Return-Path: <nifl-4eff@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id e71HoMP23672; Tue, 1 Aug 2000 13:50:22 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 1 Aug 2000 13:50:22 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <3.0.6.32.20000801134749.009b98c0@popserver.utk.edu> Errors-To: rgspacone@aol.com Reply-To: nifl-4eff@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-4eff@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-4eff@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: Brenda Bell <bsbell@utk.edu> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-4eff@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-4EFF:1144] Re: RI/EFF study circle meeting #3 X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.6 (32) Status: O Content-Length: 4899 Lines: 99 David -- Thank you for your latest installment about the Rhode Island study circle on standards. I have a couple of comments, a question for others on this list, and a clarification. First, the clarification. Equipped for the Future Content Standards: What Adults Need to Know and Be Able to Do in the 21st Century (often called the Blue Book) is not a guide to teaching with the standards. It is the formal presentation of the standards, for a wide audience -- an audience which of course includes practitioners. Additional materials for teachers, tutors and program administrators will be forthcoming -- the kind of materials that may be more helpful to practitioners wanting more guidance on "how to" incorporate the EFF Framework in all aspects of programming. This said, the Content Standards book *is* being used, with success as far as I know, in EFFstaff development workshops, as a tool for understanding the standards, their development, and ways to get started using them in instructional settings. My question(s) to others on this list: How are you using the Content Standards book? What chapters have been most helpful and in what ways? If you are using the standards in your teaching, have you attended an EFF workshop or institute? What other information and support do you need? Some comments in response to this part of your report: > One participant wondered how readily such "soft" skills might be measured and >called the standards "too broad." Another agreed that it didn't seem >practical to look at "sixteen standards, each with four parts" for each >student in a class twice a year. It was also pointed out that many of the >standards seemed difficult to apply to basic literacy classes. The Equipped for the Future standards are an effort to make just as explicit as reading writing, speaking and listening all the other skills adults need to be successful . These are the 'soft' skills that practitioners often say are the major ones that adults in their programs improve on the most, but for which they have had no way to document and report progress. There is no intent that any student or teacher would attempt to address all 16 standards at once as one of the study circle participants suggests. Ideally, the decision about which standards guide teaching and learning is a negotiated decision - between students and teacher/tutor, based on the students' goals and purpose(s) for learning. The EFF standards focus on the process and application of the skill. The "four parts" of the standard (more or less, depending on the standard) that one of your participants mentions make up the standard. At any level of performance, from beginning to expert, all of these components are addressed. Pages 19-20 in the Content Standard book describes the way the standards are constructed and why. Perhaps there are questions about these pages that could be answered via this listserv. If so, please send them in. We (EFF staff working on the development of the assessment framework for the standards) are in the midst of analyzing reports from teachers who were part of this current field work (in Maine, Ohio, Washington, Oregon, and Tennessee). Each report (using a prescribed protocol) describes a learning activity or performance task that addresses all of the components of a standard, and then documents student performance of that task. We are beginning to have a clearer picture of what performance of each standard "looks like" along a continuum of developing expertise. Our data describes use of the standards with students in the beginning literacy classes mentioned by one of the Rhode Island study circle participants above - as well as in ESL classes, GED preparation classes, and in one to one tutoring situations. We will be continuing this field research during the coming year, making adjustments to our protocol based on what we learned from practitioners during this recent round of data collection. A year from now we plan to have a clearly defined continuum of performance for most, if not all, of the 16 standards, with benchmarks for "measuring" skill development -- benchmarks that may be translated to the National Reporting System levels if appropriate. A partnership between the National Institute for Literacy and the Division of Adult Education and Literacy (DAEL), U.S. Department of Education, is making possible the expansion of this field research to include data collection by more practitioners in more sites. Meanwhile, within a few weeks, a new EFF technical report by Sri Ananda will be released - on using performance-based assessment with the EFF standards to support adult learners. Ordering information will be posted on this list. Brenda Bell, Center for Literacy Studies, University of Tennessee Coordinator, EFF Field Research and Development 865-974-6654 bsbell@utk.edu
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