Adventures in Assessment: Briefly Annotated Bibliography of Articles Focusing on Intake, Placement, Goal-Setting

Marie Cora
Editor
SABES Central Resource Center / World Education

Volume 1: Getting Started

All of these articles are relevant in terms of setting goals and discussing tools and procedures for in-take and/or placement of adult students.

"Assessment Issues: Research and Practice" by Lauren McGrail: Provides a brief overview of alternative assessment tools for in-take, in-class, and end of cycle.

"Partners in Evaluation" by Johan Uvin: Primarily about program evaluation, but conducted by participants; good ideas for ways to determine what adult students think.

"Getting in Touch: Participants" Goals and Issues" by Lucille Fandel: Nice
presentation of goal-setting activities.

"Read/Write/Now Adult Learning Center Assessment Adventures" by Janet Kelly: Discusses alternative assessment procedures in detail, including tools for initial contact; screening and placement; goals-setting; and progress.

"Down and Dirty Miscue Analysis" by Lindy Whiton: Miscue analysis described; this is useful as an additional placement and/or diagnostic tool.

"The Education Goals Assessment Packet" by Martha Germanowski: Setting goals in detail.

"Alternative Assessment: An Annotated Bibliography" by Don Robishaw, ed.: Brief overview of alternative assessment tools for goal-setting and progress.

Appendix: Samples and examples of actual tools.

Volume 2: Ongoing

All articles focus on ongoing assessment; there are many self-assessment tools described.

"Self-Assessment: Doing and Reflecting" by Paul Trunnel: Describes self-assessment tools useful for goals-setting.

"Three by Three by Four: Ongoing Assessment at the Community
Learning Center" by Karen Ebbitt et al.: Goals-setting tools and procedures described.

Appendix: Samples of tools for setting goals and surveying skills.

Volume 3: Looking Back, Starting Again

The first section focuses primarily on reflecting on progress at the end of
a cycle; the second section focuses on the cyclic nature of using final evaluation to inform the beginning of a new cycle.

"Assessment and Planning: Giving Students Ownership" by Amy Gluckman et al. Discusses processes of in-take and the review of goals previously set by adult students.

"The Whole-Person Approach in Math Assessment" by Mary Jane Schmitt and Helen Jones. Math assessment in detail including learner comfort; long and short term goals; and initial assessment.

Appendix: Samples of some tools for both initial and on-going assessment.

Volume 4

This volume covers several "getting started" and "ongoing" articles.

"Group Goal Setting Activities" by PECE Resource and Planning Guide: Provides specific tools and procedures for conducting goals-setting with a group.

"Empowering the Student Through Goal-Setting" by Susan Martin et al.: Describes goals-setting procedures including initial assessment, in-take, and on-going measurement.

"The Informal Reading Inventory" by Eileen Barry: This tool is useful as an additional placement and/or diagnostic tool (higher level).

"The ESL Classroom as Community: How Self Assessment Can Work" by Dulany Alexander: Useful procedure for aiding the goal-setting process.

Volume 5: Tale of the Tools

This volume focuses entirely on tools for use in on-going assessment;
although not the focus of this annotated bibliography, I highly recommend this volume: the tools described are excellent. This article, however, is relevant to this document:

"The Case for Pre-Goal Setting" by Don Robishaw: Goal-setting is described as a strategy as opposed to a static activity; interestingly, the recent move to revise Massachusetts' Goal-Setting Process raises some of the same issues that Don did in his article from 1993.

Volume 6: Responding to the Dream Conference

This volume focuses on writers' reflections and use of the first 5 volumes of Adventures in Assessment. Dispersed throughout is commentary on the points of goal-setting and alternative assessment procedures and tools. Of relevance to this document's purpose:

"Affirmation for Pre-Goal Setting" by Anne Marie DeMartino: This letter is in response to Don Robishaw's article from Volume 5, described above.

Volume 7: Partnership Project

This volume focuses on teachers as researchers in partnership with one another. Many of the articles reflect on on-going classroom events and progress of learners; of special interest is some focus on examining adult students' self-esteem and motivation.

"Taking Time to Talk: Students and Teachers Setting Goals" by Marty
Tassi-Richardson and Deirdre McLaughlin: Procedures and tools for the goal-setting process developed in response to dissatisfaction with those in use at that time at a particular program.

"Self-Assessment for the Beginner: A Goals Oriented Approach" by Rudee Atlas and Dan Wilson: Although the focus is really about the on-going assessment process, this article provides some ideas for helping students identify goals and monitor achievements through self-assessment at lower levels and in a non-threatening format.

"Bottoms Up: An Alternative Self-Directed Readiness Training Program" by Don Robishaw: A follow-up article to Don's earlier one on the Pre-Goal Setting Process (Volumes 5); the program described is really for the on-going classroom, but still provides good ideas for making the goal-setting process more meaningful/valuable; some points could be adapted so that they could be incorporated into initial processes.

"Authentic Assessment in the Workplace" by Debbie Tuler: Describes the start of the program; discusses initial assessment tools/procedures, initial selection process, curriculum/materials development; includes descriptions of an orientation and interview process.

Volume 8

Covers a range of articles that focus on the influence/affect of alternative assessment on topics from education reform to program management to learner involvement. See Volume 8.

Volume 9

The articles focus on examining how teachers (and students) assess continually in their classrooms.

"Assessment in the ESOL Experience" by Elizabeth Santiago: Discusses alternative and commercial tools for placement and initial assessment.

"Developing a Native Language Literacy Program" by Michelle Brown: Describes the quest by this program to find/develop an appropriate diagnostic tool for adults struggling with reading/writing skills in their own language.

"Learning from Experience: The Native Language Literacy Screening Device" by Deborah Mercier-Cuenca: This tool is reviewed; ordering information is provided.

Volume 10

Volume 10 covers articles discussing ways that practitioners try to integrate both commercial and alternative assessments into their instruction.

"The Haitian Multi-Service Center Experience" by Maria Kephallenou: Describes purposes of assessment from the different points of view of the participants (student, teacher, counselor, etc.); gives overviews of each, and includes overviews of intake/placement, and exit/entrance criteria; examples of tools are provided.

"Where's the EGAP These Days?" by Martha Jean: This article briefly updates this tool, whose acronym stands for Educational Goals Assessment Package; it is designed to capture a range of student's interests, goals, and some skill ability; examples of some of the tools are provided; the article does not give contact information, but I am aware that the practitioner-writer presently works with the YALD program.

"One Family Literacy Program's Assessment Story" by Sylvia Greene et al: The article describes their initial assessment and in-take processes and provides examples of tools; on-going and exit assessment procedures are also overviewed.

"The History of the BEST" by Moria Lucey; "Why I Think the BEST Isn't Good Enough" by Dulany Alexander; "The BEST is Workable, But It's Not the Only Choice" by Barbara Lippel-Paul; "An AmeriCorps Volunteer's First Impressions of the BEST" by Rachael Donnelly: I add these articles, whose titles are self-explanatory, for your information.

"What Counts? Assessing Computer Skills" by Kenneth Tamarkin: This article describes a tool and process designed to gauge the appropriate placement level for students; tool is also used to help measure progress.

"The TABE: Thoughts from an Inquiring Mind" by Cathy Coleman: The article reviews and critiques this test.

Volume 11

These articles generally focus on how assessment is, or can be connected to teaching, learning, and program accountability.

"This is Only a Test" by Janet Isserlis: While this article does not focus on this document's purpose, Janet provides several web resources at the end
including: 'Let's Get Started: An initial assessment pack for adult literacy programs' found at http://www.nald.ca/CLR/getstarted/cover.htm; in addition, I highly recommend Janet's website for us all: I find it to be one of the most comprehensive adult/non-traditional education websites around; found
at: www.brown.edu/Departments/Swearer_Center/Literacy_Resources/

"The More Things Change, the More They Seem to Stay the Same" by Maria Elena Gonzalez: The article reviews various initial assessment tools used over the course of several cycles of a program; examples of several tools are provided.

"Authentic and Learner-Centered Assessment in the Beginning ESOL Classroom" by Glen Cotton: While most of this article focuses on the
practitioner-writer's research and subsequent classroom work, it does
provide a brief description of processes for assessing learner purposes for learning English.

"Reflections on Meeting the Challenge of Assessment with Beginning Students" by Cheryl Gant: This article describes processes and tools (both commercial and alternative) that can be used to determine goals, and as a diagnostic at the lower ESOL level.

New Ways of Classroom Assessment by J.D. Brown, ed. as reviewed by Nancy Pendleton et al: Their review is quite positive and they note that the activities presented in the book include questions for pre-goal setting and self-assessment.

Volume 12

This volume focuses on teachers' and administrators' experiences working with standards-based reform initiatives.

"To TABE or Not to TABE: One Agency's Options" By Bernie Driscoll: This article describes an agency's alternative placement tool for students of math; the math tool, which does not appear appropriate for very low levels, is provided.

Volume 13: Meeting the Accountability Challenge

All the articles focus on practitioners' and administrators' efforts to meet state and federal accountability demands.

"Authentic Goal Setting with ABE Learners: Accountability for Programs or Process for Learning" by Sally Gabb: Sally provides a review of some of the articles focused on setting goals in Adventures in Assessment over the years; she also critiques the goal-setting process as it is presently carried out in Massachusetts.

"Quinsigamond Community College's Site-Specific Assessment' by Chris Hebert et al: The article describes the program's test for placing students at the SPL 7-10; the assessment is provided.

Volume 14: Examining Performance

All the articles in this volume discuss efforts to capture performance without the use of traditional or commercial tests.

"Assessing Oral Communication at the Community Learning Center"
by JoAnne Hartel and Mina Reddy: The article describes the agency's test that can be used as a placement and diagnostic tool; examples of the tool are provided.

"So what is a BROVI, Anyway? And how can it change your (assessing) life?" by Betty Stone and Vicki Halal: While the tool is generally for on-going assessment purposes, many of the activities described can be adapted for use as a placement or diagnostic; examples of the tool are provided.

"A Writing Rubric to Assess ESL Student Performance" by Inaam Mansoor and Suzanne Grant: The REEP tool is described and the rubric is provided; as Massachusetts' practitioners now know, the tool is also used for placement purposes.

"Illuminating Understanding: Performance Assessment in Mathematics" by Tricia Donovan: This articles describes a process and rubric for working with performance assessment; while no specific tool or activity is presented, the approach is highly useful for practitioners in determining measures and diagnostic information when developing their own in-take and placement tools.

Marie Cora is the Assessment Specialist for SABES and the editor of Adventures in Assessment.

Originally published in Adventures in Assessment, Volume 15 (Spring 2003),
SABES/World Education, Boston, MA, Copyright 2003.

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.