Good Morning Everyone!
 
I am sorry to be so late joining the group.  I am one of the panelists, Rosemary Matt.  Just recently, I accepted the position of NRS Liaison for New York State so monitoring data and providing technical assistance to programs in need is now my entire focus.  We also have a large contingent of programs that provide service through a volunteer network in a one to one tutoring arrangement.  Your concerns Mary regarding the inability for programs such as these to meet performance benchmarks is shared by New York programs as well.  Our state department has thoroughly considered the population these folks serve and consider that to be a mitigating circumstance when assessing their performance.  The value of these organizations serving some of our lowest skilled readers is well known and appreciated.  In a state the size of New York it is possible to absorb the lack of educational gain increments from these agencies as they are balanced by other programs serving students for whom gain is eminent.  
 
At the same time however we have worked closely with these programs and their statewide leadership team to provide technical assistance in the area of assessment.  As they learn more about the strategies and nuances that evolve around the NRS accountability system, they are better able to show whatever gain is possible from their students.  
 
As some of you are aware, New York also utilizes the program level Report Card.  We attended the training two years ago that was provided by Larry and his staff at AIR.  I would strongly recommend this training to any state considering this accountability tool for programs.  We have made incredible advances in terms of identifying high performing programs and targeting those in need of technical assistance through our Report Card Rubric.  Marie has posted three power points that I offer in training built around this rubric.  To further support our volunteer programs, our state department has chosen to rank these programs among themselves providing a homogeneous category specific to their needs.  They are not measured against the cohort of traditional adult education programs.
 
Another strategy we have recently embarked upon is through our statewide data system, we have introduced Collaboration Metrics.  Many students working first with these volunteer programs while they are at minimal skill levels will eventually move into traditional programming and continue to succeed through the educational levels.  To ensure the volunteer programs remain tied to the student's success, they are informed of the students progress through the data system and can subsequently report on that gain as well.  
 
These few methods of support have been well received by our volunteer affiliates.  Hope they may give you and your state some thoughts for the future.
Rosemary
 
 
 
Rosemary I. Matt
NRS Liaison for NYS
Literacy Assistance Center
12 Meadowbrook Drive
New Hartford, NY 13413
315.798.1026

________________________________

From: assessment-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Sandy Strunk
Sent: Mon 4/16/2007 5:58 PM
To: The Assessment Discussion List
Subject: [Assessment 723] Re: What about us little guys using volunteersforone-on-one tutoring?



Mary,

I think you raise some valid concerns. When you're working with a small pool of students like this, aggregate statistics can be rather meaningless. I would think the most helpful data for you would be individual diagnostic reading assessment and progress monitoring data. Are you familiar with the Adult Reading Component study and the work related to using reading profiles? You might want to check out http://www.nifl.gov/readingprofiles/. I'm wondering if the component reading assessments wouldn't go a long way toward "focusing" the reading instruction you offer based on each learner's profile. That doesn't get you off the hook for NRS reporting, but it does provide a mechanism for meeting the highly individual needs of your learners. Just a thought.

 

Sandy Strunk

Program Director for Community Education

Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13

1020 New Holland Avenue

Lancaster, PA 17601

(717) 606-1873

________________________________

From: assessment-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:assessment-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Mary Beheler
Sent: Monday, April 16, 2007 5:03 PM
To: The Assessment Discussion List
Subject: [Assessment 721] Re: What about us little guys using volunteers forone-on-one tutoring?

 

We tutor adults. No children.

Almost all our students are at Begining Literacy to High Intermediate ABE level. Almost no high or even low adult secondary. At the secondary level we only get the students that can't (or won't) tolerate study in a regular ABE classroom. ESL instruction is done by a different organization, with paid teachers.

 

We net 20 to 25 students with more than 12 hours of study each year. We are so small that sometimes an entire FFL will have only one student in it. When that happens the only question is, "How many advanced a level: 0 or 100%?"

 

We deal with students on a highly individualized basis. One may need to learn to read again after having a stroke or a fever. Another may have taught himself to sight read at a very high level, but neglected to teach himself any spelling or writing skills. A high school graduate may not have learned even his ABCs, for whatever reason. One or two students a year might have an employment or higher education goal. (Then WV can't verify it, if the student works or studies out of state.)  I can safely say that no two students have been alike in the nearly ten years that I have been here.

 

I genuinely *like* statistics and know they can be very useful, and don't mind gathering data to be put in a bigger pool if what comes back is helpful. However, if a level has only 3 students, is the data even "statistically significant" if just 2 of them are available for both pre and post assessment? 2 of 4? 

 

Some things are better seen by microscopes and others by telescopes. Right now neither NRS nor CASAS seems especially useful at a local level. Maybe all I need is to find out how to focus them. Maybe they should be just trashed. They may cost more to use than they return in terms of time and money and *stress*, on us and especially on our students.

 

I'm from West Virginia, not Missouri, but, "Show me!" (Please.)

 

Mary G. Beheler
Tri-State Literacy
455 Ninth Street
Huntington, WV 25701
304 528-5700, ext 156 

	-----Original Message-----
	From: assessment-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:assessment-bounces at nifl.gov]On Behalf Of Marie Cora
	Sent: Monday, April 16, 2007 1:29 PM
	To: Assessment at nifl.gov
	Subject: [Assessment 714] Just joining us? Here's what you need to know...

	Hi folks,

	 

	A number of subscribers have just joined us and so I would like to give them the necessary info for joining our discussion.  Please post your questions and share your experiences now!

	 

	View the archives at:  http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/assessment/2007/date.html to get up to date with the current conversation.

	 

	See suggested resources at:  http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/assessment/07program_impr.html  (Scroll to the bottom!!)

	See more resources at:  

	For the 3 power points from New York State/LAC, click on these links:

	http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/list_docs/ReportCardRubric.ppt

	http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/list_docs/RollingOutReportCard.ppt

	http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/list_docs/DevelopingDisseminatingReportCards.ppt

	Here are your prompts: add your voice!:

	* Do you use data in your program? What type? How? What have been the results? 

	* What information (data) would you like to track and why? 

	* What data would you like to learn how to use? 

	Thanks!!

	 

	Marie Cora

	 

	 

	 

	Marie Cora

	marie.cora at hotspurpartners.com <mailto:marie.cora at hotspurpartners.com> 

	NIFL Assessment Discussion List Moderator

	http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/assessment

	Coordinator, LINCS Assessment Special Collection

	http://literacy.kent.edu/Midwest/assessment/

	 

	 

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