OVAE requires that Adult Education programs funded through WIA Title II
use "standardized assessment procedures....The procedures must be a
standardized test or a standarized poerformance-based assessment with a
standardized scoring rubric."  (NRS guidelines, pg.22) OVAE is also in
the process of "vetting" assessments for approved use in AE programs.
With the standarized, reliability and validity requirements, programs
have "defaulted" to publishers' tests - thus the overwhelming use of
TABE or CASAS.  (Other tests that may have previously been used such as
ABLE or AMES are no longer published or have not been updated.)  

We all know that no test is perfect; what we need to know is how to make
the best use of the tests that are approved and to not let a test drive
the instruction; rather it should help to inform instruction.  Given
that, do the majority of individuals using the TABE use the resources
that are available with it?  Someone has suggested that the instructors
take the tests. They should at least review them at all the levels.
They also need to be aware of the level at which the test items are
written.  A scale score of 600 on an E level test does not indicate that
the student is at an ASE II level.  

Additionally, the Users Manual for both 7/8 and 9/10 contain item
analysis for each question for both the complete and survey.  Using
these tool appropriately the instructor can get an idea of some of the
skills that a student may be weak in.  There are even sample lesson
plans that demonstrate how a skill could be addressed in instruction.
Publishers are not the big bad bogeymen - many of the people who work
for them and who develop these materials and resources once worked in
the field.  They probably get paid more, or heaven forbid - have a
full-time job and benefits with a publisher!

Perhaps the frustration that many feel is caused by a (seeming?)
emphasis on numbers (ed gains) and not enough recognition of the
professional judgement of the teacher and student-centered learning.  

Peace and Blessings to all at this Thanksgiving time

-Miriam Kroeger
Arizona


-----Original Message-----
From: assessment-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:assessment-bounces at nifl.gov]
On Behalf Of Bruce C
Sent: Sunday, November 18, 2007 10:01 AM
To: The Assessment Discussion List
Subject: [Assessment 1062] Re: TABE Training

Hello Assessment List:

Here's the bind we have been in forever:

The standardized tests like the TABE tell us little about what is really
go on, but they are required, easy to administer, and give us a "score."
Other assessments--formal and informal--give lots of information about
what is really going on but they take too much time and are not
considered "valid and reliable" scores. 

I would discourage people from using the TABE to analyze students'
reading abilities. The TABE is not even a great indicator of reading
level or progress, and I think any analysis of students' skill sets
based on the TABE is really shaky--no matter what the publishers who
make tons of money on the TABE say.

It takes a lot more time to do one-on-one assessments where you ask
students to read something--silently and/or aloud--note their errors and
ask them questions about it. But that is definitely worth analyzing. 

Also,  I think the TABE is a particularly bad standardized test.  

A few comments:
--If students scores high on the TABE, they are pretty much guaranteed
to be good readers (and a good test
takers)
--If students scores low on the TABE:
they might be poor readers,
they might have been tripped up by this bad test:
maybe they needed more time to read well maybe they got nervous, maybe
they read and understood every bit of the TABE but picked the wrong
answers or maybe something else was wrong--they were tired, distracted
by something in their personal lives, hungry, or sick. 

from Bruce Carmel
Turning Point
Brooklyn NY



 
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