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

Curriculum and Assessment Update, January, 2008

Curriculum Updates

Call for Presenters: "Integrated Models Get Better Results" Curriculum Conference
ACLS is hosting a conference on Tuesday, April 15, 2008 that focuses on promoting the development and implementation of integrated or contextualized curriculum strategies that are aligned with the ABE Curriculum Frameworks and connect to our learners' lives. The conference will be held at the Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel in Marlborough, MA. This daylong conference is a follow-up to the December 2005 Curriculum Frameworks conference.

The purposes of the conference are to:

• Support teachers in meeting the multiple roles of learners as workers, family, and community members
• Highlight the excellent work of experienced and talented ABE program staff
• Clarify by example the types of curriculum, instruction, and connection to the Frameworks ACLS is promoting
• Provide practical strategies and materials teachers can use in their programs

Workshop sessions could include how to:

• Integrate themes such as worker safety, training for childcare workers, housing, EL Civics, tenant relations, career awareness, job readiness, financial literacy ABE or ESL in lesson plans, units, or curricula around these themes
• Connect goal setting to lessons on integrated themes
• Link to other aspects of the Frameworks, such as Guiding Principles or Habits of Mind
• Develop successful, practical strategies and materials that work well with students (e.g., resources such as samples of authentic materials adapted for use in class, a written lesson plan, unit or curriculum, a bibliography of helpful resources, list of suggestions for how to implement a project, etc.)
• Provide leadership and support to staff as a program director (e.g., orient teachers to the frameworks, or lead successful curriculum development around integrated themes)
• Create opportunities for counselors and teachers to work together to provide instruction that meets learner needs
• Involve community planning partners in curriculum development
• Use common planning time to develop a program-wide curriculum

Intended audience for the conference: Teachers of all levels of ESOL, ABE, GED, Workplace Education, Family Literacy, math, science, health, history, etc.; counselors; program directors

We invite ABE practitioners or program directors to submit a proposal by January 28 to present a 75 or 90-minute session. Please complete the attached form    and email or send it to:
Anne Holbrook (aholbrook@doe.mass.edu); Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education; 350 Main Street, 4th Floor (ACLS); Malden, MA 02148

Questions about a workshop session? Contact Jane Schwerdtfeger at (781) 338-3855

Assessment Updates

MAPT

Congratulations to Professor Stephen G. Sireci, in the Center for Educational Assessment at UMASS Amherst, who has recently been selected as a Distinguished Faculty Lecturer and received the Chancellor's Medal, the highest honor bestowed by UMASS on individuals for exemplary and extraordinary service to the University.

Seeking Practitioners to serve on a committee (and be paid) to help develop a MAPT Locator / Placement Test

Adult and Community Learning Services (ACLS) and the Center for Educational Assessment at UMASS Amherst are seeking practitioners to help develop a locator/placement test for the MAPT. This new locator would integrate with the existing MAPT assessment and help teachers with class placement decisions.

We plan to schedule a one-day meeting in early March to bring together adult educators who specialize in teaching reading or mathematics at different levels. The meeting will review recommendations for the test design and test specification. We will also discuss sample items and develop materials to guide the development of locator items. The meeting will take place in either Worcester or Amherst. Following the meeting, the committee will also review and comment on potential items (up to 9 additional hours total). This work may be done from home over email or through the mail. All participants will be paid $300 for the meeting and $33/hr for additional hourly work reviewing items. Mileage and tolls will be reimbursed and breakfast and lunch will be provided at the one-day meeting.

We are looking for 2-3 reading practitioners and 2-3 math practitioners with the following qualifications:

• At least 5 years experience teaching reading or math
• Familiar with a variety of placement tools
• Focused, detail oriented, and able to meet deadlines
• Able to articulate the knowledge and skills common in different learning levels
• A team player who will help the group reach consensus in group discussions
• An interest in contributing to the successful development of a locator

If you are interested, please send an email to Jane Schwerdtfeger at janes@doe.mass.edu, by January 25, 2008. In the email, please explain briefly:

1. Why you are interested, and how you use class placement in your teaching
2. The specific ABE reading or math level you teach,
3. Your qualifications, and
4. Please also include a sample of the placement tool you use, and your comments about it
5. Any needs regarding the date or location of the meeting

We will review all the applications and let practitioners know if they have been selected by February 4, 2008. Please pass this on to a colleague if you are not interested in applying.

BEST Plus: Study based on Massachusetts and Illinois data

The Center for Applied Linguistics is pleased to announce the availability of their latest digest, "Effects of Instructional Hours and Intensity of Instruction on NRS Level Gain in Listening and Speaking." The digest reports on a descriptive study examining the relationship between student performance on BEST Plus and NRS level gain and class attendance. BEST Plus pretest and posttest data for nearly 7,000 examinees were analyzed to see how their performance at each National Reporting System (NRS) educational functioning level varied according to number of instructional hours and intensity of instruction. Results showed that across all NRS educational functioning levels, the greater the number of instructional hours, the higher the percentage of students who made an NRS level gain. There was also a general trend toward greater NRS level gain for students with high levels of instructional intensity than for those with low instructional intensity. Intensity of instruction had the greatest impact on students at the Beginning ESL Literacy, Low Intermediate ESL, and Advanced ESL levels. To read the full digest, you may view and download a complimentary copy from http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/levelgain.html.

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