Students & Families Adult Education Adult & Community Learning Services
Adult and Community Learning Services

Assessment Update, June 2008

Post-test Season

As you are probably very aware, it is the time of year in which programs work hard to ensure all learners are post-tested so they may show learner gains. We hope the SMARTT Assessment Reports will be useful to you for checking which learners have not yet been post-tested. To access these reports, click use the Site link on the left menu in SMARTT, and then click on the Assessment Report Primary Set option. The report will list all the tests, dates, forms, and next suggested testing date. Please note that the approximate next test date is based on four months, but you may test sooner in order to get a final post-test date for the year -the minimum is two months.

MAPT

Now that it's Post-Testing time, please remember these points when using the MAPT:

• If a MAPT test is started after June 16th, please remember to finish it before June 30th, because you won't have the full 15 days to complete it within this fiscal year.
• Any tests completed after June 30 will be counted in the next fiscal year (FY09), not in this current fiscal year, regardless of when they were started. Tests are counted in the year it is finished for those who don't complete it on one sitting.
• UMASS Technical Support (e.g., OWL) will be sending out reminders about twice a week beginning next week to let programs know that there are learners who need to complete a MAPT test before June 30.

Are You Interested in Helping to Develop the MAPT Diagnostic Reports?

Since the Massachusetts Adult Proficiency Tests (MAPT) became operational, we have heard that teachers and others want more information from the test in addition to a single score. A process is underway to develop MAPT score reports that will be more useful to learners, teachers, and adult education program administrators. To make them as useful as possible to you, we would like your help in developing these new, more informative score reports. We are planning to conduct focus groups, potentially in each of the 5 SABES regions, depending on response, to review and comment on draft diagnostic score reports for the MAPT. At each focus group meeting, the Center for Educational Assessment at UMASS (CEA) will present sample score reports at the program, class, and individual learner levels, discuss how the reports could be utilized, and receive feedback from participants about what additional information they would like to see in these reports. The focus groups will convene at one location in each region and should last about 3 hours.

Participation in the focus groups is voluntary but your input is so important to making the MAPT score reports as useful as possible. We hope to plan the meetings for convenient locations and times to best work with your availability. After the first meeting we will be able to send modified reports through email to get your final thoughts.

We hope to schedule all focus groups within the months of September and October (Monday - Saturday, 9am - 9pm). Please complete the attached form and return it to Kelly Smiaroski at kns@educ.umass.eduby June 27th. Kelly will then follow up with you by July 11th with your scheduled focus group location and time. We are really looking forward to working with you on this important project. Thank you for considering assisting us in this important effort.

   Score Report

After Hours Tests will be Invalidated

Each month, we receive a list of learners who have taken a MAPT test either after normal program hours (e.g., before 8 am or after 9 pm) or on weekends. Students may only take the MAPT for pre and post-testing while at the program and under the supervision of a MAPT-trained test administrator. This policy is listed in the Assessment Policy Manual (p. 7 under Administering the MAPT) http://www.doe.mass.edu/acls/assessment/news/maptpolicy.doc. All learners' MAPT tests taken after normal program hours will be invalidated. Please ensure all MAPT test administrators know this policy. If test administrators give students their MAPT login IDs to start the test, make sure login IDs are collected back before they leave the testing room so learners will have less of an opportunity to access the test on their own after hours.

Many learners also take the MAPT Sample Questions or MAPT Practice Tests after hours or on weekends, which is permitted since these tests aren't used for measuring their learning gains. Learners must be made aware, however, of the difference between the Sample Questions and Practice Tests and the MAPT for Reading or Math they do for pre and post testing. They may not take the MAPT for Math or Reading unless they are at the program and with a test administrator in a scheduled testing session. The test administrator must be with the testers at all times.

Reminder

To get to the MAPT login page, it is best to use the link available on the ACLS site at http://www.doe.mass.edu/acls/assessment/. The web address has changed in the time since staff were trained in the summer of 2006, and it is not reliable to use any other address. We have tried to reorganize the ACLS Assessment web page at the link above, and put the link for the test at the top of the page. If you have suggestions for making it a simpler or clearer web page, we'd love to hear your feedback-we don't know unless you tell us!

Questions?Please contact Jane Schwerdtfeger at janes@doe.mass.edu