Performance Assessments for Adult Education Exploring the Measurement Issues: Report of a Workshop (2002) / Chapter Skim
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72 Background Accountability is a fact of life in the current educational setting, notonly in the United States but in many other countries. Educa-tional programs that are funded by public monies are increasingly being asked to account not only for how they expend public resources, but for the extent to which these expenditures result in educational outcomes that are valued by stakeholders.
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8 PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS FOR ADULT EDUCATION ated with performance assessments in several areas of the report background information is provided on pertinent measurement concepts. Many of the challenges identified in this report may be relevant to other kinds of tests and the broader accountability system of adult education.
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BACKGROUND 9 chapter. The states report the percentage of students who move from one functioning level to the next.
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10 PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS FOR ADULT EDUCATION TABLE 2-1 Educational Functioning Level Descriptors -- Adult Basic Education Levels Literacy Level Basic Reading and Writing Numerac Beginning ABE Literacy • Individual has no or minimal reading • Indivi Benchmarks: and writing skills.
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BACKGROUND 11 asic Numeracy Skills Functional and Workplace Skills reading • Individual has little or no recognition • Individual has little or no ability to of numbers or simple counting skills or read basic signs or maps, can provide hension may have only minimal skills, such as limited personal information on poken the ability to add or subtract single simple forms. ulty digit numbers.
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12 PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS FOR ADULT EDUCATION Low Intermediate Basic Education • Individual can read text on familiar • Indivi Benchmarks: subjects that have a simple and clear accura TABE (5-6) scale scores underlying structure (e.g., clear main using w (grade level 6-8.9)
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BACKGROUND 13 miliar • Individual can perform with high • Individual is able to handle basic d clear accuracy all four basic math operations reading, writing, and computational ar main using whole numbers up to three digits. tasks related to life roles, such as • Can identify and use all basic completing medical forms, order meaning.
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14 PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS FOR ADULT EDUCATION High Intermediate Basic Education • Individual is able to read simple • Indivi Benchmarks: descriptions and narratives on familiar math o TABE (5-6) scale scores subjects or from which new vocabulary and fr (grade level 6-8.9)
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BACKGROUND 15 le • Individual can perform all four basic • Individual is able to handle basic life familiar math operations with whole numbers skills tasks such as graphs, charts, and ocabulary and fractions. labels, and can follow multi-step • Can determine correct math operations diagrams.
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16 PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS FOR ADULT EDUCATION Low Adult Secondary Education • Individual can comprehend expository • Indivi Benchmarks: writing and identify spelling, functio TABE (5-6) scale scores punctuation, and grammatical errors.
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BACKGROUND 17 xpository • Individual can perform all basic math • Individual is able or can learn to functions with whole numbers, decimals follow simple multi-step directions l errors. and fractions.
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18 PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS FOR ADULT EDUCATION High Adult Secondary Education • Individual can comprehend, explain, • Indivi Benchmarks: and analyze information from a variety estima TABE (5-6) scale scores of literacy works, including primary apply (grade level 11-12)
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BACKGROUND 19 xplain, • Individual can make mathematical • Individuals are able to read technical a variety estimates of time and space and can information and complex manuals. imary apply principles of geometry to measure • Can comprehend some college level nal angles, lines and surfaces.
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20 PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS FOR ADULT EDUCATION Beginning ESL Literacy • Individual cannot speak or understand • Indivi Benchmarks: English, or understands only isolated or wri CASAS (Life Skills) : 180 and below words or phrases.
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BACKGROUND 21 derstand • Individual has no or minimal reading • Individual functions minimally or not solated or writing skills in any language. at all in English and can communicate • May have little or no comprehension only through gestures or a few isolated of how print corresponds to spoken words, such as name and other language and may have difficulty using personal information.
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22 PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS FOR ADULT EDUCATION Low Intermediate ESL • Individual can understand simple • Indivi Benchmarks: learned phrases and limited new familia CASAS (Life Skills) : 201–210 phrases containing familiar vocabulary and co SPL (Speaking)
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BACKGROUND 23 mple • Individual can read simple material on • Individual can interpret simple ew familiar subjects and comprehend simple directions and schedules, signs and cabulary and compound sentences in single or maps. epetition.
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24 PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS FOR ADULT EDUCATION Low Advanced ESL • Individual can converse on many • Indivi Benchmarks: everyday subjects and some subjects descrip CASAS (Life Skills) : 221–235 with unfamiliar vocabulary, but may subjec SPL (Speaking)
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BACKGROUND 25 any • Individual is able to read simple • Individual can function bjects descriptions and narratives on familiar independently to meet most survival ut may subjects or from which new vocabulary needs and can communicate on the slower can be determined by context. telephone on familiar topics.
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26 PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS FOR ADULT EDUCATION that details and compares the performance of each state with respect to the core measures of performance. These public reports are shared with state governors and the chief executive officers of the agency in each state that has jurisdiction over the WIA Title II program.
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BACKGROUND 27 The NRS Educational Functioning Levels The students' scores at intake (pretest) and on the follow-up (posttest)
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28 PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS FOR ADULT EDUCATION In functional and workplace skills, the Beginning ABE Literacy level states: • Individual has little or no ability to read basic signs or maps, can provide limited personal information on simple forms. • The individual can handle routine entry-level jobs that require little or no basic written communication or computational skills and no knowledge of computers or other technology.
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BACKGROUND 29 higher educational functioning level, an "advance" is recorded for that student. IMPLEMENTING THE NRS Local Responsibilities The NRS has been designed so that all local programs administer a standardized assessment using valid and uniform procedures and then enter data for each individual into the state data collection system.
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30 PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS FOR ADULT EDUCATION ment, the tasks used for the pretest and the posttest should measure the same content and skills. States are responsible for training and monitoring staff in the proper use, administration, and scoring of the chosen assessment, which is especially important with performance-based assessment.
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BACKGROUND 31 standing and implementing the requirements of the NRS. The guidelines for the NRS were commissioned by the DOEd as part of the effort to develop more specific and precise requirements related to the use of performance assessments permitted under the NRS (DOEd, 2001a)
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32 PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS FOR ADULT EDUCATION support the decennial National Assessment of Adult Literacy -- a cost and an appropriation that will not recur until the next national assessment. The major portion of federal adult basic education allocations to states (not less than 82.5 percent)
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BACKGROUND 33 ages 30 percent per year. Administrative support can be quite limited.
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34 PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS FOR ADULT EDUCATION Comings described the great diversity of the student population. Adult education students include immigrants from many different countries and native-born Americans, men and women, 16-year-old high school dropouts and 70-year-old retirees, workers, welfare recipients, and prisoners.
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BACKGROUND 35 working, and taking care of children and sick parents. As noted in a DOEd report, many students who want to continue in a program may drop out because of a change in work schedule or a crisis at home (Kaufman et al., 2000)
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