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/DevelopingDisseminatingR
eportCards.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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