Tools and tasks for initial assessment
Adult Literacy and Numeracy (ALN) Curriculum Framework for Scotland
Part Two: Practice
3.3 Tools and tasks for initial assessment
The process of discussion and negotiation may be assisted by the use of structured assessment tools. As outlined in Part One, these may be alerting, placing or diagnostic tools.
Alerting tools
Some institutions, like Job Centre Plus and the prisons, want to offer literacy tuition to their clients, but need to target their offer appropriately. For them an alerting tool designed for use with those who have no formal qualifications can be helpful. The idea is to open the discussion with the learner about their uses of literacy and numeracy and at the same time to give them an opportunity both to demonstrate what they can do and to speak about what they can?t. It should be emphasised that the alerting tool is not a "test". There is no "pass" or "fail" nor will it offer any indication of Core Skills levels.
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Case Study - Mick
Mick, 55, had recently been made redundant, having worked for his last employer for 15 years. He had worked as a painter and decorator since leaving school. An appointment was made for him to attend a new jobseeker interview. At the interview, the adviser established that, although Mick had never really been unemployed since leaving school, he had always secured employment through word of mouth, never having to apply for jobs. He was keen to find work again as a painter and decorator as this was his trade, but was finding it difficult as he was not used to completing application forms.
The adviser acknowledged Mick’s comments and suggested he fill in a short form to establish what areas, if any, he was having difficulty with. Mick reluctantly agreed and the adviser issued the Thinking Ahead Screening Tool to identify Mick’s learning needs. The adviser asked Mick to fill in the form and once he’d looked at it for a moment, asked if he had any questions before starting. Mick asked to take the form away. The adviser quickly explained that it would only take a couple of minutes and that help would be provided. Mick hesitated, stating that he couldn’t read the questions, as he didn’t have his glasses with him. The adviser offered to read out the questions for Mick, but he was still reluctant to complete the form at that time. The adviser then assumed that Mick had a literacy/numeracy need and gently mentioned the Big Plus adverts on TV.
Mick had seen the adverts but wasn’t sure how beneficial it would be for someone of his age and said he had got this far without needing help. The adviser acknowledged this but picked up on Mick’s earlier concerns about completing application forms and highlighted how beneficial he might find help to improve his reading, writing and number skills, stressing it was never too late to learn and would improve his chances of getting back to work. Mick agreed because he didn’t want to stay unemployed for any length of time and asked what would be involved. The adviser explained that a further assessment would help to identify if he would benefit from some training on improving his skills and that this could be arranged quite easily, through an independent assessor, and would only take about forty minutes to an hour.
After further discussion, Mick agreed to go for the assessment the following day. The adviser made the appointment and also arranged for Mick to come back for a follow-up adviser interview. The Thinking Ahead Screening Tool was placed in Mick’s file to be retained locally (in the Jobcentre) for 14 months. The independent assessment results confirmed that Mick had a literacy and numeracy need. At the follow-up interview, the adviser discussed the results with Mick and outlined the options available, through community learning and early entry to New Deal 25 Plus. Mick joined New Deal 25 Plus and started on a Basic Employability Training (BET) course which also attracted an extra £10 per week.
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Examples of alerting tools are included in Appendix 2. In one tool, for example, the tasks that the client undertakes are:
- two short answers to demonstrate reading and appropriate written response
- a chance to demonstrate competence in the four number operations
- a short piece of free writing
- and an opportunity to declare confidence or lack of it with appropriate literacy tasks.
It is crucial that this rather basic set of tasks be contextualised appropriately. If, for example, it were being used by a Social Care training agency the checklist might relate to writing a short incident report and filling in a time sheet, while the numeracy task might relate to doing a client?s shopping.
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Case study - Piloting the alerting tool in the Prison Service
In the Scottish Prison Service we wanted to introduce an alerting tool, grounded in the philosophical approach of the social practices model of literacies education, which could identify whether or not prisoners might benefit from literacies learning. We also wanted to filter out any prisoners who would not need literacies provision, so that resources could be concentrated on those who would most benefit from it. We based our alerting tool on the template produced by the Curriculum Project, adapting it to include feedback from providers and learners.
The original template was constructed for use with jobseekers, and two main points emerged in the feedback: the need to contextualise the tool to suit the prison context, and the importance of accessibility to the reader. These were addressed by redrafting the questions requiring a written answer, making some changes to the "What are you good at?" questions, and changing the layout from landscape to portrait.
This version of the tool was piloted, and feedback indicated that learning centres felt that while there was scope for improving the tool, it did do the job - it gave an indication of need for literacies provision, and enabled discussion to open up about literacies learning. Prisoners liked using the tool because it was shorter than the one used in the past, and "doesn’t feel like a test".
At a meeting with learning providers further suggestions were made for improving the tool:
A half-ounce of tobacco costs £2.65 while a 2-ounce tin costs £9.00. How much do you save by buying the 2-ounce tin?
This version of the tool is now being piloted and the final version will take account of feedback from this pilot.
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This alerting tool is designed to do just that, to alert both learner and interviewer to whether or not a fuller diagnostic assessment might be useful or literacy tuition offered. It may not be appropriate to use it where, say, a client requests literacy support unprompted. Moreover, where a client is clearly uncomfortable with it, help should be offered or it should be swiftly removed.
Guidelines and training on administering and interpreting the tool would encourage awareness of the Scottish approach to literacy and numeracy learning, and increase staff confidence in approaching the issue.
Placing tools
Placing tools help to identify the level of literacy or numeracy learning that is appropriate for an individual learner. Such tools can be useful in contexts such as FE colleges where there is a need to identify the most appropriate class for a learner to join. A more detailed assessment of learning needs may then be facilitated by the class tutor.
Two of the most commonly used placing tools are computerised: the Plato Diagnostic Core Skills Toolkit and CTAD Target Skills.
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Use of the Plato diagnostic tool in two FE colleges
The Plato diagnostic tool is an online assessment tool available for the Core Skills, Communication, Numeracy and Information Technology. The results of the test place learners at Intermediate 1, Intermediate 2 or Higher level in each of the Core Skill areas.
At one FE college, students were originally screened on induction in a new academic year, using paper-based assessments for Communication, Numeracy and Information Technology. Since the advent of the Plato diagnostic tool, this college now conducts assessment of students - levels in Numeracy and Information Technology using the Plato tool. Staff are confident that the levels at which the students are placed in these two curriculum areas, using the Plato tool, are sufficiently accurate. However, students are still assessed for their Communication level using the paper-based assessment, as this involves "free writing". Whilst the Plato tool can assess a student’s ability with regard to spelling and punctuation, staff at the college consider that these two areas alone are not sufficient to "place" students at the correct level in Communication.
The student profile which is generated by this diagnostic process is passed on to the Learning Support team, which then identifies appropriate support. The profile is also passed to the Core Skills teaching team, to help them place students in appropriate classes.
Students were asked to evaluate the method of diagnostic assessment and the feedback was positive. Students particularly liked the online screening format.
At another college, students are again assessed for their level, this time in all three subjects (Communication, Numeracy and Information Technology) using the Plato diagnostic tool. This takes place at induction. Results of assessment are sent to the Heads of Programmes (courses) and are used for academic guidance by guidance tutors, initially, followed by identification of learner support where required. Again, students respond positively to online assessment.
In both examples given above, adequate technical assistance needs to be readily available, as those administering the tests may not be equipped to deal with any problems associated with the online assessment.
The Plato tool for assessing students' levels in the Core Skills, Communication, Information Technology and Numeracy was funded by the Scottish Government and was made available free of charge on a CD ROM to all Scottish Further Education Colleges.
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The process of "Skills Profiling" using CTAD Target Skills A large FE college has been "screening" students to identify levels of literacy and numeracy for many years. This process has taken many different forms, from paper-based assessments to face-to-face interviews. The college saw the need to refine their screening process as a key priority. The Learning Support team along with the Adult Literacy and Numeracy Co-ordinator felt ICT screening software would perhaps appeal to the younger 16 - 25 year old student cohort who had reacted unfavourably to previous methods of screening. In August 2003 the college piloted a package created by the Cambridge Training and Development Agency (CTAD) entitled "Target Skills Initial Assessment" with the summer intake of entry level students. It assesses learners against standards that are the rest-of-UK equivalent of the Access and Intermediate levels. The package allowed them to "screen" groups of 20 students in a two-hour period (including a break) with a detailed printout of literacy and numeracy levels generated instantly. Responses from students and staff were extremely favourable and the college continued to use this package with two further cohorts of students. After discussion with various members of staff it was decided to change the name of the screening process, as it was perceived to have quite negative connotations, to "Skills Profiling". During their Induction Week, all entry level students are timetabled for a two-hour slot of "Skills Profiling". On arrival it is explained to students that their literacy and numeracy skills will be profiled in order to identify any support required during their time at college. As many students are adult returners who need to brush up on their ALN skills and many more are young people who were not regular school attenders, the general perception of the ALN Skills Profiling process is a positive one. Learners are keen to do well at college on the various courses on which they are enrolled (ranging from Bricklaying to Basic IT) and are generally in favour of accessing additional support with their literacy and numeracy in order to improve their prospects. Following the two-hour Skills Profiling session in a computer lab, students all experience a one-to-one interview with a member of the ALN, or Learning Support Teams. During this time their results are discussed and students can talk openly about their feelings regarding their ALN skills. Students who indicate an interest in additional support are invited to attend various literacy and numeracy groups which run on a weekly basis in the college. The ALN team also offer integrated support for one session per week per class, where ALN specialists team-teach in a classroom or workshop slot in order to support learners who wish to improve their skills. All students who request ALN support negotiate an Individual Learning Plan with their ALN tutor, which is based on the highly specific results produced by the Target Skills package along with information gleaned from the one-to-one interview. During pre-exit guidance interviews with ALN staff, all learners who engaged in ALN support admitted that without a timetabled Skills Profiling session and the one-to-one interview at the start of their course they would never have sought support for their literacy and numeracy skills. Undoubtedly the process of "screening" or "assessing" prospective ALN learners has its critics in the world of literacy and numeracy. However the experience at this FE College has most certainly been a positive one.
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Diagnostic assessment
By this term we mean detailed discussion with learners to identify their particular learning needs. In community learning contexts, diagnostic assessment is normally conducted through a one-to-one interaction between tutor and learner, as an integral part of the process of individual learning planning.
Some tutors ask a learner to write something to give them both a chance to discuss the learner?s skills and knowledge of writing.
- the writer?s ideas and the way s/he structures them
- the accuracy and clarity of information
- the ease and fluency with which it was written
- the sophistication of language including choice of vocabulary, linking ideas, sentence structure and grammar
- the choice of language and style in relation to the purpose of the writing
- the accuracy of spelling and punctuation
- legibility and maturity of the handwriting.
Literacy: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening
Numeracy: Number, Measuring, Space and Shape, Handling Data
ESOL: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening
Dyslexia Support
The tool comprises graded contextualised assessment activities that may be planned and selected by tutor and learner. The software provides records of learners? progress and enables tutors to track and manage the records.
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