I am an instructor of adult basic skills and GED at the Bethel Family Learning Center in Eugene, Oregon. Over the last two years I have been involved with teaching and assessing using the Equipped for the Future (EFF) framework. EFF, an initiative of the National Institute for Literacy, was developed to answer the complex question: What do adults need to know and be able to do in order to carry out their roles and responsi-bilities as workers, parents and family members, and citizens and community members? (NIFL, Equipped for the Future Content Standards, 2000). EFF standards have been identified through a careful research process that began with adult learners and has included administrators, practitioners, tutors, and policy makers as well as experts from adult education, literacy, workforce development, and other stakeholder systems.

The 16 EFF standards represent the core skills needed for effective adult performance in the three major adult roles in today's rapidly changing world and are a new definition of literacy for the 21st century. The EFF standards framework includes:

• Four purposes of learning defined by adult students: Access to Information, Voice, Independent Action, and Building a Bridge to the Future.
• Role maps that define what effective adults need to know and do to carry out their responsibilities. The three role maps are worker, parent/family, and citizen/community member.
• Common activities that cross all three roles.
• 16 standards that support effect-ive performance in the three roles to achieve the four purposes.

EFF is very exciting to use in class because it is based on input from adult learners and therefore is very meaningful to my students. Learning in an EFF classroom is active, purposeful, and contextual. Students are very much in control of their own learning.

Classroom activities are developed around performance tasks. Performance tasks are real-life activities that allow students to demonstrate performance of one or more of the EFF standards. An example of a performance task would be a group of activities that students would do to be able to convey ideas in writing (an EFF standard) in a letter to their child's teacher. Learning activities would address components of performance or skills needed to be able to use the standard for a meaningful purpose. Here are the components of the standard, Convey Ideas in Writing, (NIFL 2000):

• Determine the purpose for communicating.
• Organize and present information to serve the purpose, context, and audience.
• Pay attention to conventions of English language usage, including grammar, spelling, and sentence structure, to minimize barriers to reader's comprehension.
• Seek feedback and revise to enhance the effectiveness of the communication.

A well-structured performance task will address all these components.

There is still a point to consider. How do I know that my students are learning? A paper and pencil test will not capture what these students know and are able to do. The EFF framework addresses assessment as movement along a continuum of learning. As people learn, they increase their knowledge, fluency, independence, and range in using a skill. EFF refers to these as four dimensions of performance. Each dimension helps describe not only what people know, but also how well they can use what they know (NIFL, 2000).

This is where, for me, instruction and assessment combine. Using the four dimensions of performance allows me to think about what skills are needed to perform the task and to look at where student skill levels are related to these dim-ensions before and after the task.

Knowledge Base

• What vocabulary do learners have related to the skill?
• What content knowledge to the learners have related to the skill?
• What strategies do learners have for organizing and applying content knowledge?

Fluency

• How much effort is required?

Independence

• How much help is needed from others?

Range

• In how many different contexts can learners perform?
• How many different tasks can the learner do using the skill?

One way I learned to better understand these dimensions of performance was to think about something I was learning: in my case it was learning to swing dance.

When I first started out I really didn't have much of a knowledge base -- just what was in the catalog. As I learned, I picked up vocabulary (basic step, loop pass, etc.) and got better at organizing what I was learning by being able to put these steps together. Fluency was a big problem when starting out. I had to count and concentrate on each step. As I got better, some of the steps became automatic. At first I had a hard time learning from watching and needed the instructor to demonstrate the steps by being my partner. My independence grew as I gained confidence and didn't need as much "hands on" support. My range of performance is still limited. I haven't danced anywhere other than the classroom. My goal is to be able to dance (and enjoy it) at my son's wedding next summer. I have a ways to go, but I can see that I am learning and improving.

This is a lot of information for a short article, and I have to say that I certainly don't have all the components working together smoothly in my classroom yet. However, using EFF as a framework for assessment and instruction has allowed me to become a more intentional and informed instructor and learner.

The late Joan Benz was an instructor of adult basic skills and GED at the Bethel Family Learning Center in Eugene, Oregon. EFF is an initiative of the National Institute for Literacy. For more information about EFF, visit www.nifl.gov/lincs/collections/eff/eff.html