David, these are fabulous projects.  I have to admit, as a fan of 19th
century culture, I was completely sucked into the "fashion" unit.  Great
pictures!  Minus the corset, I would love to have worn those clothes (but
not in the heat, in which case I would do the Jo March thing and wear only
pantaloons, much to the chagrin of my neighbors).

I have put off responding to the assessment question because I have not used
this kind of tool in my teaching other than when I have assigned projects to
undergrads.  When I did so, I used a check sheet that covered first, the
parts of the project requirements (i.e. did they complete all the parts and
what was the grade for each part); second, separate grading for each part of
the project.  Students would receive a copy of this so they knew exactly how
they did on each part.

So the grading "matrix" (I guess that's what you would call it) looked
something like this:

WRITTEN RESEARCH PAPER  Completed?  yes/no   Grade____

__Content

__Clarity

__Mechanics

__Organization

__Documentation


VISUAL AIDS  Completed?  yes/no   Grade____

__Creativity

__Relationship to Project

__Representation of topic (i.e. did it add anything to our understanding of
the topic?)


ORAL PRESENTATION  Completed?  yes/no   Grade____

__Organization

__Presentation of Content

__Clarity

__Preparedness

__Delivery


Final Grade for Project (all pieces averages together)  _________




Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt






-----Original Message-----
From: assessment-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:assessment-bounces at nifl.gov]On
Behalf Of djrosen at comcast.net
Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2007 9:44 AM
To: The Assessment Discussion List
Subject: [Assessment 955] Assessing Creative GED Programs


Assessment Colleagues,

I have some assessment questions below, but first please look at the
following two examples of creative, theme-based and project-based GED
teaching:

1. The Fabric of History curriculum -- designed for young adults who are not
usually excited about learning American History, but who are interested in
clothes and fashion, a whole American history curriculum built on this
theme:

http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Fabric_of_History

2. A Virtual Visit to a Lowell, Massachusetts Mill museum -- a Web site
designed by and for young adults in a GED preparation program  that features
a visit to a 19th century mill and readings, writings and discussion about
the period.

http://tech.worlded.org/docs/lowell/home.htm

My Overall Question: How should we assess learning in creative GED programs?
Consider the examples above, the theme-based CUNY GED program that Kate
Brandt has written about here, and other examples from this disscussion and
elsewhere:

How should we do summative assessment for a creative GED program?  How
should we do formative assessment?

1) Summative Assessment

Are scores on the GED test all we need?  Or do we also need to know, for
example:

a. College as a Goal. How many/what percent of GED program participants hold
the goal of going to college, and how has that changed from the beginning to
the end of the program?
b. College Preparation. For those who hold this goal, how many/what percent
are prepared for college? For example, how many have been admitted to
college, and how many/what percent have been admitted as regular, not
developmental studies, students? How many have high GED scores as one
indication of preparation for college level work? How many, particularly
"first generation" college students, have learned about the culture of
higher education and how to navigate it successfully ?
c. Success in college. How many of the GED program graduates complete the
first year of college? How many complete a two-year degree? A four-year
degree?
d. What else should be assessed at the end of the program or later to
determine impact or effect of the GED program?

2) Formative Assessment

Formative assessment is systematic measuring of learning progress or
learning about how-to-learn strategies for the students themselves and for
their teacher or tutor.

What formative assessment tools are/could be effective  in creative GED
programs, for example in programs that use themes or learning projects:
Dialogue journals? (Online or hold-in-the-hand) portfolios? Videotaped
demonstrations of application of skills, knowledge or understanding?
Assessments of attitude changes? Something else?


David J. Rosen
djrosen at comcast.net