Hi everyone,
 
I just wanted to alert you to a discussion that took place on the
Special Topics List from September 14 - 22, 2009:  Role
<http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/specialtopics/09counseling.html>
of Counseling and Advising in Adult Basic and Secondary Education  
For information on that discussion, go to:
http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/specialtopics/09counseling.html
 
To read the archives for that discussion, go to:
http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2009/date.html and read the
posts between those dates.  
 
I hope you find it helpful.  If you decide to bring that discussion back
to this List, I would just ask that you tie your thoughts to assessment.
 
Thank you!
marie
 
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: assessment-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:assessment-bounces at nifl.gov]
On Behalf Of Stephanie Moran
Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 3:48 PM
To: 'The Assessment Discussion List'
Subject: [Assessment 2191] Re: Assessment in The Great Debateon
Noncognitive and Affective
 
Thanks to Marie and Forrest for brining this discussion back down to
earth. The last few days' worth of discussion have became rather
cerebral and abstract, and while I appreciate such discussions on my off
time, I don't have time to discuss the nature of embryonic consciousness
because I work with adults 16 and older who have really pressing needs. 
 
The transitional program here in Colorado-the College Connection aka SUN
program-gives the kind of guidance that Forrest is speaking about and
that a standard college advisor cannot give and frankly, isn't charged
to give. Our program has team teachers as well as a navigator, and we do
much more than even a typical Study Skills AAA type course does in terms
of guidance, though I hesitate to use the word counseling. Without help
figuring out a career path, childcare, self-advocacy skills as well as
study skills, it's difficult for students to feel successful and to
persevere because some obstacles are going to stop them cold, like
childcare. We see so many first-year college students fail, particularly
at the comm. college level, and the stats tell us that they very rarely
return, so helping them succeed the first time out is imperative and
does include more guidance than just academic help.
Stephanie Moran
Durango, CO
 
From: assessment-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:assessment-bounces at nifl.gov]
On Behalf Of Forrest Chisman
Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 11:36 AM
To: 'The Assessment Discussion List'
Subject: [Assessment 2189] Re: Assessment in The Great Debate on
Noncognitive and Affective
 
I think Marie is on target (as usual). There is another question this
discussion raises for me. It seems that many of the issues raised would
naturally be addressed by what is usually called "guidance and
counseling" with feedback loops to curriculum design and instruction.
That is, imagine that students had access to a robust guidance and
counseling program that resulted in individual instructional plans from
the time of their first enrollment. Many people I've worked with
recently advocate such a system and lament the absence of the guidance
and counseling function (and the individualized plans) in most programs.
Is this a model we should strive for, and if so does anyone have
thoughts on how to support it?
 
Maybe this is just my private hobbyhorse.     
 
Forrest Chisman
CAAL 
 
From: assessment-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:assessment-bounces at nifl.gov]
On Behalf Of Marie Cora
Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 12:14 PM
To: Assessment at nifl.gov
Subject: [Assessment 2186] Assessment in The Great Debate on
Noncognitive and Affective
 
Hi everyone!
 
Thank you for your post Kwame - I must agree that we have strayed from
the topic of the discussion list, which is assessment.
 
However, I also recognize the importance of having continued the
discussion on The Great Debate (as I have been calling it as I read the
posts).  It is clearly an important extension (or as some have noted,
perhaps this is the front part of a discussion on assessing noncognitive
skills) of the original discussion, and I also acknowledge that there
possibly is no other venue for this timely set of exchanges. 
 
I do encourage this discussion to continue, but I will try to shift the
focus somewhat, so that we are true to the topic of this Discussion
List.  Let me ask a few questions based on the discussion:
 
Michael Gyori wrote:
'If one were to use the content standards depicted in them (the EFF
Skills Wheel; see the EFF Assessment Resource Collection at
http://eff.cls.utk.edu/assessment/default.htm) as a platform for working
with our students, I believe that the noncognitive traits discussed
especially this week could be incorporated into instruction, and with
concerted efforts to nurture positive affect, addressed on both the
"cognitive" as well as "affective" planes.'    [Sent through to the
discussion list Thu 10/1/2009 2:41 PM]
 
Michael:  can you talk about how you would incorporate some of the
noncognitive traits into instruction?  Also, how would you understand
where to begin - in other words, what types of assessing would you do in
order to identify the needs of your students, based on the EFF
standards?
 
Catherine King wrote:
'But acknowledging polymorphism and differences of opinion is not to say
that we cannot find a common ground in those very assumptions and in our
coming to understand the vast range of flexibility that the human
condition and our own study of ourselves presents.  
 
I am of the mind that we can. The scientific attitude is not to run away
from complexity, or to embrace relativism, but to pay attention to the
data and to continue to address it with our questions with the basic
assumption that insights can be had and developed, and that some
evidences are better than others.  In that there is hope.'   [Sent
through to the discussion list Fri 10/2/2009 5:04 PM]
 
Catherine and everyone:  I agree that we can find common ground on which
to work.  Some do find the distinction - cognitive and noncognitive -
useful in practical application, in working with adult students.  Others
do not.  But in the end, it IS about providing students with appropriate
types of instruction, resources, opportunities, feedback, discussion,
etc in areas that are important to them and to their goals, whether
their goals are reading to their children, or getting the most out of
their own education.
 
A number of you have discussed the importance of formative assessment in
this debate, which can be used daily, within instructional activities,
and sometimes without students really knowing that "assessment" is
taking place.
 
I would like to hear from everyone what formative assessment activities
they use that not only gauge a skill like speaking or reading, but also
incorporate activities that allow related skills and abilities
(noncognitive or affective, whichever you wish) to also be assessed.
 
Thank you!!!
 
Marie Cora
Assessment Discussion List Moderator
 
 
 
 
 
 
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