Hello Bertie,
Yes, to participate, you will need to subscribe to the Assessment Discussion 
List. Visit: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/Assessment

For those only subscribing for the duration of the discussion, you can then 
unsubscribe after it's over by using the same link.

Hope that helps,

Jackie Taylor


>===== Original Message From Bertha Mo <bertiemo at yahoo.com> =====

>Do I need to sign-up somewhere to participate on this discussion?

>

>  Best,

>

>  Bertie Mo, Ph.D., MPH

>

>jataylor <jataylor at utk.edu> wrote:

>  To subscribe to this discussion, go to:

>http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/Assessment

>

>

>Dear Colleagues,

>

>I hope this email finds you well.

>

>I'm pleased to announce the following Guest Discussion, which will begin on

>Monday of next week:

>

>June 19 – 23, 2006

>

>Topic: Assessment in Mathematics

>Guest: Myrna Manly – please see Myrna’s bio below.

>

>Myrna will respond to your email posts once per day – feel free to send your

>post to the Assessment Discussion List, or to me so that I can post it for 

you

>(marie.cora at hotspurpartners.com).

>

>Bio

>

>Myrna Manly, a mathematics teacher with experience at many academic levels,

>retired in 2001 from a position as professor of mathematics at El Camino

>College. In addition to instruction, she has been involved with the 

assessment

>of the mathematics proficiency of adults in various roles: as the Mathematics

>Specialist for the 1988 version of the GED test; as a member of the numeracy

>team for the Adult Literacy and Lifeskills Survey (ALL); and as the numeracy

>consultant for a similar international survey to be used in developing

>countries, the Literacy Assessment and Monitoring Programme (LAMP). She is 

the

>Past President of the Adult Numeracy Network (ANN), is the author of The GED

>Math Problem Solver, and also works with states and programs facilitating

>staff-development workshops aimed at improving mathematics instruction to

>adults.

>

>Myrna is presently writing a paper with Mary Jane Schmidt and Lynda Ginsburg

>on the components of numeracy for NCSALL (National Center for the Study of

>Adult Learning and Literacy). The paper reviews the literature, describes the

>fundamental elements of adult numeracy, and makes recommendations for further

>research, particularly with respect to curriculum and assessment. Look for

>this resource soon from NCSALL.

>

>Recommended preparations for this discussion

>

>Myrna has provided several questions below to get you thinking about math

>assessment:

>

>It is known that students and teachers come to value what is assessed. What 

is

>your opinion of the influence that the standardized mathematics assessments

>(GED, TABE, CASAS) have in your classrooms? Are they assessing the 

mathematics

>that is important for the 21st century? Do you think that they all assess the

>same mathematics? What do you think is missing from each?

>

>

>Computation skills are easy to assess. How can we assess other important

>aspects of mathematics like strategic problem solving, conceptual

>understanding, and reasoning?

>

>

>Describe instances where you have seen a student’s “math anxiety” interfere

>with an accurate assessment of his/her abilities. Do you assess math anxiety

>in any way? What strategies have you used to reduce it? Any luck with them?

>

>

>Which classroom techniques do you recommend for informal, ongoing assessment

>of a student’s progress in learning mathematics?

>

>In addition to the above questions to stimulate discussion, Myrna has 

provided

>these sites for math assessment. Please take a look at these sites and post

>your questions and comments to the Discussion:

>

>

>http://www.literacy.org/products/ncal/pdf/TR9805.pdf 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.

>

>

>http://www.ncsall.net/?id=573 The Inclusion of Numeracy in Adult Basic

>Education, Dave Tout and Mary Jane Schmitt, 2002. 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.

>

>

>http://www.nctm.org/news/assessment/2005_12nb.htm 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.

>

>

>http://standards.nctm.org/document/chapter2/assess.htm This document in an

>overview of NCTM’s assessment principle for K-12 mathematics.

>

>Large-scale surveys of adult skills:

>

>Adult Literacy and Lifeskills Survey (ALL)

>

>Numeracy Framework (begins on p.137):

>

>http://www.statcan.ca/cgi-bin/downpub/listpub.cgi?catno=89-552-MIE2005013

>

>First results:

>http://www.statcan.ca/english/freepub/89-603-XIE/2005001/pdf.htm

>

>Data Tool: http://litdata.ets.org/ialdata/search.asp

>

>National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL)

>

>First results: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2006470

>

>

>Hard Copy Resource:

>

>Adult Numeracy Development: Theory, Policy and Practice, Iddo Gal, ed., 2000.

>Hampton Press, Inc. This book has a section on numeracy assessment with one

>article discussing assessment issues and principles using examples from the 

US

>and Australia and another article describing the use of “Supermarket Strategy

>materials for diagnosing the skills of individual learners in The 

Netherlands.

>

>

>Thanks everyone, and I’m looking forward to seeing you all next week to chat

>about math assessment!

>

>Marie Cora

>Moderator

>NIFL Assessment Discussion List

>marie.cora at hotspurpartners.com

>

>----------------------------------------------------

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