Research and Evaluation | Noteworthy Practices | Additional Links

Rigorous academic standards for student learning and achievement are a critical component of an adult basic education (ABE) improvement system. Assessments that are aligned with standards are also essential to improved program quality. Measuring students' learning and achievement against standards and aiming to improve the effectiveness of ABE programs, based on such measures, are key goals of the Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE). Although standards-based education reform is relatively new to ABE, over 30 states are committed to using adult education standards to ensure that all students can access a high-quality education and become proficient in critical subject areas. Standards that spell out what students should know and be able to do in core subject areas set the expectations for student learning and guide programs and teachers in creating a clear sequence of instruction, leading to secondary completion and continuing to the next levels of education and employment.

Research and Evaluation

• Aligned Expectations? A Closer Look at College Admissions and Placement Tests (2007) examines what admissions and placement tests measure.

• Knowing What Students Know: The Science and Design of Educational Assessment (2001). This report addresses assessments used in both classroom and large-scale contexts for three broad purposes, to assist learning, measure individual achievement, and evaluate programs.

• National Assessment of Adult Literacy. Nationally representative and continuing assessment of English language literacy skills among adults residing in households and prisons in the United States.

• The National Reporting System (NRS) for Adult Education is an outcome-based accountability system for the state-administered, federally funded adult education program.

• Practical Assessment, Research, and Evaluation. The refereed articles and manuscripts published here are intended to help keep educators up-to-date on effective methods, trends, and research developments.

• The State of State Standards 2006. The first full review of K-12 standards in six years confers an average grade of "C-minus" - the same as in 2000 - although most states revised their standards during that period.

• To Dream the Impossible Dream: Four Approaches to National Standards and Tests for America's Schools (2006) describes and appraises four distinct approaches to national standards and tests in American K-12 education.

Noteworthy Practices

• The Adult Education Content Standards Warehouse Web site is designed to support states and local programs in their efforts to develop and implement rigorous academic standards for adult learning and achievement. The warehouse offers:

  • Find standards. Adult education standards in reading, mathematics, and English language acquisition developed by states and national organizations.

  • A Process Guide for Establishing State Adult Education Content Standards outlines processes for moving toward standards-based education and program improvement.

  • Field Resources includes other relevant educational standards, as well as, professional development materials created to provide technical assistance to the State Standards Consortia, 2004-2005.

• Support for State Implementation of Standards-Based Education (2006-2009). MPR Associates, Inc., through a contract with the U.S. Department of Education, operates this project to develop leadership and technical assistance activities for states to promote standards-based education reform. State working groups will pilot test new train-the-trainer materials on ways to translate standards into curriculum and instruction and assess the implementation of standards.

Additional Links

• Performance Assessments for Adults: Exploring the Measurement Issues: Report of a Workshop (2002). This report captures the discussion and major points made during the workshop to assist states and local adult education programs in their development and implementation of performance assessments.

• Code of Fair Testing Practices in Education, developed by the Joint Committee on Testing Practices, provides guidance to professionals who develop or use tests.

• Equipped for the Future (EFF) Teaching/Learning Toolkit for Standards-Based Instruction provides practitioners with resources to use the EFF Content Standards and Teaching/Learning Cycle in adult education settings.

• Literacy Assessment in Adult Basic Education. An overview of the literacy skills that ABE assessments are measuring, the tools that are used to make those measurements, and the issues related to their administration.

• Rights and Responsibilities of Test Takers: Guidelines and Expectations outlines the rights and responsibilities of test-takers during the testing process, as well as, expectations of test-takers held by those who develop, administer, and use tests.

• The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing address the professional and technical issues of test development and use in education, employment, and education. It includes test construction, evaluation, and documentation; fairness in testing; and testing application.

• A Technical Guide for Revising or Developing Standards and Benchmarks provides a discussion of the technical issues that provide the foundation these processes.

• TestLink, the Education Testing Service Test Collection Database, includes an extensive library of standardized tests and other measurement devices.

• Setting Strong Standards PDF (487K). The American Federation of Teachers presents a set of criteria to guide states in evaluating academic achievement standards.

For further information:
Ronna Spacone
U.S. Department of Education
Office of Vocational and Adult Education
Division of Adult Education and Literacy
400 Maryland Avenue SW
Washington, DC 20202-7240