Aspects, Levels, and Perspectives

Alison Simmons
Editor
SABES Central Resource Center / World Education

As a staff developer and a teacher, assessment remains a daunting prospect for me. I am often overwhelmed with the amount of knowledge and skills that I need to further my work in this area. I must get to a place where I feel comfortable with the choices that have been made about assessment practices, both for my students and for other teachers.

I want to ensure that I am providing opportunities for students to help them identify what it is they want to learn and opportunities to see that learning. I also want to provide opportunities for teachers to get the information they need to make more informed decisions about their assessment practices, both in their classrooms and in their programs.

There are many different perspectives on assessment, accountability, and evaluation. Some connect and others seem miles apart. In order for me to make sense of the information and the differences in perspectives and to make informed choices, I need to be able to look at the whole and try to see where the connections are.

Often we are engrossed in one aspect of assessment, usually the one that affects us the most. This often depends largely on the role(s) we play in adult education. We need to be informed and aware of the other aspects, perspectives and levels of assessment in our work. We need to see how they can fit together and how each perspective and level tries to answer the questions “Are the adults in our programs receiving what they need? Are they making progress towards their goals and are our programs providing opportunities for this to happen?” We need to look at the various levels of assessment and accountability — local and state and federal — and negotiate between them” (Heide Spruck Wrigley, AiA, Volume 11).

When I read the articles for this volume of Adventures in Assessment, I am much less daunted by the ongoing task of trying to “negotiate” and understand the different levels mentioned above. The articles in this issue seem to offer opportunities to think of different aspects of assessment. They raise questions not just about a specific tool, but also how assessment is connected to teaching and learning and how it can be connected to accountability for programs as well as teachers.

I do not think the articles solve the questions of understanding, choosing, reporting gains, and promoting assessment practices, but I feel less anxious. Through the articles I feel we are moving closer to an understanding or an awareness of how and what to negotiate in the world of assessment.

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Marie Hassett’s article looks at assessment and curriculum development. She has adapted a framework for teaching by Herbert Kohl and talks about how she adapted this to her program and assessment practices.

Caroline Gear and Joanna Scott move away from assessment for students’ progress and ask us to look at what we as teachers do in our classrooms to assess and evaluate our lessons and classes. Both provide a framework for reflecting on our lessons. It helps us to look at our teaching to see if we really are providing opportunities for students to learn and to attain their goals.

In her article, Linda Gosselin reviews the many tools and ideas that have been presented in Adventures in Assessment over the years. She asks the questions of learner centered approaches to assessment: What does this really mean? If we are doing it, what does this really look like? When do we involve students and how? She invites us to critically assess our own practices and the roles we ask students to play.

Glen Cotton and Cheryl Gant from North Carolina discuss their action research projects. They looked at the question of assessment in ESOL classes and reflected on their own practices. They both hint at the notion that assessment should not be separate from instruction. They state that there are ways for even the beginning language learner to get information that helps set a course for instruction as well as elicits information about the learners’ goals and progress.

Maria Elena González takes us on a journey to the world of assessment tools. She mirrors the process most of us go through when trying to select a tool. She realizes that there are many tools available and, although we need to consider the many levels of assessment, we need also to consider the other factors that are involved in teaching adults. Most importantly, we must constantly ask ourselves “What do I really need to know?” This helps narrow our search, and keeps us grounded in what is really important for both the teacher and the students.

Janet Isserlis talks about actual learning and accountability and sees the need for both. They may not be mutually exclusive but we are often driven to choose between the two. She also talks about the need for teachers to make connections between assessment and learning. The connections need to be an ongoing part of the staff development that we provide. “We need to know what connecting assessment to learning looks like and how to help learners see their own progress through multiple lenses” (Janet Isserlis, AiA, Volume 11).

Heide Spruck Wrigley observes assessment at the federal and state levels. Where do we go from here? She offers a much-needed, hopeful perspective that looks at all levels of assessment and negotiating among funders, programs and teachers.

In Learning from Experience, Diane Lizotte talks about her action research project. She looked at the strengths and weaknesses of the ESOLA test and found that the test was a good tool for placement but not for measuring learner progress over time.

The teachers at the ACCCESS program in Hyannis, Massachusetts, reviewed the book “New Ways in Assessment,” published by TESOL. They sampled a few of the activities in the book in their classroom. They found that the assessment activities were engaging for students and teachers and that the book had a lot of good ideas to try.

Many questions arise as we continue our journey, searching for authentic ways to assess students, programs, teachers, and ourselves. The articles in this issue direct readers to view the overall picture of assessment and reflect on the ever-present and pared-down question, “How could this work in my program?”

As always I invite readers to respond to these articles and to maintain the dialogue of what works and doesn’t work in the process of using authentic assessment in our programs.

Your thoughts and ideas are welcomed and encouraged. If you would like to submit an article or have comments, please feel free to contact mcora@worlded.org

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Originally published in Adventures in Assessment, Volume 11 (Winter 1998),
SABES/World Education, Boston, MA, Copyright 1998.

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.