on large-scale tests?

Valid, Reliable, and Appropriate Assessments for Adult English Language Learners
This Q&A examines the concepts of validity, reliability, and appropriateness from a language testing perspective as they apply to the assessment issues raised by the NRS.

Performance Accountability: For What? To Whom? And How?
This article suggests that developing performance accountability is not just technically challenging but also that it challenges our values.

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.

Focus on Basics, Volume 3, Issue C: Standards-Based Education
Practitioners share their experiences implementing standards-based education at the teacher, program, state, and national levels.

The Inclusion of Numeracy in Adult Basic Education
This chapter from NCSALL's annual review contains a section on assessment that includes a description of assessments in adult education from Australia and The Netherlands.

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.

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.

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