Autumn Keltner, CASAS

Donna Price-Machado, San Diego Community College District
 
 

Objectives: Participants will be able to:

• identify reasons why assessment is crucial in the Adult ESLclassroom,
• identify appropriate assessment measures for their individual classes,
• select and use a variety of group and individual tasks and activities which assist students in documenting their own learning,

• Future funding may depend on the ability of local programs to report timely and accurate outcome data.
• Funding sources want ROI: Return on Investment. They want proof of the impact of a program.
• Students need objectives & criteria to measure gains in their own proficiency.
• Students need to identify what they know and don't know.
• Assessment helps teacher identify what students are learning and adjust their instruction accordingly.

• Expect students to leave their classes every day doing something they couldn't do when they came in.
• Tell students what they did; students can say what they did.
• Document outcome attainment with logs, checklists, portfolios...

Price-Machado/6aer
 
 

One manageable way to document progress and outcome attainment in open/entry multi-level adult ESL classes is with folder assessment. Folder assessment is a viable way of documenting student outcomes to the learner, the instructor, local program management, and funding sources.
 
 

• Folder assessment is a folder that contains a variety of information assessing student performance relative to instructional objectives.
• It assesses an individual student's work throughout the course.
• It includes samples of student work, such as exercise sheets, letters, pictures drawn, etc., as well as formal tests and checklists.
• It allows instructors to use a variety of ways to evaluate learning over time.
• Students take responsibility of choosing his/her best work to put in the folder; however, it is the teacher's responsibility to choose the categories of work that should be put in the folder. Student work should be collected with a purpose, and each piece a student puts in the folder should reflect progress toward a particular learning goal.
• A checklist of what is included in the folder may be stapled to the folder so that students can keep track of their own work.

Price-Machado
 
 
 
 
 
 

What Can I Assess?	How Can I Assess It?
Students' Progress	Weekly Tests: Progress Graph (B-A) Folder (Beg-Adv) Letter to employer explaining what students have learned. Textbook Table of Contents (B-A)
General Speaking/Listening Oral Presentation Interviewing Skills Active Listening Skills	Answering machine tapes (B-A) Written or oral reflection (Int-Adv) Listening skills checklist (Int-Adv)
Reading	Job Chart (B-A) Graphs (B-A) Procedures & directions (B-A) Syllabi (B-A)
Writing Describing Families Describing Job Skills and Functions Resume Thank you Letter Request Letter Tourist Information	Completed Student Story (Lit-Adv) Completed Description (B-A) CASAS Resume Checklist (Int-Adv) Finished Resume (High beg-Adv) Thank You Letter Checklist (Int-Adv) Request Letter Checklist (Int-Adv)
Work Maturity (behavior in class) Individual Team	Personal Checklist (B-A) Team Evaluation (Int-Adv)
Students' Understanding of What They Have Learned Student discussion/reflection of learning that day	Blue Books (Beg-Adv) Language Learning Diaries (Beg-Adv) Reflections on writing, spelling and reading (B-1) SCANS Interpretation Poster (B-A) Agenda (B-A)