This was great information, Tom! Thanks so much. I'm still exploring how much
latitude I've got, and will be attending a worksop on Wed where the three
main players will be in attendance (BEST, TABE, CASAS) and hope to ask the
reps there directly.  

You make great points. I hadn't thought about designing
my own and incorporating the criteriaon reference aspects, but that certainly
could be a closer measurement of what they're actually doing.
Jean

---
The Focus on Basics Discussion List <focusonbasics at nifl.gov wrote:
I don't
know how much latitude you are given in your choice of a test, 

> but this

seems like a perfect opportunity create your own instrument 

> that is criterion

referenced, which would be so much more informative 

> and useful in guiding

instruction than a norm referenced test like TABE.

> 

> Let me guess and

say that basically you want to know how much each 

> student progresses as

a result of instruction. You need to define the 

> areas where you want to

see progress. Hopefully they will be the same 

> things you'll be working

on during instruction. Maybe you will want to 

> measure things like word

identification, reading fluency, comprehension, 

> and maybe grade level.

You might choose to ask students to read a graded 

> list of words before

instruction and after instruction to see if they 

> improved their word i.d.

skills. You could time their reading of a 

> passage to measure fluency.

You could ask them questions about the 

> passage to gauge their comprehension.

For determining grade level, you 

> might use an accepted method, such as

the Fry Readability Table, to 

> determine the grade level of a passage.

Then you would ask the student 

> to read the passage while you check for

accuracy and comprehension. To 

> measure progress, you could determine the

highest level passage at which 

> the reader is proficient, both before and

after instruction. 

> Alternatively, you could give the student a higher

level passage and 

> determine his or her proficiency with it. Often, proficiency

is gauged 

> as Independent, Instructional, or Frustrational. At the beginning

of 

> instruction your testing might say, "reads 4th grade material at the



> frustrational level." After instruction, your testing might say, "Reads



> 4th grade material at the instructional level."

> 

> The problem with

standardized tests used for this purpose is that they 

> really are not able

to show how a person progresses. They are designed 

> to show how a person's

performance compares to others in the same peer 

> group. These tests don't

answer the question, what can the student do, 

> what does the student know?

They are only a comparison (i.e. the student 

> knows more than some percentage

of his or her peers).

> 

> Creating your own test might be somewhat more

work than the effort you 

> place in choosing a standardized test. It is

worth the investment, 

> however, because you can target your measurements

precisely at the 

> things you teach your students. You will be more likely

to show student 

> gains because you're measuring exactly what you're teaching

and what 

> your students are learning. With a standardized test, it is the



> publisher who chooses what shall be measured, and you will need to 

>

target your instruction to the same material if you want to be able to 

>

show gains. If you're doing the teaching, then you should be the ones 

>

who have control over how you measure what is learned.

> 

> Tom Woods

>

Community High School of Vermont

> 

> 

> 

> PHCSJean.34425698 at bloglines.com

wrote:

> 

> >Hi all.

> >Does anyone out there have a test that can be used

to measure improvement

> >in the lowest literacy learners? I'm looking at

a grant that wants to see

> >learners move from one EFL (educational functioning

level) to another in the

> >course of a year. I'm working with pre-literate

adult immigrants and I'm not

> >sure that we'll be able to get from Beginning

ABE Literacy (no reading) to

> >Beginning Basic Education which is defined

as "Individual can read simple

> >material on familiar subjects and comprehend

simple and compound sentences

> >in single or linked paragraphs containing

a familiar vocabulary; can write

> >simple notes and messages on familiar

situations but lacks clarity and focus."

> >

> >

> >When I inquired about

it, I was told that I should look to document grwoth

> >with another assessment.

TABE is below 367 at this level, CASAS is 200 and

> >below and ABLE at 523.

Are any of these granular enough to measure a difference

> >at this level?

I'm not super familiar with them.

> >

> >Is there anything else

> >folks

have used with pre-literate students to measure success objectively,

> >yet

not have the student "fail" 3/4 of the test to measure growth?

> >Thanks!



> >

> >Jean Marrapodi

> >Providence Assembly of God Learning Center

>

>----------------------------------------------------

> >National Institute

for Literacy

> >Focus on Basics mailing list

> >FocusOnBasics at nifl.gov

> >To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/focusonbasics



> >Message sent to WOODSNH at isp.com.

> >

> >

> >  

> >

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