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DRAFT -- LINCS Special Collection Selection Criteria

Policy statementSelection criteriaSubmission criteriaDeselection Criteria
Web publishing guidelinesAuthoring committee

ASSESSMENT SPECIAL COLLECTION

Goal

The goal of the Assessment Special Collection is to provide access to quality on-line resources to practitioners and administrators dealing with assessment issues in adult literacy programs. Topics include:

  • general information and overviews on adult learner assessment
  • alternative assessment processes and instruments
  • commercial and standardized assessment instruments
  • policy information on adult learner assessment
  • the latest research being conducted on adult learner assessment

Audience

The resources are chosen with the following audiences in mind:

  • Practitioners who conduct formative and summative assessment with adult learners
  • Coordinators and directors of programs who conduct assessment with adult learners or who must understand the implications of policy and research in assessment at the state and national levels

Relevance
  • Sites or materials must relate to educational assessment, preferably focused directly on adult basic education
  • Sites or materials must provide practitioners with immediately useful information and ideas that they can readily apply to and enhance their classroom practice in assessment
  • Sites or materials must provide program coordinators and managers with immediately useful policy and practical information that can help them improve staff and program performance in assessment
  • Sites or materials should be based on current research in assessment wherever possible and/or applicable
Quality
  • Sites or materials must be accurate in their content, based on the present research or accepted practice in formative and summative assessment
  • Sites or materials must be free of bias toward one or another approach to adult learner assessment; the Collection should present a complete array of adult learner assessment approaches that are either based on present research or that have practical value to the field
  • Older materials in adult learner assessment with proven value to the field may be included
Availability

  • Resources in the collection must be available on the Web or easily obtained through the mail.
  • Resources in the collection should be free or low-cost and not overly commercial.

    CORRECTIONAL EDUCATION SPECIAL COLLECTION SELECTION CRITERIA

    The resource will include resources pertinent to adult literacy in a wide variety of correctional settings, including adult prisons, jails, detention centers, and community corrections settings.

    1. The selection will include domestic as well as international resources.
    2. The definition of adult literacy programs will include any programs that provide an adult with the skills necessary to function in modern society, including, but not limited to: ABE, GED, ESL, parenting, life skills, vocational education, and post secondary education.
    3. The collection will include resources for a broad range of learners, including the learning disabled, the ESL learner, and the post-secondary student.
    4. The resources to be included will be of high quality and substantive enough to be of practical use to other practitioners in the field. Items that are out-dated, too brief, or too specialized will not be included.
    5. Items that are research-based, written by recognized authorities in the field, and that have the widest application will be chosen over items on a similar topic.
    6. The collection will appeal to a broad audience, from the general population to administrators and policy makers.
    7. The collection will focus on correctional education rather than general literacy that might better fit into another collection.

    FAMILY LITERACY SPECIAL COLLECTION

    GOAL
    The goal of the Family Literacy Special Collection is to provide practitioners and participants in family literacy programs a way to access a variety of high quality resources quickly and easily.

    AUDIENCE
    The audience for the Family Literacy Special Collection is divided into three broad categories:

    • Families (parents/caregivers and children)
    • Practitioners working with families (teachers, tutors, and other staff)
    • Managers/Administrators of programs that work with families (directors and coordinators)

    SELECTION CRITERIA
    All resources included in the Family Literacy Special Collections are reviewed using the general LINCS Selection Criteria.

    In addition to the general criteria, the specific criteria listed below are used to ensure the quality and usefulness of the materials in the collection:

    Specific Criteria for Family Literacy:

    • Materials are informed by the principle that family literacy is driven by comprehensive, holistic approaches to education in which parents and children learn and grow together

      • For teachers: The majority of information will lead to interactive activities with program participants.
      • For parents: The sites are interactive or provide information which will lead to interactive activities with children.
      • For children: The sites are interactive and fun while being educational


    • Materials reflect and/or address the literacy strengths and needs of the family/community.
    • Materials recognize the reciprocal nature of adult -child relationships.
    • The information is specifically focused on enhancing the acquisition of literacy.

    Technology criteria:

    • Site contains no commercial endorsements.
    • Links for navigation are clearly labeled, consistently placed, allow the reader to easily move from a page to related pages (forward and back), and take the reader where s/he expects to go. A user does not become lost.

    ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE SPECIAL COLLECTION

    PURPOSE
    The ESL Special Collection demonstrates the value of ESL education, fosters and promotes the development of high-quality ESL programs, provides guidelines for planning and supporting these programs, and supports ongoing communication and collaboration among stakeholders.

    AUDIENCE
    The intended stakeholders or audiences for the ESL Special Collection are instructors, literacy practitioners, program administrators, researchers, adult learners, and state staff involved in some aspect of ESL education.

    SELECTION CRITERIA
    All resources included in LINCS Special Collections are expected to meet General LINCS Selection Criteria..

    Additional selection criteria for resources included in the ESL Special Collection concern the relevance of the resources to ESL learning experiences and the intended audience of the site.

      Specific Criteria #1. All sites and materials included in the ESL Special Collection will be useful to one or more of the following target audiences: literacy practitioners, program administrators, researchers or adult learners in some aspect of ESL education. ESL Education is defined to include Civics Education materials useful to ESL learners.

      Specific Criteria #2. Because research indicates that multi-sensory instruction is beneficial for ESL learners, preference is given to sites that incorporate multimedia instruction. Audio or audiovisual features enable learners to hear English rather than simply read it. Additionally, clear and attractive graphics offer additional context clues for learners to use in understanding content and navigating the site.

      Specific Criteria #3. Content of approved sites will focus on the range of needs of adult immigrant learners of English, including survival skills, social and economic needs, family, work and community life. Topical sites which focus on higher education, and formal linguistic study are to be included to the extent that they relate to these content areas.

      Specific Criteria #4. Approved sites will be evaluated for ready accessibility, ease of use, and the absence of commercial content or advertising. Sites which require a user to provide extensive personal information, or to pay for access, are not accepted.

    EQUIPPED FOR THE FUTURE SPECIAL COLLECTION

    The following criteria are used when considering a site or materials for inclusion in the EFF Special Collection:

    • Resource provides information about the EFF initiative and the EFF model of standards-based system reform and program improvement.
    • Resource provides information about the three main tools of the EFF initiative: the EFF Content Framework, the EFF Assessment framework, and a variety of supports for EFF implementation (training, materials, and technical assistance).
    • Resource clarifies the educational theory and research in EFF.
    • Resource illustrates how programs, organizations, and states have implemented, or could implement, the EFF model in their instructional context and system.
    • Resource describes the impact EFF has had on students, service providers, programs, organizations, and states nationwide, and how EFF is a catalyst for change.
    • Resource provides access to other quality information relevant to the goals of the EFF initiative. Resources included in the EFF Special Collection must also meet the General LINCS Selection Criteria.

    HEALTH & LITERACY SPECIAL COLLECTION

    Goal Statement
    The goal of this collection is to support the integration of health and literacy education in adult basic education programs and provide direct access to easy-to-read health information in English and health information resources in languages other than English.

    Audience
    Materials/sites are chosen for the Health & Literacy Special Collection with the following audiences in mind:

    • Adult basic education practitioners interested in introducing health topics in their classrooms/programs
    • Health care providers and health educators serving diverse populations with limited English literacy skills
    • Adults literacy students and patients looking for plain language health information resources

    Selection Criteria

    Materials/sites included in the Health & Literacy Special Collection must meet the General LINCS Selection Criteria. and the following criteria specific to the Health & Literacy Special Collection.

    • Materials/sites must be accurate in their health content
    • Materials/sites must be free from obvious stereotypes and sensitive to multicultural audiences
    • Materials/sites must be practical and useful for literacy practitioners, health educators, adult learners, or speakers of languages other than English
    • Materials/sites must be reflective of current research and professional wisdom within the fields of health and literacy education
    • Materials/sites must be available on the Web or possible to order by mail

    Health information materials/sites are evaluated and approved by health professionals. The evaluators look at the reliability of the publishing organization and quality and accuracy of the health information.

    Curricula and other teaching materials are evaluated and approved by literacy practitioners. The evaluators look at the clarity and ease of use of the materials and ensure that they can be used in a variety of educational settings.

    Low level literacy materials are evaluated and approved by adult literacy students and teachers. The evaluators look at the clarity of the materials and ensure that they can be easily adapted to be used successfully with low level literacy students.

    LEARNING DISABILITIES AND LITERACY SPECIAL COLLECTION

    Materials and web sites in the special collection have been selected with the goal that the collection be comprehensive, research based, and useful to diverse audiences: adults with LD, adult educators, program administrators, researchers, staff of related agencies, and employers. The information and links on this site are provided for your information and convenience. When a commercial or semi-commercial site is listed, it will be designated as such by the icon . Neither the Center for Literacy Studies, The University of Tennessee nor the National Institute for Literacy endorses any method, curriculum, treatment program, etc. for individuals with learning disabilities.

    The following criteria will be used when considering a site or material for inclusion in the Special Collection:

    #1: Quality
    The site/material must be relevant to the Literacy and LD Special Collection. The site/material must be reflective of current research.
    #2 : Accessibility
    The site/material must be readily understandable and useful to the intended audiences. #3: Longevity
    The site/material should have lasting value.

    Seminal materials in the field of Literacy and Learning Disabilities education will be included. Materials included in the Literacy & LD Special Collection must also meet the General LINCS Special Collection Guidelines. Please contact Margaret Lindop glindop@utk.edu with questions or recommendations of resources to include in this Special Collection

    PROGRAM LEADERSHIP AND IMPROVEMENT SPECIAL COLLECTION

    Goal statement:
    The LINCS Program Leadership and Improvement Special Collection provides access to quality resources for adult education leaders to improve program services and outcomes.

    Adult education leaders include program directors or managers, researchers, policy makers, funders, professional development staff, state adult education directors and staff, board members, adult education teachers, and learners.
    Criteria:
      1. Content is relevant to program leadership and improvement.
      2. Content includes models, tools, strategies, perspectives/beliefs, or other related resources.
      3. Content includes:
      • Rationale for the development of the resource and/or
      • Data that documents the research and development of the resource and/or
      • Data that documents the use and effectiveness of the resource and its impact on improving program outcomes

      4. Document shows a clear indication of the context in which the resource was developed and the contexts in which it might be used. In the case of those resources developed outside the field of adult education, a rationale for applying to the field will be provided by the core knowledge group.

    SCIENCE & NUMERACY SPECIAL COLLECTION

    Purpose:
    The National Institute for Literacy Science and Numeracy Special Collection provides annotated links to Internet sites that are useful for teaching and learning about science and numeracy. The collection emphasizes the ways in which science and math skills are important to understanding the world around us. The resources in the collection have been arranged according to the national education standards in science and in numeracy.

    Audience:
    Materials in the special collection are provided for adult education instructors, adult learners, and adult education/literacy program managers.

    Development of the Collection:
    The Science & Numeracy Special Collection is compiled and updated by Susan Cowles. She is pleased to have the advice and assistance of the Core Knowledge Group, consisting of research scientists, mathematicians, educators, and administrators. Websites are evaluated according to the National Institute for Literacy Selection Criteria Resources in this collection are chosen for their adherence to and reflection of the National Science Education Standards and the Adult Numeracy Standards.

    TECHNOLOGY TRAINING SPECIAL COLLECTION

    Goal: The goal of the Technology Training Special Collection is to offer a virtual resource where adult education providers can find reviewed resources pertinent to implementing technology effectively in instruction and where learners can find resources to improve their technology proficiency.

    Target Audience:
    The Technology Training Special Collection provides resources specific to the needs of the following three adult education audience categories: program managers and administrators, teachers and tutors, and adult students and learners.

    Selection Criteria:
    Materials and web resources offer a perspective or analysis that contributes to the understanding of how technology can be used effectively in adult learning. All resources included in the TTSC have been reviewed and approved for posting on the basis of:
    • their ease of navigation and easy-to-follow layout
    • the scope of the intended target audience
    • relevance to the adult education community
    • the degree to which they enable field practitioners to use technology effectively in instruction
    The criteria used to decide whether to add a site or materials to the Technology Training Special Collection were developed by members of the Adult Literacy and Technology Training Network. Each potential selection is reviewed based on the:

    For inclusion of resources in the Collection, a minimum score of 24 out of 32 must be obtained for web sites and a minimum score of 18 out of 24 must be obtained for documents.

    WORKFORCE EDUCATION SPECIAL COLLECTION

    PURPOSE
    The Workforce Education Special Collection demonstrates the value of workforce learning, fosters and promotes the development of high-quality workforce education programs, provides guidelines for planning and supporting these programs, and supports ongoing communication and collaboration among stakeholders.

    SELECTION CRITERIA
    All resources included in LINCS Special Collections are expected to meet General LINCS Selection Criteria..

    Additional selection criteria for resources included in the Workforce Education Special Collection concern the relevance of the resources to work-related learning experiences and the intended audience of the site.

    Relevance:
    Resources are selected to demonstrate the value of workforce learning, foster and promote the development of high-quality workforce education programs, provide guidelines for planning and supporting these programs, support ongoing communication and collaboration among stakeholders, and /or enable workers/learners to upgrade their basic skills within the context of the workplace.

    Audience:
    The intended stakeholders or audiences for the Workforce Education Special Collection are employed or unemployed workers along with all those who seek to aid or encourage workers to upgrade their skills, including workforce instructors, program administrators and Human Resources personnel, employers and case managers, unions, economic developers, state staff, and policy makers.

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