| To: |
Adult Education Program Managers |
Date: October 21, 2009 |
| From: |
Thomas A. Orsini |
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| Subject: |
Updated TABE information and news on the Official Practice Tests |
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Overview
The Tests of Adult Basic Education (TABE) assessment was designed to provide achievement scores that are valid for most types of adult education decision-making. New York State requires administration of the TABE tests for all students seeking entry into Adult Basic Education (ABE) and Adult Secondary Education (ASE) programs supported by Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Title 2, Welfare Education Program (WEP), Employment Preparation Education (EPE) and the Adult Literacy Education (ALE) funding for the purpose of reporting educational gain as required by the federal National Reporting System (NRS) for Adult Education.
The following policies are relevant to TABE testing:
1. All students must be tested within the first 12 hours of contact. This test is considered to be a pretest. Students must be assessed in both Math and Reading. Under federal guidelines, the educational gain will be calculated in the lower of the two skill areas, either Reading or Math.
2. New York State mandates use of the TABE 7&8 and 9&10 full batteries. Beginning July 1, 2010, the TABE 7 & 8 series will be discontinued. No scores in ASISTS will be counted after that date. Students rolling over from FY09/10 into FY10/11 will need a new Pre Test in the 9 & 10 series.
The TABE offers five overlapping levels – L (Literacy), E (Easy), M (Medium), D (Difficult), and A (Advanced). Agencies are required to at least use the E, M, and D levels. Post test must always be contiguous; students may be post tested on their current level or a higher level providing the level chosen allows the student to show enough gain to place the student into the next Educational Functioning Level.
3. The Locator test must be administered to determine the appropriate level of the TABE test to administer. All test assessors should use the locator as one tool in the decision on the student’s pre test level.
4. Every student must be post tested. NYS Policy calls for a benchmark of 58% post test rate. This calculation is valued at 20% of a program’s total Report Card score. Below is a guide for the timing of post tests however, teaching staff should post test more often if there is evidence of educational gain in a student’s work.
- Students in a class that meets ten or more hours per week should be post-tested at least at the end of every 200 instructional hours.
- Students in a class that meets nine hours or less per week should be post-tested at least at the end of every 100 instructional hours.
- Students in a tutorial program should be post-tested at least at the end of each fifty hours of instruction.
Post-testing can be done in groups for students who have received a similar number of hours of instruction. These guidelines are at-a-minimum. Students may be tested more frequently. The agency should determine whether more frequent testing is advisable. This should be done after reviewing NRS data to determine the average contact hours at each Educational Functioning level. This information is found on the Program Evaluation Report provided through ASISTS.
5. Test administrators need not be certified teachers. However, all TABE test administrators must receive training in proper test administration through the Regional Adult Education Network (RAEN). This training must be renewed every 3 years.
6. For the NRS, the use of the Reading, Mathematics Computation, and Applied Mathematics is required. The Mathematics Computation and Applied Mathematics tests must be used together to yield a total mathematics score that is reported to the US Department of Education. Both the mathematics tests and the reading test must be administered in programs focusing on both reading and mathematics.
However, if a program has indicated on their funding applications a class that focuses only on mathematics or only on reading, the mathematics tests or the reading test can be administered alone. These exceptions are rare and must be approved by the NYSED Regional Liaison.
7. To compute a Total Mathematics score it is necessary for the student to take the same form and level of both the Mathematics Computation test and the Applied Mathematics test.
8. When post-testing on the same level (e.g., pretest was on level M and post-test is on level M also) a different form of the test must be used. For example, the student is pre-tested on TABE Level M with Form 9 and is to be post-tested on Level M, Form 10 should be used. This same format should be applied even if the student is moving from one Level to a higher level. For example if the pre-test is on the higher range of Level M and a Form 9 is given, then the post test should be a Level D and the Form 10 must be used.
Retesting Guidelines
Staff development on the TABE test has stressed the need to use the correct Form and Level of the test and the need to retest when scores are in the extreme range of the individual test making them unreliable. Please refer to the NYS TABE Validity Tables for the valid ranges for all Levels of TABE testing.
When either a pre or a post test is administered, teachers must refer to the NYS TABE Validity Tables to determine whether the student’s score is within or outside of the acceptable range of scores on that test and level. If the score is within the acceptable range, the test is considered valid. If the score is outside of the acceptable range the test administrator must follow the directions regarding whether to retest with a more or less advanced test. The table indicates when more or less advanced tests are not available. Although invalid test scores may be recorded in ASISTS to maintain the history of the student’s assessments, they will not be considered in the Post Test Rate or for Educational Gain.
TABE Audio Version
Programs should use the TABE audio version only when necessary. There is only one series of the TABE audio so it is not possible to alternate Forms as required for pre and post testing under NRS guidelines. If you anticipate using the TABE audio, you must contact Rosemary Matt, our NRS Liaison who will guide you through the reporting process. Her email address: rosemarym@lacnyc.org
GED Official Practice Test
A reminder that all programs submitting applications with their GED students to sit for the GED examination must have the GED Official Practice Test results on the application. We are also requesting these same scores be entered into ASISTS. Attached to this memo is a brief tutorial showing the process for entering this data into ASISTS. All scores effective July 1, 2009 must be entered into ASISTS.
cc: Regional Liaisons
RAEN Directors
GED Official Practice Test in ASISTS:
Begin by accessing the student information screen. Select the tab “Goals/Outcomes & Assessments” :
Once on this screen, select the link to GED testing information. This is where you will record Official Practice Test scores:
Here you will begin by entering the date the OPT was given, then the form, then all the scores. It is best to tab from one field to the next as you move from left to right.
When you reach the field labeled “Type”, the drop down menu will allow you to select “Actual” or “Predictor”, this is where you will indicate this score is from a Practice GED. It should be marked as a Pretest as well. The total score is a “green” coded field in ASISTS which mean it will calculate the total score for you.
Once you have progressed to this point, the “Insert” button will be activated so you can select this and the score will be moved into the student’s permanent record.
