[Assessment 809] Upcoming discussions next weekMarie Cora marie.cora at hotspurpartners.comThu May 17 15:03:18 EDT 2007
Colleagues: Below please find descriptions of 2 discussions of interest being held next week. The first is focused on implementing ESL content standards and it will be held on the Adult English Language Learners Discussion List ( <http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/Englishlanguage> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/Englishlanguage). The second discussion will be held on the Poverty, Race, Women and Literacy Discussion List (http:// <http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/povertyracewomen> www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/povertyracewomen) and will focus on the results of the NAAL and Gender, Race, and Socioeconomic Status (SES). Please read below for further details and a listing of resources for each discussion. Marie Cora Assessment Discussion List Moderator **************************************** To subscribe to the Adult English Language Learners discussion list, go to <http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/Englishlanguage> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/Englishlanguage and click on Subscribe Please join us for an upcoming discussion on implementing adult ESL content standards from May 21-25. The discussion will be facilitated by Kirsten Schaetzel and Sarah Young of the Center for Adult English Language Acquisition (CAELA). Kirsten and Sarah will be joined by adult ESL practitioners using standards in the field, including Dr. Lesley Tomaszewski of the Texas Center for the Advancement of Literacy and Learning (TCALL) and Karen Gianninoto of the Maryland State Department of Education. Before beginning the discussion, we would like to provide some background information about standards-based instruction based on two recent CAELA briefs: "Understanding Adult ESL Content Standards" (September 2006, http://www.cal.org/CAELA/esl_resources/briefs/contentstandards.html <https://mail.cal.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.cal.org/CAELA /esl_resources/briefs/contentstandards.html> ) and "Using Adult ESL Content Standards" (March 2007, http://www.cal.org/CAELA/esl_resources/briefs/usingcontstandards.html <https://mail.cal.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.cal.org/CAELA /esl_resources/briefs/usingcontstandards.html> ). Content standards are broadly defined as what learners should know and be able to do in a certain subject or practical domain. They describe the knowledge and skills that students will have upon successful completion of an instructional program. Although standards are the foundation for designing curricula, instruction, and assessment, they do not stipulate the types of lesson plans, activities, or teaching methodologies that should be used. Content standards, curriculum frameworks, and resource guides that states have developed can provide guidance to local programs and practitioners in developing effective curriculum and instruction. Standards-based education has been a part of K-12 instruction and assessment for quite some time now, but it is a relatively new addition to the adult basic education and adult ESL fields. There are many adult ESL standards-based initiatives currently in development or in use, such as the Adult Education Content Standards Warehouse (http://www.adultedcontentstandards.ed.gov <https://mail.cal.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.adultedconten tstandards.ed.gov> ) where sets of adult ESL content standards from ten states, CASAS, and Equipped for the Future (EFF) are available for download. The Adult Literacy Education (ALE) Wiki Web site on Standards (http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Standards <https://mail.cal.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://wiki.literacytent .org/index.php/Standards> ) provides a list of existing and in-development adult education standards, curriculum frameworks, and resource guides from over 20 states, as well as links to standards from four other English-speaking countries. The Standards-In-Action project, funded by the Office of Vocational and Adult Education, is working with six pilot states to develop professional development and resources for implementing standards in curriculum, instruction, and assessment. As we prepare to begin our discussion on what adult ESL content standards are and how they are used to improve instruction and learning, please consider the following questions. We look forward to hearing your responses and examining additional questions focused on implementing standards in adult ESL. How are English language acquisition and skills development approached in content standards, and how does this differ from previous methods of ESL instruction? Many people on this list have children in standards-based K-12 programs or who have taught in a K-12 setting. How do adult standards compare to K-12 standards? What can we learn or apply from K-12 standards-based education, in terms of research on instructional methods, activities, and materials, assessment, and professional development? What professional development and supplementary materials are needed to facilitate adult ESL standards implementation? How can we know if adult ESL standards-based instruction and assessment are beneficial for students, teachers, and programs? We will be posting some preliminary thoughts about these questions next week, and look forward to hearing from practitioners and administrators in the field who have experience with adult ESL content standards or who are interested in learning more. Sincerely, Sarah Young & Kirsten Schaetzel Center for Adult English Language Acquisition www.cal.org/caela Title of Discussion: Gender, Race, SES and Adult Literacy: What does the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) tell us? When: May 21-May 29, 2007 Where: Poverty, Race, Women, and Literacy List. To subscribe (and later unsubscribe if you wish) go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/povertyracewomen Guest Discussant: Elizabeth Greenberg Guest Bio: Elizabeth Greenberg, is a principal research analyst at the American Institutes for Research (AIR), and is AIR's Project Director for the 2008 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) Special Studies contract. She was also AIR's Deputy Project Director for the 2003 NAAL Design, Analysis, and Reporting contract. In her role as Deputy Project Director for the 2003 NAAL, she led the development of the NAAL background questionnaire and assessment items. She is a lead author or co-author of several reports based on the 2003 NAAL, including A First Look at the Literacy of America's Adults in the 21st Century, The Health Literacy of America's Adults, Literacy in Everyday Life, Literacy Behind Bars, and the 2003 NAAL Public-Use Data File User's Guide. Elizabeth is also an author or co-author of several reports and articles based upon the 1992 adult literacy data, including English Literacy and Language Minorities in the United States. Resources for Discussion: Literacy in Everyday Life http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2007480 A First Look at the Literacy of America's Adults in the 21st Century http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2006470 The Health Literacy of America's Adults http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2006483 Literacy Behind Bars http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2007473 Key Points from NAAL 2003 related to Literacy, Gender, Race, and SES: Gender * Between 1992 and 2003, women's average document and quantitative literacy scores increased. During the same time period, men's average document literacy score decreased and there was no statistically significant change in average quantitative literacy for men. * Between 1992 and 2003, women's average prose literacy score stayed the same, while men's average prose literacy score decreased. * In 2003, women had higher average prose and document literacy than men, and men had higher average quantitative literacy than women. In 1992, there was no statistically significant difference between men and women in their average prose literacy, but men had higher average document and quantitative literacy than women. Race * Between 1992 and 2003, average prose, document, and quantitative literacy increased for Black adults. * Between 1992 and 2003, average prose and document literacy decreased for Hispanic adults. Average quantitative literacy did not change for Hispanic adults. The percentage of the adult population (age 16 and older) that identified themselves as Hispanic increased from 8 percent in 1992 to 12 percent in 2003. * Between 1992 and 2003, average prose literacy increased for Asian/Pacific Islander adults and there was no statistically significant change in average document and quantitative literacy for this group. * Between 1992 and 2003, there was no statistically significant change in average prose and document literacy for white adults, but there was an increase in quantitative literacy. SES * Among adults with Below Basic prose literacy, 26 percent lived in households with average incomes of less than $10,000 and only 7 percent lived i n households with average incomes of $60,000 or greater. Among adults with Proficient prose literacy, 2 percent lived in households with average incomes of less than $10,000 and 65 percent lived in households with average incomes of $60,000 or greater. * Higher percentages of adults with higher literacy levels than adults with lower literacy levels were employed full-time, and lower percentages were out of the labor force. Sixty-four percent of adults with Proficient prose literacy were employed full-time, compared with 29 percent of adults with Below Basic prose literacy. Eighteen percent of adults with Proficient prose literacy were not in the labor force, compared with 57 percent of adults with Below Basic prose literacy. * The occupational groups with the highest average prose, document, and quantitative literacy scores were Professional and related and Management, Business, and Financial. The occupational groups with the lowest average prose document and quantitative literacy scores were Service; Farming, Fishing, and Forestry; Transportation and Material Moving; Production; and Construction and Extraction. Daphne Greenberg Assistant Professor Educational Psych. & Special Ed. Georgia State University P.O. Box 3979 Atlanta, Georgia 30302-3979 phone: 404-651-0127 fax:404-651-4901 dgreenberg at gsu.edu Marie Cora <mailto:marie.cora at hotspurpartners.com> 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/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/assessment/attachments/20070517/b9037cf5/attachment.html
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