Adult and Community Learning Services

Policy and Training Updates

I know that we had several unanswered questions from last month regarding student assessment and related policies, and so I am writing to keep you posted. First of all, thank you for your patience with our training schedules. We are trying to get all summer staff trained first, and will post dates next week for more staff trainings to be offered late summer and early fall.

We have developed a transition period for some of our policies:

• A teacher cannot administer or score primary assessments for his/her own students. Most programs will solve this by having other teachers and/or counselor(s) administering and scoring the assessments. Some programs may want to explore entering into agreements with other nearby ESE funded programs in order to "share" assessment administration and scoring.

  We realize that this will be a difficult task for many programs to implement immediately, and have concluded that we need to allow more time for programs to set up a system that works for them. Therefore, this policy will be transitioned into place between now and the end of February, 2003. By March 2003, this policy must be fully implemented. We do encourage programs to implement this as soon as possible to ensure reliable scores. If some programs have worked out how to implement this policy right away, that's even better.

• For ABE students at GLE Level 0 - 1.9: Programs will continue to use the same instrument they used last year (consistent with their approved "crosswalk") while the Department determines valid and reliable assessments for this population. The SMARTT assessment section will enable you to enter instruments other than the TABE for students functioning at this level; it will not allow scores of 0 - 1.9 to be entered for the TABE.
• For ESOL students who select Reading as their primary assessment goal: The PAWG was unable to recommend a reading assessment that was valid and reliable. A new PAWG committee will be convened in January 2003 to research and make recommendations on a reading assessment. In the meantime, students will need to select ESOL Speaking/Listening for students at lower levels or ESOL Writing (since this is included in the same area for NRS reporting purposes) for students at higher levels of proficiency. The Department is fully aware that this will result in a "mismatch" between some students' goals ("reading" or "speaking" English) and the assessment administered to them. We will interpret scores obtained from this mismatch separately from assessment scores for students whose goal(s) and assessments are aligned.
• or ESOL students in Native Language Literacy (NLL) programs: Programs will continue to use the same tests as last year while the Department determines valid and reliable assessments for this group of students. Students must be enrolled in NLL classes first in the SMARTT system and when data is entered into SMARTT, a different selection for assessments will be available to allow you to enter your current assessment tool. These NLL classes must be approved by your Program Specialist as part of the program plan in the refunding process. NLL is another topic that the PAWG will research and make recommendations on instruments for the long term.
• For students in Transitions Programs: The assessments selected for FY 2003 (TABE and BEST in particular) are not appropriate for students at this level. Some Transitions programs will pilot the requirement assessment tools, but programs may continue to use the same (crosswalked) tests as last year while the Department determines valid and reliable assessments for students enrolled in ESE-funded transitions programs.

In accommodating for these new policies, please remember these points also:

• Designated staff must successfully complete an upcoming training and earn a certificate BEFORE s/he can administer the TABE, BEST or REEP to students, even if staff have been previously trained. Staff who have not been trained by a Department approved trainer will not be able to earn a certificate and cannot administer or score the required/primary assessments; staff who have been trained to administer and score are not approved as trainers and may not issue certificates to other staff in their program. These trainings will focus on the importance of validity, reliability and comparability in this new performance accountability system and how to maintain rigorous validity and reliability though your test administration.
• Programs will need to send at least 2 staff for training in administering the TABE, BEST, and REEP.
• Beginning in FY03, all students - current and new - must be pre and post tested using these tests and record the resulting scores as the students' "primary assessment."
• These policies affect your primary assessments, but it is important to continue to assess students on the program level with your own assessment tools and practices.

The current training schedule is listed below, with the name of the person to contact for registration. We are giving priority to staff from programs that run summer classes. Please note that trainings will continue into the Fall and will be conducted by the five SABES Curriculum and Assessment Coordinators (as well as 2 - 3 additional practitioners for BEST trainings) who are being trained as trainers this Summer. Hence, while the initial round of trainings are limited to 2 staff/program, this will likely "loosen up" as SABES centers assume responsibility for the trainings and the logistics.

NOTE: Sorry, but those who aren't registered for the following trainings will not be admitted.

TABE Test Training Information:

Training sessions for administering the TABE test will be held on the following dates and locations. Attendance is maximum two staff per site at any one training, and is for programs that are running summer classes. For more information and to register, please contact the person listed for each SABES region below.

Boston/ALRI: training on July 8 at the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Rooms 3A and B from 10 am -12 noon, contact: Katy Hartnett at katy@alri.org, phone (617) 782-8956, ext. 16

SE: training on July 25 at Bristol Community College, 10 am -12 noon, contact: Annemarie Espindola at aespindo@bristol.mass.edu, phone (508) 678-2811, ext. 2782

NE: training on August 5 at Northern Essex Community College, 10 am -12 noon, contact: Sharon Klufts at klufts@aol.com, phone (978) 738-7302

West: training on August 6 at Holyoke Community College, in the President's Conference Room, Frost 309 (holds 40 max.) from 10 am -12 noon, contact: Adrienne Morris at amorris@hcc.mass.edu, phone (413) 552-2586

Central: training on September 6 at Quinsigamond Room 107 from 10 am -12 noon, contact: Cathy Coleman at catherama@yahoo.com, phone (508) 854-2725

REEP Test Training Information:

Attendance is maximum two staff per site at any one training, and is for programs that are running summer classes. Additional training sessions are in the process of being scheduled for late summer and early fall. For more information and to register, please call Barbara Pope at the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, at bpope@doe.mass.edu or (781) 338-3870.

Monday, July 22 from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm, at Mt. Wachusett Community College/Devens Learning Center, 94 Jackson Road, Suite 311, Devens, MA (20 participants)

Tuesday, July 23 from 8:30 to 12:30, at same location. Participants will learn to administer and score the test, as on the other training dates.

Additional time will need to be scheduled for more scoring practice; this will be scheduled through your SABES Curriculum and Assessment Coordinator after the training (20 participants)

Thursday, August 22 from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm, at same location (20 participants)

BEST Test Training Information:

Attendance is maximum two staff per site per training, and is for programs that are running summer classes. Additional training sessions are in the process of being scheduled for the early fall. For more information and to register, please call Barbara Pope at the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, at bpope@doe.mass.edu or (781) 338-3870.

Monday, July 22 from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, at Mt. Wachusett Community College/Devens Learning Center, 94 Jackson Road, Suite 311, Devens, MA (40 participants)

Thank you again for your hard work in making this performance accountability successful.