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From: Pat Campbell <pcampbell@interbaun.com>
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Subject: [NIFL-ASSESSMENT:1097] Call for manuscripts
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Dear Colleagues,
Grass Roots Press will be publishing an edited book on "Assessment Practices
in Adult Basic Education." The call for manuscripts follows...
If you would like the call for manuscripts in PDF, please contact me
directly.
Call for Manuscripts: Assessment Practices in Adult Basic Education
Grass Roots Press
Description of Book
Assessment Practices in Adult Basic Education is an edited book that will be
published by Grass Roots Press in the fall of 2007. We conducted a
national survey on assessment practices with 400 practitioners in the spring
of 2005. The data from this survey was used to determine the content.
The book will contain two main sections, with each section containing 4
chapters. The first section will focus on the different types of assessment
tools while the second section will deal with critical issues and topics
pertaining to assessment practices.
Description of Manuscripts
Section I: Types of Assessments
Each chapter in this section should include the following elements:
historical context or background, description, purpose, and critique.
Writers are needed to submit manuscripts on the following four types of
assessment:
Diagnostic assessment. These assessments provide specific information about
how individualıs process print and text; and identify specific areas of
strengths and weaknesses in a learnerıs skills and capabilities. Example:
Informal reading inventories such as the Bader, the Adult Diagnostic Reading
Inventory, and the Canadian Adult Reading Assessment.
Competency-based assessment. These assessments are designed to measure
skills and knowledge as they relate to pre-determined competencies, which
can include life, workforce, and or/academic skills. The individualıs
performance is mapped against a set of pre-defined, specified skills within
a competencies matrix. Examples: Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment
System (CASAS), Common Assessment of Basic Skills (CABS), Test of Workplace
Essential Skills (TOWES).
Performance assessment. These assessments are usually developed by
practitioners and use a wide range of texts and tasks to assess a studentıs
literacy development, skills, processes, and current capabilities in ways
that reflect the values and objectives of the program. Examples: interviews,
questionnaires, writing samples, checklists, demonstration activities,
dialogue and response journals, running records, checklists of learner
goals, self-assessments, anecdotal records, observation, and portfolios.
Standardized assessment. These assessments are commercially prepared, and
are administered under prescribed and uniform conditions. They are usually
norm-referenced or criterion-referenced. Examples: Tests of Adult Basic
Education (TABE), Canadian Adult Achievement Test (CAAT).
Section II: Issues and Topics in Assessment
Writers are needed to submit manuscripts on the following four issues and
topics:
National systems, standards, accountability frameworks, and assessment
tools. In Canada, some stakeholders are advocating for a national literacy
system that develops assessment and accountability strategies that support,
rather than control, teaching and learning. In the United States,
federally-funded programs use standardized assessments in order to meet the
reporting requirements of the National Reporting System (NRS). The US
Department of Education (DoE) uses information from the NRS to meet
accountability requirements and to justify federal investment in adult
education programs. We need two manuscripts on this topic, with one
chapter addressing the advantages and benefits of a national system and one
chapter addressing the disadvantages.
Assessment for whom and for what? Whose needs are privileged by assessment?
Who decides what counts as learning, competence, or progress? Within the
sphere of adult basic education, the notion of competence and progress is
contested by policy-makers, researchers, and practitioners. Stakeholdersı
views of competence determine the approach to measurement. Policy-makers
usually want assessment to inform accountability frameworks and compare
learning between students and programs while practitioners usually want
assessment to identify learning difficulties and inform instruction. Some
educators and researchers view competence as progress in reading, writing,
and numeracy, and want tools that measure these skills. Other educators and
researchers view learning through a broad angle lens and are advocating for
wholistic learning. These stakeholders are advocating for the development
of tools that can assess the affective domain of learning and social and
cultural practices.
Assessment: A balancing act. How do you balance the demands and needs of
policy-makers, practitioners, and students? If assessment is used to inform
accountability frameworks, how can the data also be used to inform
decision-making in programs? Is it possible to create a balanced public
policy that addresses the socio-economic aspects of literacy development and
the wholistic nature of learning? If there was a balanced public policy,
what are the implications for assessment? In order to meet the demands of
administering and interpreting assessments, agencies need the capacity to
measure progress and document achievements. How is this possible, given
under-funded programs without full-time, permanent staff or access to
professional development? In order to learn and make progress, what
conditions need to be present in the learnersı lives, program, and
community?
Editor:
Dr. Pat Campbell, the editor, is an adjunct professor in the Faculty of
Education at the University of Alberta. She has worked in the field of
adult literacy for 20 years as a writer, researcher, and practitioner. She
is the author of Teaching Reading to Adults: A Balanced Approach and the
co-author of the Adult Diagnostic Reading Inventory, and the Canadian Adult
Reading Assessment. Pat is the co-editor of Participatory Practices in Adult
Education.
Submission Guidelines:
We will accept proposals on one of the following topics: Diagnostic
assessment; Competency-based assessment; Performance assessment;
Standardized assessment; National systems, standards, accountability
frameworks, and assessment tools; Assessment for whom and for what?;
Assessment: A balancing act.
Submit a one-page description of the chapter you are proposing to write. As
well, include a 50 word biographical statement. Submissions must include
contact information, including phone and e-mail address.
Submissions can be sent via e-mail or mail to:
Pat Campbell
Grass Roots Press
6520 82 Avenue
Edmonton, Alberta
T6B 0E7
pcampbell@interbaun.com
Renumeration:
Each writer will receive a $2000.00 Canadian honorarium upon submission of
the final draft of the chapter. The section II authors will be invited to a
one-day meeting to discuss critical issues in assessment of adult basic
education students. The discussion will comprise the final chapter for
section II. The expenses for this one-day meeting will be covered, and will
also include a $500.00 honorarium.
Deadlines:
Submission of chapter proposal: September 1, 2005. Successful applicants
will be contacted by September 30, 2005. First drafts must be submitted by
February, 2006 and final drafts are needed by June, 2006.
Review Process:
There will be a blind review process by members of an advisory committee.
--
Dr. Pat Campbell
President, Grass Roots Press
Mailing Address:
6520 - 82 Avenue, Main Floor
Edmonton, AB, T6B 0E7
Phone: (780) 448-7323 (READ)
Fax: (780) 413-6582
Web site: www.literacyservices.com
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