RE: [ContentStandards 212] Questions on CASAS Basic Skills ContentStandards ProjectAjit,

Thanks for your very thoughtful response.  You and Jane both clarified your comment. I see that states who are dealing with adult high school completion programs should also look at the content standards that must be measured for K12 requirements for the individual state. These may be in addition to CASAS standards.

As you mentioned, the GED as an goal/outcome for many learners can be achieved without the learner having mastered skills that are measured by the Level D CASAS assessment.  This poses a concern when the individual learner's need is to become more gainfully employed and go to college or any other  postsecondary training.  Must we then prepare the individual to go beyond the GED?  This may mean that the focus of instruction and assessment  be on reasoning/thinking/analyzing skills so that  the learner understands concepts such as in math, not just manipulating formulas. 

The quandary arises from the definition of "basic skills".  My work in adult education has always lead me to focus on what adults need to know and be able to do to survive.  What math, reading and writing skills must a learner need to adequately function as a parent, citizen and worker?  However, my recent work has required that I look closer at what adults need to know and be able to do and this closer look changes the picture somewhat.  The list of skills I would have come up with five years ago, today becomes the very basic skills.  What adults need to know today goes beyond these basics.  When the question  becomes "What does an adult need to know in order to pass a test that the employer requires or the Accuplacer Test in order to move into credit bearing college classes, etc?" the list changes.  Why does an adult GED student need to know how to demonstrate the symbolic manipulation of polynomial expressions or analyze properties of three dimensional geometric shapes when they can pass the GED without knowing this?  The answer is simple, even if we know that all students are not going to college. Because developing these concepts helps a student develop necessary reasoning/thinking skills and positions the student to advance in his/her education if they so choose.  Looking at and working toward this big picture better prepares students for success as they exit our programs.

My work in RI and Massachusetts has caused me to look  closely at current K12 standards and align these standards with ABE/ASE instruction since both states require competency determination in the K12 standards to earn a high school diploma.  Rather than focusing on the lower levels to move forward,  we as instructors are looking at the whole picture.  What understanding of number sense must the student have from the beginning level that will prepare that student to understand the number sense concepts at the higher level?   We are looking across all levels in introducing content standards that begin to develop good thinking skills  and  integrating all the content areas.  This does not necessarily change the content standards, but does require that we look at the instruction differently.  How can we integrate the instruction to assure that concepts are learned in a way that can be applied to any life and/or academic situation. If we see our job as preparing the adult learner for today's economy, we must consider all students at every level capable of developing the thinking skills necessary to meet whatever goal they want to achieve.  

Thanks, 
Donna Chambers


----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Ajit Gopalakrishnan 
  To: 'The Adult Education Content Standards Discussion List' 
  Sent: Tuesday, August 29, 2006 11:09 PM
  Subject: [ContentStandards 228] Re: Questions on CASASBasicSkillsContentStandards Project


  Hi Donna,

   

  It is nice to hear from you. I can see how my email would have led to your question. I accidentally hit the send button before I had fully finished composing my email!

   

  I said:

   

  >>I would imagine that many states will adopt them while others may need to reference 9-12 high school standards especially for their adult high school diploma programs.

   

  I would have added "also" after "may" in the above sentence. I meant to say that reference to 9-12 high school standards may also be necessary in addition to the basic skill content standards.

   

  The basic skills of reading, writing, math, listening, and speaking are the focus of most adult education efforts. In addition to helping learners improve their basic skills, the adult credit diploma programs also help learners to earn high school credits toward graduation. The curricula in these programs tend to mirror that of the regular high school. Therefore, in addition to the basic skill content standards, adult credit diploma programs may be expected to have additional content standards in areas like science, social studies, arts (visual/performing), world languages, etc.

   

  I hope this clarifies my comment. The content standards that CASAS is developing most definitely address the expectations for secondary levels functioning with respect to the basic skills. CASAS assessments also measure student abilities well into the adult secondary levels. The High Adult Secondary NRS level for reading and math begins at 246 on the CASAS scale. Level D CASAS assessments measure student performance into the high 250s (may be even a little higher). As an aside, the GED test which is a goal/outcome for many learners is attainable to those functioning at lower NRS levels i.e. the ABE High Intermediate and the Low Adult Secondary levels. Many of these learners squeak through the GED with minimal pass scores but then face challenges with postsecondary entrance/success. I would anticipate that students with higher abilities (i.e. the High Adult Secondary level - CASAS scale 246 and higher) are even better prepared to enter/succeed in postsecondary situations.

   

  You raise a whole other topic with high school exit testing. It raises questions about:

  (i)                 which of the standards are measured on these exit tests (i.e. just basic skills or also science, social studies, etc.);

  (ii)               how they are measured (e.g. selected response versus constructed response; problem solving-applied performance focus versus non-contextual/abstract academic subcomponent focus); and 

  (iii)             the level of mastery that is expected (10th, 11th, or 12th or even 9th grade standards).

   

   Ajit

  Ajit Gopalakrishnan 

   

   


------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  From: contentstandards-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:contentstandards-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Donna Chambers
  Sent: Tuesday, August 29, 2006 8:32 AM
  To: The Adult Education Content Standards Discussion List
  Subject: [ContentStandards 218] Re: Questions on CASAS BasicSkillsContentStandards Project

   

  Ajit wrote that states may need to reference 9-12 high school standards for their adult high school diploma programs.  Does this mean that CASAS does not align with common 9-12 standards at the low and high ASE levels?  Is the intention to do so, especially with the math standards?  This is an important concern for states that are dealing with high stakes testing for competency determination in issuing diplomas.  Thanks.  

   

  Donna Chambers

   

  ----- Original Message ----- 

    From: Ajit Gopalakrishnan 

    To: 'The Adult Education Content Standards Discussion List' 

    Sent: Monday, August 28, 2006 8:09 PM

    Subject: [ContentStandards 217] Re: Questions on CASAS Basic SkillsContentStandards Project

     

    Aaron asked: 

    >>> Are the Consortium partners planning to adopt a common set of 
    content standards?  

    Here are some thoughts from a state perspective. 

    Connecticut is a member of the CASAS National Consortium and the CASAS Policy Council. Several CASAS states have a strong history of working together on various aspects of the assessment development process (e.g. competency validation, item writing, field-testing, assessment research) as well as adopting common standards (e.g. the CASAS competency list, assessment series, training expectations, and local/state assessment policies).

    It was the National Consortium of States that requested CASAS to coordinate the effort to develop these basic skill content standards. in order to better support teachers to integrate competencies and content standards into their instruction. 

    For over a year now, the reading and listening content standards developed as part of this project have been disseminated to practitioners in Connecticut with the goal of enhancing the teaching and learning process. 

    I would imagine that many states will adopt them while others may need to reference 9-12 high school standards especially for their adult high school diploma programs.

     

    CASAS is first a consortium of states 

    We hope to adopt the standards that are being developed here. 

     

    -----Original Message----- 
    From: contentstandards-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:contentstandards-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Kohring, Aaron M 
    Sent: Monday, August 28, 2006 2:00 PM 
    To: contentstandards at nifl.gov 
    Subject: [ContentStandards 212] Questions on CASAS Basic Skills ContentStandards Project 

    We have over 50 new subscribers to the list- so welcome to you all. 
    Hopefully to get us started as I know it's not fun to be the first 
    poster! - I have some of my own questions for the CASAS team with us for 
    this week's discussion. 

    In addition to the content standards for CA, NY, MA, AZ, MD, and FL that 
    you mention reviewing as part of this project, can you tell us what 
    other state and National adult education content standards were 
    reviewed?  Are the Consortium partners planning to adopt a common set of 
    content standards?  Based on the outcomes of this project, will the 
    CASAS assessments need to be updated or modified? 

    Thks, 
    Aaron 

     

    Aaron Kohring 
    Coordinator, LINCS Literacy & Learning Disabilities Special Collection 
    (http://ldlink.coe.utk.edu/) 
    Moderator, National Institute for Literacy's Content Standards 
    Discussion List (http://www...nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/Contentstandards) 
    Coordinator, Equipped for the Future Websites (http://eff.cls.utk.edu/) 

    Center for Literacy Studies, University of Tennessee 
    EFF Center for Training and Technical Assistance 
    Phone:(865) 974-4109 main 
          (865) 974-4258 direct 
    Fax:  (865) 974-3857 
    e-mail: akohring at utk.edu 
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