Colleagues,
I am forwarding an excerpt from the discussion that was held last week
on the Content Standards Discussion List.  The context of this
discussion was to examine the CASAS basic skills content standards.
Toward the end of this discussion, some attention was turned toward the
GED and I have posted below 3 emails, beginning with Ajit's email at the
bottom.  Ajit discusses the relationship between the NRS and the CASAS
standards, noting that:  "the GED test which is a goal/outcome for many
learners is attainable to those functioning at lower NRS levels i.e. the
ABE High Intermediate and the Low Adult Secondary levels. Many of these
learners squeak through the GED with minimal pass scores but then face
challenges with postsecondary entrance/success. I would anticipate that
students with higher abilities (i.e. the High Adult Secondary level -
CASAS scale 246 and higher) are even better prepared to enter/succeed in
postsecondary situations."
 
Donna's and Aaron's subsequent remarks and questions raise important
issues for us, and I am extremely interested in hearing your thoughts
and responses (and further questions).  
 
The next post that I will forward is a response by David Rosen in which
he suggests that there are mainly 3 reasons why students pursue a GED,
and that programs should strive to serve all 3 of these purposes.  Look
for this next post, and please let us know what your comments are.  What
do you think about this?  Do you find yourself or your program in this
situation?  Do you feel that structures such as the one David proposes
would address some of the challenges that we face and that have been
raised by the comments Ajit and Donna have made?  What are your
thoughts?
 
Marie Cora
Assessment Discussion List Moderator
 
***********
 
 
Donna,
 
You raise some interesting points about the GED and whether the focus of
instruction and assessment should go beyond preparation for the GED.  It
sounds like you believe that metacognitive skills -
reasoning/thinking/analyzing skills- are also very important.  I know
there is some level of tension in the field when you have learners
and/or programs stressing achievement of the GED in as short a time as
possible as the ultimate goal vs. "preparing the adult learner for
today's economy" as you have suggested.  What do others think about
this?  What is our role as instructors?
 
Aaron
 
 
  _____  

From: contentstandards-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:contentstandards-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Donna Chambers
Sent: Thursday, August 31, 2006 8:53 AM
To: 'The Adult Education Content Standards Discussion List'
Subject: [ContentStandards 239] Re: Questions
onCASASBasicSkillsContentStandards Project
Ajit,
 
Thanks for your very thoughtful response.  You and Jane both clarified
your comment. I see that states who are dealing with adult high school
completion programs should also look at the content standards that must
be measured for K12 requirements for the individual state. These may be
in addition to CASAS standards.
 
As you mentioned, the GED as an goal/outcome for many learners can be
achieved without the learner having mastered skills that are measured by
the Level D CASAS assessment.  This poses a concern when the individual
learner's need is to become more gainfully employed and go to college or
any other  postsecondary training.  Must we then prepare the individual
to go beyond the GED?  This may mean that the focus of instruction and
assessment  be on reasoning/thinking/analyzing skills so that  the
learner understands concepts such as in math, not just manipulating
formulas. 
 
The quandary arises from the definition of "basic skills".  My work in
adult education has always lead me to focus on what adults need to know
and be able to do to survive.  What math, reading and writing skills
must a learner need to adequately function as a parent, citizen and
worker?  However, my recent work has required that I look closer at what
adults need to know and be able to do and this closer look changes the
picture somewhat.  The list of skills I would have come up with five
years ago, today becomes the very basic skills.  What adults need to
know today goes beyond these basics.  When the question  becomes "What
does an adult need to know in order to pass a test that the employer
requires or the Accuplacer Test in order to move into credit bearing
college classes, etc?" the list changes.  Why does an adult GED student
need to know how to demonstrate the symbolic manipulation of polynomial
expressions or analyze properties of three dimensional geometric shapes
when they can pass the GED without knowing this?  The answer is simple,
even if we know that all students are not going to college. Because
developing these concepts helps a student develop necessary
reasoning/thinking skills and positions the student to advance in
his/her education if they so choose.  Looking at and working toward this
big picture better prepares students for success as they exit our
programs.
 
My work in RI and Massachusetts has caused me to look  closely at
current K12 standards and align these standards with ABE/ASE instruction
since both states require competency determination in the K12 standards
to earn a high school diploma.  Rather than focusing on the lower levels
to move forward,  we as instructors are looking at the whole picture.
What understanding of number sense must the student have from the
beginning level that will prepare that student to understand the number
sense concepts at the higher level?   We are looking across all levels
in introducing content standards that begin to develop good thinking
skills  and  integrating all the content areas.  This does not
necessarily change the content standards, but does require that we look
at the instruction differently.  How can we integrate the instruction to
assure that concepts are learned in a way that can be applied to any
life and/or academic situation. If we see our job as preparing the adult
learner for today's economy, we must consider all students at every
level capable of developing the thinking skills necessary to meet
whatever goal they want to achieve.  
 
Thanks, 
Donna Chambers
 
 
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Ajit <mailto:agopalakrishnan at yahoo.com>  Gopalakrishnan 
To: 'The <mailto:contentstandards at nifl.gov>  Adult Education Content
Standards Discussion List' 
Sent: Tuesday, August 29, 2006 11:09 PM
Subject: [ContentStandards 228] Re: Questions on
CASASBasicSkillsContentStandards Project
 
Hi Donna,
 
It is nice to hear from you. I can see how my email would have led to
your question. I accidentally hit the send button before I had fully
finished composing my email!
 
I said:
 

>>I would imagine that many states will adopt them while others may need

to reference 9-12 high school standards especially for their adult high
school diploma programs.
 
I would have added "also" after "may" in the above sentence. I meant to
say that reference to 9-12 high school standards may also be necessary
in addition to the basic skill content standards.
 
The basic skills of reading, writing, math, listening, and speaking are
the focus of most adult education efforts. In addition to helping
learners improve their basic skills, the adult credit diploma programs
also help learners to earn high school credits toward graduation. The
curricula in these programs tend to mirror that of the regular high
school. Therefore, in addition to the basic skill content standards,
adult credit diploma programs may be expected to have additional content
standards in areas like science, social studies, arts
(visual/performing), world languages, etc.
 
I hope this clarifies my comment. The content standards that CASAS is
developing most definitely address the expectations for secondary levels
functioning with respect to the basic skills. CASAS assessments also
measure student abilities well into the adult secondary levels. The High
Adult Secondary NRS level for reading and math begins at 246 on the
CASAS scale. Level D CASAS assessments measure student performance into
the high 250s (may be even a little higher). As an aside, the GED test
which is a goal/outcome for many learners is attainable to those
functioning at lower NRS levels i.e. the ABE High Intermediate and the
Low Adult Secondary levels. Many of these learners squeak through the
GED with minimal pass scores but then face challenges with postsecondary
entrance/success. I would anticipate that students with higher abilities
(i.e. the High Adult Secondary level - CASAS scale 246 and higher) are
even better prepared to enter/succeed in postsecondary situations.
 
You raise a whole other topic with high school exit testing. It raises
questions about:
(i)                 which of the standards are measured on these exit
tests (i.e. just basic skills or also science, social studies, etc.);
(ii)               how they are measured (e.g. selected response versus
constructed response; problem solving-applied performance focus versus
non-contextual/abstract academic subcomponent focus); and 
(iii)             the level of mastery that is expected (10th, 11th, or
12th or even 9th grade standards).
 
 Ajit
Ajit Gopalakrishnan 
 
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