Colleagues,

Today we will begin an international discussion on formative  
assessment in adult literacy education. Our guests, Dr. John  
Benseman, Dr. John Comings, and Dr. John Vorhaus are international  
researchers who have taken part in background studies and case  
studies of formative assessment in adult foundation (basic) skills  
programs in England and the U.S. The studies were sponsored by the  
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and  
were led by Janet Looney. Support from the National Institute for  
Literacy enabled the studies in the U.S.

Janet, can you start us off by giving us some background on the  
study.   To organize this a bit I have some questions for you below.

On Tuesday John Vorhaus and John Comings will present the case study  
for England.

On Wednesday John Benseman and John Comings will present the case  
study for the United States.

On Thursday I hope that other OECD experts who conducted or  
participated in studies, and who are subscribed to this discussion,  
will chime in.

All during the week, I hope participants will post questions about  
formative assessment in adult basic education (including second  
language learning) and about these studies. I hope participants in  
the formative assessment research -- both researchers and  
practitioners -- will comment on the studies in their countries.

Janet, here are my questions:

1. What is OECD and what does it do?
2. What led up to the OECD What Works study, Teaching, Learning and  
Assessment for Adults: Improving Foundation Skills? Why is OECD  
interested in teaching, learning and assessment, especially in  
formative assessment for adults who need basic skills?
3. Could you say a bit about the research of Black and Wiliam in the  
U.K. , their "black box" model, and why their elementary and  
secondary education and higher education research is so significant  
for those interested in the quality of instruction and in education  
outcomes?
4. What countries were involved in the study?
5. What were the methods used in the study?
6. How does OECD define formative assessment; what are its key  
characteristics?
7. What were some of the key findings of the initial research?
8. What are the steps of the learning journey?
9. What are the study's conclusions?

I very much look forward to this discussion, and hope it generates  
some new and sustained interest in formative assessment in adult  
literacy education in the U.S. and in countries across the world.

David J. Rosen
Special Topics Discussion Moderator
djrosen at comcast.net


David J. Rosen
djrosen at comcast.net