David,

I use the web all the time for research and information;  I like the 
proposal.

EFF has a couple of obvious strengths:  a common vocabulary and 
tasks/performances which go along with different learning topics.

Do you have any proposals for teacher training?

You need to do a pilot study in a couple of places.	

Andrea
On Mar 14, 2006, at 11:05 PM, David Rosen wrote:


> Assessment Colleagues,

>

> Marie wrote:

>> What do we need?  National standards?  Is that the most important

>> thing that will help combat these issues?

>>

>> A different way to capture learning?  What would that look like?

>> Remember that the needs of the funder and public are quite

>> different than the needs of the teacher and student – and both are

>> legitimate needs.

>>

>> What are your thoughts on these issues?

>

> Ignore for the moment the current political political realities, and

> consider just the merits and faults, not the practicalities, of what

> I propose, a national System of Adult Education and Literacy which

> has three aligned components: National Curriculum Standards, (Free)

> National Curricula, and Standardized Assessments.  Such a system

> could have other components, but for now, I suggest we look at these

> three.

>

> 1. Sets of national curriculum standards for: a) adult ESL/ESOL/ELL,

> b) ABE (including adult basic education) c) ASE (adult secondary

> education/GED/EDP/ADP) and d) Transition to College programs ,

> developed through a process which is widely respected by the field.

> (Some would argue that we already have that in Equipped for the 

> Future.)

>

> 2. National curricula developed based on those standards and

> available for states to adopt (or adapt) as they choose.  The

> curricula need to be comprehensive, modularized, available in generic

> as well as work-contextualized units, in English but also bilingual

> in Spanish and possibly other languages.  It needs to be available

> free online in units that teachers could download and use in their

> classrooms, that tutors could use with their one-one-one or small

> group instruction, and in self-instructional formats that adult

> learners could use directly online.  (Yes I know how big a task all

> this is.)

>

> 3. Standardized assessments developed against the national curriculum

> standards (tests, but also performance-based, direct assessments)

> which have a high degree of validity for measuring the national

> standards.

>

> Some might think that what I propose is too top-down.  I would argue

> that it could be very bottom-up if the field -- and adult learner

> leaders -- are/have been/will be well-represented in setting the

> standards, and if the modules can be be selected to meet specific

> learner goals and contexts as well as to the standards.  A national

> curriculum could be made up of a database of thousands of units of

> instruction (modules, learning objects) which could be very easily

> found and in minutes organized/reorganized to fit learners' goals and

> contexts.  An adult learner or a group who need to improve their

> reading skills and who are interested in the context of parenting

> could easily access standards-based modules on parenting issues with

> reading materials at the right level(s).  A teacher whose students

> worked in health care and who needed to improve their math skills

> could quickly find and download materials/lessons for using numeracy

> in health care settings. A student who wanted to learn online and who

> wanted a job in environmental cleanup work could access standards-

> based basic skills/occupational education lessons in this area,

> accompanied by an online career coach and and online tutor.  These

> examples just hint at the complexity and sophistication of what I

> propose, and will have some shaking their heads at the cost.  But,

> consider that if this is a national curriculum, the costs of

> developing such modules have the benefits of scale, that those

> curricula could be widely used -- and freely available.  (Sorry

> publishers, this could eat into your profits.)

>

> There is more, but I'll stop with this.

>

> Okay, let the questions and brickbats fly.

>

> David J. Rosen

> djrosen at comcast.net

>

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