Volume 10: Time to Reflect

Alison Simmons
Editor
SABES Central Resource Center / World Education

As the new year approaches we are filled with anticipation about what lies ahead for Adventures in Assessment and alternative assessment. Since this is the tenth volume, I guess I am feeling compelled to reflect a bit and revisit the purposes for Adventures. In Volume #6, Loren McGrail talked about the origins of the journal and the purpose and audience she had in mind when she started it in 1991. She wrote:

“… in addition to providing a framework and a forum for alternative assessment, I saw the creation of a field-based journal as a golden opportunity to put into practice a process approach to writing, a way for practitioners to experience first-hand the power of having their writing responded to with non-evaluative feedback… All authors commented on the self knowledge they gained by the act of writing itself. I had underestimated the power of writing to reflect back to us what we really think and believe. And…I was surprised to hear, repeatedly, the desire many authors expressed to connect with others so they could get feedback on their own practice…. I am also struck by some authors’ clarity about the need to get this information out… “I wanted to support the cause for alternative assessment and remind people that there are other options
to the TABE.”

Adventures in Assessment was always intended as a staff development journal for authors reflecting on their own experience and sharing with others, as well as for readers interested in looking at other ways to do assessment in their programs and classrooms. When I am on my annual journey in search of adventurers to write about their practice, I am struck by the number of practitioners who feel they have little to offer others in the area of assessment. Although, I hear about a lot of great ideas, tools and questions, it is hard to convince people that they have a lot to offer and can write about a process, an idea, or a question without having the ultimate answer.

For those who do not know already, there is not a clear bright light at the end of the assessment tunnel that will resolve all the many dimensions of assessment that are inherent in our classrooms and programs. What each teacher/practitioner can offer is their take on assessment and the ways in which they come to terms with the many challenges assessment poses. This may take the form of tools, ideas, questions or a review of other materials. It is these ideas and this format that make Adventures in Assessment unique among the journals and books on assessment. I feel we have continued in the spirit with which Loren began this journal and hope we do not to lose sight of Adventures’ importance as a field-based journal for teachers and practitioners in search of an adventure in assessment.

What might the future hold for Adventures in Assessment? As the standards-based initiatives take hold both nationally and statewide (Equipped for the Future, Curriculum Frameworks, Skill Standards for Workplaces, etc.) , it will be interesting to watch how the field responds to these initiatives and how it looks at and defines assessment. Will these initiatives help us develop a common language and common expectations for outcomes? Will we align our instruction and assessment practices with the standards? Adventures in Assessment seems more relevant now as we enter a time of content standards and outcomes from our field, as well as other fields that define what our learners should know and be able to do. Adventures will continue to offer a forum where practitioners can document their practices and we will see where these experiences take us.

This tenth volume of Adventures in Assessment has a great assortment of writers looking for ways to integrate assessment into their current teaching/learning.

Marta Mangan-Lev writes about authentic assessment and cooperative learning. We look at how she applies the principles of one educational theory to her classroom and the principles of authentic assessment. She believes that our assumptions about teaching and learning should integrate our instructional methods with our assessment practices.

Maria Kephallenou talks about her experience at the Haitian Multi-Service Center in Boston. She looks at questions and issues that constantly surface in her program around assessment, the complex nature of assessment in a multi-service center, and her view of assessment as she moved from teacher to administrator.

Judy Chau asks us to think about what we assess and whether we are too focused on skill areas and spend less time with fewer, less tangible skill areas. She offers us a peer evaluation tool for interviewing that focuses on those less tangible areas.

Martha Jean takes a look back at her EGAP assessment tool that has been used and adapted by other teachers in the field. She talks about the minor adjustments made partly due to her work in Learning Disabilities and Multiple Intelligences.

Sylvia Greene, Nancy Hoe and Lally Stowell take us on a trip through the assessment process in their family literacy program. What seems like miles and miles of assessment protocol is really a very comprehensive system that aims to look at the whole learner and cover all the areas where they are making progress. What struck me about this piece was that all of the information gathered near the beginning of the learners’ time at the Center is used to help students identify their goals for learning. Their initial assessment reveals areas of strengths and weaknesses, then the information is used to help students write goals and objectives.

The Operation Bootstrap Health Team assesses community health needs at an adult education program in Lynn, MA.After an initial assessment, the team develops a program for the students centered around a topic. Along the way, students assess the effectiveness of their program
as well as how they are working within the team.

Kathy Sikes (interviewed by Melody Schneider) talks about her experience implementing and training volunteers in the use of portfolio assessment.

Beth Bingman from the University of Tennessee gives us an update on the
National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy’s (NCSALL) assessment/outcomes research.

In Voices From the Field practitioners look at the Basic English Skills Test (BEST). Moira Lucey gives us a history of the BEST and valuable information about its design and purpose. Barbara Lippell-Paul looks at the BEST from an historical perspective and helps us to look critically at what the test is asking us to do and what some of the issues are with administering the test. Dulany Alexander looks at the BEST by comparing the profiles of two ESOL students. Rachel Donnelly, a VISTA volunteer, relates some of the insights she has had as a “beginner” with the BEST.

Cathy Coleman in Learning from Experience reflects on the use of the TABE (Test of Adult Basic Education) in her program. She suggests questions to consider when using a standardized test but mainly to question if the test is a good fit with what your learners and program want to accomplish.

In What Counts?, Ken Tamarkin offers a way to look at assessment in a computer class at Malden Mills. He looks at tools he uses for placement, progress, and program evaluation. He involves students from the beginning in developing and understanding the assessment process.

Finally, Caroline Gear looks at the book Phenomenal Changes: Stories of Participants in the Portfolio Project as a staff development tool. In the first of two articles, she shares with us how she and her staff are using the book to help them in their work on portfolio assessment.

It is a full volume of tools and ideas. As always we welcome your comments and suggestions. If you wish to submit an article or respond to an article in this issue, feel free to contact me at the address below. The authors would appreciate your feedback and ideas.

Alison Simmons
World Education/SABES
44 Farnsworth Street
Boston, MA 02210
asimmons@jsi.com

Originally published in Adventures in Assessment, Volume 10 (December 1997),
SABES/World Education, Boston, MA, Copyright 1997.

Funding support for the publication of this document on the Web provided in part by the Ohio State Literacy Resource Center as part of the LINCS Assessment Special Collection.