Summative Assessment and Adults

"Teaching should be full of ideas instead of stuffed with facts."

Unknown Author

Adult English language learners attend English as a second language (ESL) or Adult Basic Education (ABE) classes to improve their oral and written skills in English and to achieve goals similar to those of native English speakers who are looking to find job placement or advancement, stronger communication skills, or simply further their education.

Consider that you are teaching a classroom of 10 ESL adults who have varying levels of language proficiency but all at a very remedial level. Although their intent for attending your classes varies, your goal at the conclusion of your 12-week class is for them to "Express themselves orally in English for a variety of purposes."

With the following benchmarks:

S1.3a (NRS high beginning level): "Produce simple statements, providing more detail without necessarily more complexity (e.g. a daily routine, a simple instruction, preferences, and opinions)."

S1.6a (NRS advanced level): "Express themselves on unfamiliar topics and/or in problematic situations (e.g. giving information at the scene of an accident, talking to your child's teacher)."

(Massachusetts Adult Basic Framework, 2005)

Create a document that will be saved and attached in the discussion board as a .pdf file (since that is universally accepted file of all operating systems).

Create a summative assessment to determine if your final goal was met using one of the techniques learned in this week's class. You are encouraged to use the web pages listed in the "recommended reading" section to guide your work. Your assessment must include:

What type of summative assessment you are choosing to use and why

Directions you would give to the students in order to complete the assessment in ‘student friendly' language

A detailed rubric in student friendly language that will measure their mastery

A short reflection on how you will use this information to guide future instruction with the same students in a more advanced class.