Margie, 

 

I do know if I understand you question for sure.  But if you are asking if
curriculum based tests can be used for reporting purposes for state funding
that comes from the office of adult education or OVAE-DAEL , the answer is
no.   If you have other funders, then they would have guide lines as to the
type of documentation they would like to see as evidence of students
progress in your program. 

 

You are in FL and if you receive funding from the state then you would
follow their guidelines.  I know that state funds in FL are used at levels
below and above the federal reporting levels.  It depends on the specific
requirements that FL has in place for the students you serve. 

 

Generally I would not use a curriculum based assessment for proof of master
of a level, unless the only thing I wanted to measure was proof of mastery
of the content of the book.  Generally curriculum based tests are not
standardized and so are not necessarily reliable nor valid.  That is not the
purpose for which they were designed.   If a student has attained level
mastery, then I would expect that student to be able to handle successfully
any material at that level whether or not the content had been studied.
Level mastery does not necessarily indicate content knowledge.  These are
two different and important questions.  

 

I would and have in my classroom always used a variety of assessment tools
to help guide what materials and tasks to have students work on as they move
through the curriculum, but that is because I view curriculum as more than a
textbook level.  All assessments formal and informal are important tools for
me to use when evaluating a student's progress including standardized test
scores.  

 

Also, I do not use grade level equivalency when working with adults as I
find it is only a familiar term but does really tell me anything that I can
use to help prepare lessons for students.  That is why standardized scores
are more meaningful to me whether they are TABE, BEST, CASAS, TOFEL,
COMPASS, SAT or CAT.    

 

Dan Wann 

Adult Education Consultant, Indiana 

Adjunct Faculty Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana 

 

From: assessment-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:assessment-bounces at nifl.gov] On
Behalf Of Literacy Alliance of Brevard
Sent: Thursday, May 14, 2009 10:43 PM
To: The Assessment Discussion List
Subject: [Assessment 1877] Re: NRS Educational Functioning Levels

 

Thank you, Donna.  I appreciate the wisdom in Donna's reply and the reminder
to us all to use the assessments to determine our instruction after the
assessment.    We don't want to lose sight of that while we are focusing on
documenting the evidence of our students' progress.  

 

I still need for someone to address the situation of accepting a
curriculum-based assessment as proof of mastery of a level when the student
is moving from one adult-literacy level to another.  For instance, Laubach
Way to Reading Book 1 is the equivalent of first grade.  Beginning ABE
Literacy is first grade.  If a student passes the Check-up for LWR Book 1,
is that adequate proof that they are ready to move from Beginning ABE
Literacy to Beginning Basic Education?  Likewise, would the Check-up at the
end of Book 3, which is equivalent to 3rd grade, show that the student is
ready to move to Low Intermediate Basic Education?  

 

Can anyone give me an "official" opinion on this?  I would even be
interested in a consensus of opinion.

 

Margie Kinslow
Executive Director
Literacy Alliance of Brevard/
Brevard Adult Literacy Volunteers
609 Garden Street
Titusville, FL 32796
Cell:  321-917-8952
literacy at cfl.rr.com
www.brevardliteracy.org

 

Please use www.GoodSearch.com as your search engine and www.GoodShopping.com
for your shopping searches and they will make donations to the Literacy
Alliance of Brevard.

----- Original Message ----- 

From: Donna Webster, Executive Director <mailto:lvnrv at verizon.net>  

To: 'The Assessment <mailto:assessment at nifl.gov>  Discussion List' 

Sent: Wednesday, May 13, 2009 9:51 AM

Subject: [Assessment 1870] Re: NRS Educational Functioning Levels

 

Hi Margie,

 

Your note was addressed to Philip, but I hope you are welcome to other
comments.  Our volunteer literacy program serves FOUR rural counties and one
small city in Southwest Virginia so we feel your pain.  We have a part-time
employee for our BEST Plus assessments, and a part-time employee for TABE
assessments. Of course, the employees are charged with other duties as well.
The only recommendation I have is to train some of your senior trained
volunteer tutors to help you with assessments.  I don't see an alternative
when you have limited funding sources.  Also, in order to serve the number
of adults in need of your services and increase your maximum community
compact, you have to be willing to allow volunteers to handle the skill set
normally given to paid employees.  We are now moving towards this model and
hope to see positive outcomes. Remember it's the instruction after the
assessment that's important. I would spend the majority of your time
involved in instruction.  Of course it goes without saying, make sure the
volunteers receive the proper training. 

 

God bless,

~Donna 

 

From: assessment-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:assessment-bounces at nifl.gov] On
Behalf Of Literacy Alliance of Brevard
Sent: Tuesday, May 12, 2009 8:15 PM
To: The Assessment Discussion List
Subject: [Assessment 1868] Re: NRS Educational Functioning Levels

 

Philip,

 

I appreciate you taking the time to share this.  

 

I direct a county-wide literacy program that is totally volunteer.  I am a
retired Reading Specialist with no prior knowledge of the levels of adult
literacy.  While I am used to grade and month levels, it has been difficult
for me to get a handle on the levels for adult literacy.  You would be
amazed how many people I have asked to clarify this for me.  No one could
tell me how the adult levels correlated.  I knew it had to be out there
somewhere!  Finally I know how the adult levels correlate with the grade
levels that are familiar to me. 

 

I would appreciate having a copy of the Literacy Skills for Adult ESOL
course.  

 

My other challenge is testing students.  We have a county that is 72 miles
long and divided by two rivers lengthwise.  I am the only trained TABE
Administrator.  How do you suggest we test for adult literacy levels?  We
get no government funding, but are trying to get more competent with data
and competitive for grants.  We have been using curriculum-based testing.  I
know how the curriculum levels relate to the grade-levels.  Is it honest to
just translate them to  the adult literacy levels or must we use CASAS or
TABE?

 

Thank you for any more help you can give me!

 

Blessings,

Margie Kinslow
Executive Director
Literacy Alliance of Brevard/
Brevard Adult Literacy Volunteers
609 Garden Street
Titusville, FL 32796
Cell:  321-917-8952
literacy at cfl.rr.com
www.brevardliteracy.org

 

Please use www.GoodSearch.com as your search engine and www.GoodShopping.com
for your shopping searches and they will make donations to the Literacy
Alliance of Brevard.

----- Original Message ----- 

From: Anderson, Philip <mailto:Philip.Anderson at fldoe.org>  

To: The Assessment Discussion <mailto:assessment at nifl.gov>  List 

Sent: Tuesday, May 12, 2009 1:01 PM

Subject: [Assessment 1866] Re: NRS Educational Functioning Levels

 

Melinda,

 

In Florida, the state office follows the NRS Educational Functioning Levels
(EFLs) for reporting the initial EFL and any subsequent gains for all
students that are enrolled in classes supported with federal funds.   The 12
levels (4 ABE, 2 ASE, and 6 ESL) are established by USDOE as the levels that
federally-supported grantees must use to place and report the student's
initial EFL and any subsequent gains.

 

Given that, when the highest ESL score of the NRS was lowered in 2006, it
reduced the number of Florida students that would have otherwise benefitted
from federally-supported ESL instruction.  In order to meet the needs of
these students, Florida uses state funds to offer a course called Academic
Skills for Adult ESOL.  Since this course uses state funds only, so the
initial EFL and learning gains for these students are not reported to the
NRS.  It can be downloaded at the FLDOE adult education Webpage for
Curriculum and Standards at
http://www.fldoe.org/workforce/dwdframe/ad_frame.asp.  

 

Also, Florida has a growing number of students that have very low literacy
skills in any language (their home language is not in a written form, they
didn't attend school for enough time to achieve reading and writing skills,
etc.).   Florida practitioners wrote a curriculum for these students called
Literacy Skills for Adult ESOL.  This course uses state funds only, so the
initial EFL and learning gains for these students are not reported to the
NRS.  This course can also be downloaded at
http://www.fldoe.org/workforce/dwdframe/ad_frame.asp, however, the
curriculum has just recently been revised.  The newly revised version will
be on the Website as of July 1.  I can send a copy of the newly revised
standards to anyone that wants them before July 1.  Just email me at
Philip.Anderson at fldoe.org and reference the Literacy Skills for Adult ESOL
course.  

 

I might be giving you information that you really didn't need, but I wanted
to show how we are finding a way to use the national framework of levels as
a starting point from which we as a state try to create meaningful pathways
for learning to our ESL population.  

 

Phil

 

Contact Information

Philip Anderson

Adult ESOL Program Specialist

Florida Department of Education

325 W. Gaines St. Room 644

Tallahassee, FL 32399

(850) 245-9450

 

 


  _____  


From: Melinda Hefner [mailto:mmhefner at charter.net] 
Sent: Sunday, May 10, 2009 7:43 PM
To: 'The Assessment Discussion List'
Subject: [Assessment 1864] NRS Educational Functioning Levels

 

I'm curious if any states have added to or otherwise modified the NRS
Educational Functioning Levels for NRS reporting purposes.  I'm such a
literalist that the 12 levels listed in the NRS Implementation Guidelines
are, in my humble opinion, the only ones that should be considered for NRS
reporting purposes.  While other levels and leveling certainly can be
helpful for instructional purposes, the 12 levels for accountability
purposes seem to me to be sufficient.  Any thoughts or comments?

 

Melinda

 



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