Bruce,

Let me applaud - loudly and with gusto - everything you wrote in this post. 
The practice test is indeed a much better tool for predicting success on the 
GED, and the portfolio assessment approach is really the most fair way to 
assess the diverse population of ABE/GED learners.  I think there is surely 
a way to use portfolios to somehow demonstrate a program's success as well 
as an individual student's success, but not with the current NRS.

Thank you so much for sharing your views. It is my continued hope that 
someday the funders will understand the complexities of "valid" assessment 
tools.  In the meantime, I'm very happy for the students in your program who 
have so many choices regarding how they may demonstrate their learning.

Patti White, M.Ed.
Disabilities Project Manager
Arkansas Adult Learning Resource Center
prwhite at madisoncounty.net

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Bruce Carmel
To: The Assessment Discussion List
Sent: Tuesday, January 31, 2006 11:30 AM
Subject: Re: [Assessment] TABE question


Hi Andrea,
What would I use instead of the TABE if I didn't have to use the TABE?  I 
would use different tools for different purposes: placement, measuring 
individual progress, and reporting program impact.
--For beginning readers, I would use something like the Literacy Volunteers 
READ Test for all of those purposes.  In that test, you ask people to read 
passages of different levels of difficulty and see whether or not they can 
actually READ them.
--For people who are closer to GED, I would have them take the GED a 
predictor test.  Yes it's still a standardized test, but it's the one our 
students need to pass to achieve their goals. The TABE is not a very good 
predictor of GED success.
--For everyone's individual progress, I would use portfolios.  Portfolios 
are great for noting individual progress, but I don't think they work for 
program impact. Accomplishments in portfolios are too all-over-the-place to 
be aggregated.
--Another way I have placed beginner-intermediate people is by having them 
read a range of texts. For example, after an orientation, students did a 
one-on-one assessment.  They were shown a supermarket circular, a subway 
map, a job application, a telephone book, and a newspaper.  We asked them 
which ones they could read.  Then they were asked to DO things such as tell 
us how they got to school using the map,try to find their best friend's name 
in the phone book, and explain how to fill out the application.  This took a 
lot of staff time, but it showed us a lot about students reading levels.

Assessment is a great challenge in our field.  I have never found a tool I 
like that is easily administered.  The only ones I like take lots of time, 
and they are not perfect.  And even if we devote the time to a good tool, we 
still have to use stan dardized tests as well to comply with funders.  It's 
a great frustration that there is no useful, valid, easily adminstered 
assessment tool for all stakeholders: funders, students, staff and others.


>From Bruce Carmel



AWilder106 at aol.com wrote:
Bruce,

What would you use?  That would satisy both you and funders?

Thanks for  ANY enlightenment on this problem.

Andrea -------------------------------
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