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Assessment Policy FY 2002

Ohio ABLE Assessment Policy
Fiscal Year 2002
(July 1, 2001-June 30, 2002)

L-100:	All ABLE programs must employ proper test administration practices, including the administration of a locator/initial appraisal assessment and a learning style assessment.
L-100-1:	All non-ESOL ABLE programs must adopt a standardized assessment from the State ABLE Office's approved list. These standardized assessments must be used for placement of students into Educational Functioning Levels and for post-testing. They may also be used to demonstrate progress in conjunction with the Ohio Uniform Portfolio System (Ohio-UPS). [For ESOL Policy see L-100-2, Workplace Policy see L-100-9, and L-100-11 for Family Literacy Policy.] These assessments include: The Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE) forms 7 & 8 The Test of Adult Basic Education Workplace (See L-100-1b.) Adult Measures of Essential Skills (AMES) Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment Systems (CASAS Life Skills or ECS) WRAT 3 (See L-100-3.) Slosson Oral Reading Test (See L-100-3.) L-100-1a: The TABE Word List may be used for the locator/initial appraisal assessment for students functioning at the Beginning ABE Literacy level (Educational Functioning Level 1). L-100-1b: The TABE Workplace may be used for students functioning at or above High Intermediate Basic Education level (Educational Functioning Level 4).
L-100-2:	All ABLE programs serving ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) students must adopt a standardized assessment from the State ABLE Office's approved list. These standardized assessments must be used for placement of students into Educational Functioning Levels and for post-testing. These assessments include: Basic English Skills Test (BEST) Oral Interview Long Form BEST Literacy Skills (must be preceded by BEST Oral Interview Long Form) CASAS Life Skills Series (must be preceded by CASAS ESL Appraisal (Form 20) L-100-2a: The same standardized assessment used for placement must also be used for post-testing.
L-100-3:	Any non-ESOL ABLE program serving students functioning at the Beginning ABE Literacy level (Educational Functioning Level 1) may administer one of the following state approved alternative assessments for placement: Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT 3)-reading only Slosson Oral Reading Test (SORT) To determine the appropriateness of these assessments, the student's score on a locator/initial appraisal assessment must be used. The TABE Word List may be used for the locator/initial appraisal assessment. (See L-100-1a.) L-100-3a: If a student scores above 1.9 on either the WRAT 3 or the Slosson, he/she must be given one of the standardized assessments listed under L-100-1 to determine placement level. L-100-3b: The WRAT 3 and Slosson may not be used to demonstrate student progress or advancement/post-testing.
L-100-4:	All ABLE programs must test students in at least the students' primary goal areas. [Clarification: All programs must test in the student's primary goal area but may test in other areas also.] L-100-4a: Each student must choose a primary goal (student's first choice) from the goal list appearing on the Student Registration Form (Questions #12). An optional secondary goal should be encouraged (Question #13). L-100-4b: Primary and secondary goals must be recorded on the Student Registration Form only after the student has successfully completed diagnostic testing. L-100-4c: Students who are tested in all basic skills areas must be placed and tracked in their lowest score area. L-100-4c-1: For example, if a student takes a full assessment and his/her lowest score is in math, he/she is placed at the appropriate level for that area. Progress and advancement/post-testing are also tracked in the math skill area. However, the program is encouraged to keep documentation showing progress in the other skills areas that have been targeted for instruction as well. L-100-4d: At least every 90 calendar days from the date of registration, a student's portfolio must be reviewed and updated. Programs may choose to administer a standardized test in the student's goal or basic skill area if it is determined to be appropriate and beneficial. This information must be entered on the Student Progress Form. [Clarification: Programs must maintain and update student progress data for enrolled students using the ABLELink student record system at least every 90 calendar days starting from the date of registration.]
L-100-5:	All ABLE programs that teach basic computer literacy skills must administer the state approved Kansas Computer Literacy Assessment (KCLA) or the Technology and Internet Assessment (TIA). This does not include programs that simply use computers as a tool to teach basic skills. L-100-5a: Only students who enter the program with the primary or secondary goal of gaining basic computer literacy skills are required to take the KCLA or TIA. L-100-5b: Students who score below the Beginning Basic Education level (Educational Functioning Level 2) on the locator/initial appraisal assessment must be placed in basic skills rather than computer literacy. In this case the student has not demonstrated sufficient literacy skills to begin a computer literacy program. L-100-5c: Students who score at or above the Low Adult Secondary Education level (Educational Functioning Level 5) on the KCLA or TIA must be referred to another training program for advanced computer skills.
L-100-6:	All ABLE programs must utilize the Ohio Uniform Portfolio System. [Clarification: At least one representative from each program is required to be trained on the implementation of Ohio-UPS.] L-100-6a: Each student must have a portfolio. L-100-6b: Portfolios may not be used for placement into any of the six Educational Functioning Levels. L-100-6c: L-100-6d: If a student exits before a standardized post-test can be administered, the portfolio may be used to demonstrate level advancement. L-100-6e: For ESOL students the portfolio may be used to demonstrate level advancement. L-100-6f: ABLE programs that choose to follow the approved Workplace Education Model may use a class portfolio instead of an individual portfolio for each student.
L-100-7:	ABLE programs serving MR/DD students enrolled within a county mental retardation program (MR/DD) and those who are residents of State Developmental Centers may not be subject to standardized testing and may be placed at the lowest Educational Functioning Level. Educational Functioning Level information may be available from the referring agency. L-100-7a: Progress and/or advancement may be determined using population appropriate assessments within the Ohio-UPS.
L-100-8:	All ABLE programs serving Ohio Department of Mental Health students must adopt a standardized assessment from the State ABLE Office's approved list. These standardized assessments must be used for placement into Educational Functioning Levels and for post-testing. They may also be used to demonstrate progress in conjunction with the Ohio Uniform Portfolio System (Ohio-UPS). (See L-100-1.) L-100-8a: Ohio Department of Mental Health students who enter ABLE classes through the Competency Education and the Substance Abuse/Mental Illness (SAMI) programs may be given the WRAT 3 assessment test for placement purposes only, regardless of Educational Functioning Level.
L-100-9:	Workplace literacy programs may administer the AMES, CAPS, CASAS, KCLA, TABE 7 & 8, or TIA for placement, progress, and post-testing at all Educational Functioning Levels, and may add TABE Workplace or WorkKeys to the assessment choices at Educational Functioning Levels 4, 5, and 6.
L-100-10:	ABLE programs serving students with a primary or secondary goal of earning a GED or secondary school diploma may administer the Official GED Practice Test under the following conditions: L-100-10a: For placement: Students must have participated in orientation. Students must have been administered a TABE Locator Test, or other state approved locator/initial appraisal assessment, and must have achieved scores of 13 or higher in reading, 14 or higher in math, and 11 or higher in language. If a student meets or exceeds the scores designated above, the program may administer the Official GED Practice Test. If the student takes the GED Practice Test and passes only one or two of the sub-tests, the student may be placed at the Low Adult Secondary Education level (Educational Functioning Level 5). If the student passes three of the sub-tests, the student may be placed at the High Adult Secondary Education level (Educational Functioning Level 6). If a student does not meet or exceed the designated scores on the locator/initial appraisal assessment, the program must administer a standardized assessment instrument to determine the student's placement level. L-100-10b: For progress/post-testing: Testing results from the Official GED Practice Test or Official GED Test may be used for progress and post-testing if the student is in the High Intermediate Basic Education level (Educational Functioning Level 4) or above. Students must pass at least three of the sub-tests to progress to High Adult Secondary Education level (Educational Functioning Level 6) from Low Adult Secondary Education level (Educational Functioning Level 5). Passing the Official GED Practice Test and/or Official GED Test is sufficient evidence of completion of the High Adult Secondary Education level (Educational Functioning Level 6). L-100-10c: ESOL guidelines: The Official GED Practice Test may not be used as a placement, progress, or post-test for ESOL students.
L-100-11:	Family Literacy programs must administer AMES, CASAS, or TABE 7 & 8 for placement, progress, and post-testing. The Ohio Survey on Parent Involvement for Family Literacy Programs must be used to document measures under Core Indicator of Performance #4.

Assessment Policy Statements
1. Ohio's assessment policy must fully comply with requirements of the National Reporting System.

2. The state assessment policy must be flexible enough to address the needs of the various student populations we serve.

3. The State ABLE Office offers programs a menu of approved standardized tests related to placement, progress, and post-testing.

4. Programs are required to include an assessment plan within Part 8-Approach Addendum, Item II Assessment Policy and Student Experience Model of their continuation grant applications for FY 2002. Programs must assure that all staff administering the assessments are thoroughly trained on test administration and score interpretation.

5. The person or persons assigned to administer testing is a local program decision.

6. Programs may choose to use either the TABE 7 & 8 full battery or the TABE 7 & 8 survey. If a program uses a full battery for placement testing, then the alternate battery may be used post-testing. If a program uses the survey for placement testing, then the same form of the survey is to be used for post-testing.

7. Professional development opportunities are made available to the field to meet assessment training needs by Ohio's State Leadership Network. In some cases, however, individual programs may need to arrange and support their own assessment training needs.

8. Programs must retain hard copies of student portfolio contents (i.e., documentation log and attached evidence of mastery) for one year after the student exits the program.

9. For audit purposes, programs must retain, either in paper or electronic form, individual student records (i.e., data from the Student Registration Form, Student Progress Form, and Student Exit Form) for no less than five years following the completion of the State Audit of that State Fiscal Year period. This may be accommodated through retention of a program's ABLELink database records for fiscal years covering this time period.

POLICY ADOPTED: (Signed JAB, SDAE/OH) February 27,2001