I need to follow up on one point--The Teacher Who Didn't Protest.  She 
worked in a bureaucratic system, she had always worked there.  She did 
a really good job with the kids  she  taught.  I can't explain her 
action anymore than this.  it was what it was.
AW

On Mar 19, 2006, at 2:09 PM, Andrea Wilder wrote:


> Marie, others,

>

> I first taught at a school run by teachers--there was a head, but

> there were curriculum outlines, deeply humanistic, which we followed.As

> teachers  we were evaluated by how we demonstrated mastery of this

> curriculum, which we had made up.  Meaning, really, that we were

> evaluated through our students and the topics  we had covered as they

> reflected broad curriculum outlines.  Everyone was happy, students,

> teachers, parents, he school.  (true story)  Each fall we gave the kids

> a spelling test to see  where we should start working.  Each spring the

> children took a standardized test to see how  our school ranked against

> others.

>

> (At one point I worked (didn't teach) at an immense city school.  i

> managed book buying.  One teacher got for a second year in a row the

> first volume of a volume of two books.  She didn't protest that the

> kids would be taught the same material for two years in a row....)

>

> So at the first school we had a dual system, assessment for us,

> assessment for the  school.

>

> Now it seems to me, but I can be wrong about this, that when we talk

> about assessment we don't talk about the value of what we are

> teaching--is it good or not?

>

> Take the TABE.  It functions  kind of like an index, like say taking

> one's temperature.  98.6 is just an index.  No one pretends that the

> TABE materials are earth shaking, having read them, for a point of

> interest they are dreadful.

>

> If I were coming into class I would want to read materials that were

> important to me. (This may be another topic.)

>

> At what point to we pay attention to TEXT?  What  the words on the page

> are telling us?  Who wrote the words, anyway?  And all that.  is this

> where we talk CRITICAL LITERACY?  Is this where standards come in?

>

> Adult literacy is really different from kid lit..  Adults want to

> master what is  important for their lives.

>

> I may have missed, mislaid, some large piece of knowledge which Marie

> and others have gone over already, or what i am asking may not be

> pertinent at all, so please bear with me.

>

> Thanks.

>

> Andrea

>

>

> On Mar 18, 2006, at 9:38 PM, Andrea Wilder wrote:

>

>> David,

>>

>> As a  believer  in performance based assessment, I am wondering  how

>> this might work with your computer modules.

>>

>> Andrea

>>

>>

>> On Mar 15, 2006, at 9:07 AM, PATRICIA HANDY wrote:

>>

>>> David and All,

>>> As a practitioner for 27 years, now responsible for training new

>>> staff, I applaud your suggestions. I would not be appauding if you 

>>> had

>>> proposed a rigid "this curriculum fits all" plan, but as to providing

>>> standardized resources from which each teacher or learner could

>>> customize a learning plan, YES! YES!

>>>

>>>

>>> Pat Handy

>>> 410-749-3217

>>> Coordinator, Wicomico County Adult Learning Center

>>> Philmore Commons, Salisbury

>>>

>>> Confidentiality Note:

>>> This message may contain confidential information intended only for

>>> the use of the person named above and may contain communication

>>> protected by law.  If you have received this message in error, you 

>>> are

>>> hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, copying or 

>>> other

>>> use of this message is prohibited and you are requested to notify the

>>> sender immediately at his/her electronic mail.

>>>>>> djrosen at comcast.net 03/14/06 11:05 PM >>>

>>> 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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>>

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