Hi Susan and others,
Yes, actually Alison replied to Jim's suggestion, and her post is
message #333 in the archives.  I've cut and pasted it below, but if you
ever want to go to the archives to check on a previous post, the link in
the footer at the bottom of all the Workplace list messages,
http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/workplace, takes you to a page
where, at the top, is the option to "read current posted messages", and
that is the link to the archives.  The archived messages open sorted by
date, but you can also sort by subject, thread, or author. 

Donna

Donna Brian, Moderator
Workplace Literacy Discussion List
djgbrian at utk.edu



Here's Alison's original post, #333:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Good point, Jim! Going back to Marie's original questions about
workplace education assessment, I would like to share an online resource
for employers and their learning partners - a web site that allows users
to understand and create their own "balanced scorecard for skills":

http://www.scorecardforskills.com

The site contains a host of tools and templates as well as information
and advice on measuring the return on investing in skills development
initiatives. A strong message throughout is to align the measures of
effective learning with key organizational goals and strategies. Case
studies are provided along the way to stimulate creative thinking and to
illustrate how to make use of the tools and information provided.

I'd be interested to know what folks on the list think of the site, and
if anyone has used anything similar in the past...

Thanks,
Alison  

Alison Campbell
Senior Research Associate
Education and Learning
The Conference Board of Canada
255 Smyth Rd., Ottawa, ON  K1H 8M7
Tel: 613-526-3280  Fax: 613-526-4857
http://www.conferenceboard.ca 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----Original Message-----
From: workplace-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:workplace-bounces at nifl.gov] On
Behalf Of Jacobe, Susan A
Sent: Friday, August 18, 2006 11:38 AM
To: 'workplace at nifl.gov'
Subject: [Workplace 380] FW: Re: Assessment in the workplace


Did you receive any information about Alison Campbell's "return on
investment" Web site (mentioned in Jim Parker's July 27 note below)?  If
so, could you post it?

Thank you,

Susan Jacobe
Texas Workforce Commission
Research & Evaluation Section


-----Original Message-----
From: workplace-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:workplace-bounces at nifl.gov] On
Behalf Of Parker, James
Sent: Thursday, July 27, 2006 7:48 AM
To: The Workplace Literacy Discussion List
Subject: [Workplace 332] Re: Assessment in the workplace

Alison and Donna,
Thank you for facilitating the very interesting and busy workplace
education interaction!  It's heartening to see the (inter)national
interest in this area of adult ed.  Alison, You might wish to give folks
some details on your "return-on-investment" web site as part of this
discussion on assessment.
Jim Parker

-----Original Message-----
From: workplace-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:workplace-bounces at nifl.gov]On
Behalf Of Alison Campbell
Sent: Wednesday, July 26, 2006 4:57 PM
To: The Workplace Literacy Discussion List
Subject: [Workplace 331] Re: Assessment in the workplace


Marie,

Workplace education is largely employer-sponsored or labor-sponsored in
Canada. As such, employers that offer workplace literacy training do so
in isolation, as opposed to being a part of a system. The public
education system's role is usually limited to that of providing an
outsourced supplier of training (almost always colleges, but sometimes
secondary schools as well). 

Many workplace training programs do offer literacy and basic skills
training, but in-house workplace training program developers are not
always aware of the Canadian Language Benchmark system. I find it is
used most often in English (or French) as a Second Language programs.

Alison Campbell


-----Original Message-----
From: workplace-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:workplace-bounces at nifl.gov] On
Behalf Of Marie Cora
Sent: Monday, July 24, 2006 3:15 PM
To: 'The Workplace Literacy Discussion List'
Subject: [Workplace 305] Re: Assessment in the workplace

Hi Alison,

Thank you so much for your response.  Yes, I agree that sometimes it can
be difficult to find direct ties between learning outcomes and the
education program itself.  The more explicit we can be in identifying
and describing the objectives of the program and its participants and
the desired outcomes, the more we can inch toward tying it all together.

I appreciate your point about getting everyone on board and committed -
that I believe is so often the bottom line.  Without that, you simply
have no stable platform on which to build your program successfully.

Oh, and no worries about the NRS question - I threw that out to any U.S.
subscribers.  But actually, in Canada, you have the Canadian Language
Benchmarks - are these a part of the workplace education system there?
Or is workplace education separate from basic literacy and education in
Canada?

Thank you,
Marie Cora


-----Original Message-----
From: workplace-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:workplace-bounces at nifl.gov] On
Behalf Of Alison Campbell
Sent: Monday, July 24, 2006 1:55 PM
To: The Workplace Literacy Discussion List
Subject: [Workplace 303] Re: Assessment in the workplace

Hi Marie,

Assessment and evaluation of workplace education programs tend to vary
greatly in terms of what they measure. While it's very common for
assessment of individuals and evaluation of programs to stick to simple
measures such as attendance in class and use of learning facilities,
these are typically not the measures that will ensure sustainable
program funding. Stand-out programs measure learning outcomes and
impacts, such as improved job or organizational performance, although
these are not always easily tied to the workplace education program. 

The best measures should reflect the program's objectives as well as the
learning objectives of the participating individuals. Formative
assessment is less common, I think, than summative. Programs that are
well-integrated and accepted in an organization will include a feedback
loop from first-line supervisors, etc. on participants' learning
outcomes. However, participant confidentiality issues may arise when
participants' supervisors are involved in program development and
evaluation. It's a fine line to tread, but getting everyone on board and
committed to learning is a big help. 

I'm sorry, but I don't feel my knowledge of the NRS is adequate to
comment on second question...

Hope this is helpful,

Alison Campbell
Senior Research Associate
Education and Learning
The Conference Board of Canada
255 Smyth Rd., Ottawa, ON  K1H 8M7
Tel: 613-526-3280  Fax: 613-526-4857
http://www.conferenceboard.ca

-----Original Message-----
From: workplace-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:workplace-bounces at nifl.gov] On
Behalf Of Marie Cora
Sent: Monday, July 24, 2006 11:03 AM
To: workplace at nifl.gov
Subject: [Workplace 294] Assessment in the workplace

Hello Alison and everyone,

Donna - thanks for putting together this discussion.  I am the Moderator
for the NIFL Assessment Discussion List, and so my interests are in that
area.  I know that the kinds of learning/teaching that happen in the
workplace lend themselves nicely for authentic and performance-based
assessment.  I was wondering if Alison or subscribers might comment on
the types of assessment activities that they use in this education
setting.  Do you feel these activities lean more toward formative
assessment or summative assessment?  Which is more helpful for you in
terms of helping students reach their goals?  

Also, do workplace programs receive federal dollars that necessitate the
use of high stakes assessment for the NRS (National Reporting System)?
If so, what types of assessment tools are used for this purpose?  Do the
tools focus on reading and writing, or on the content of particular
workplace tasks, or both?

Thank you so much (and sorry to be a bit "jargony"),

Marie Cora
NIFL Assessment Discussion List Moderator

PS:
I took these definitions from the ALE Wiki Glossary
(http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/ALEGlossary)

Authentic assessment (alternative assessment, performance assessment) An
assessment that requires students to generate a response to a question
rather than choose from a set of responses provided to them.
Exhibitions, investigations, demonstrations, written or oral responses,
journals, and portfolios are examples of the assessment alternatives we
think of when we use the term "alternative assessment." Ideally,
alternative assessment requires students to actively accomplish complex
and significant tasks, while bringing to bear prior knowledge, recent
learning, and relevant skills to solve realistic or authentic problems.
Alternative assessments are usually one key element of an assessment
system. 
Formative assessment
Assessment that provides feedback to the teacher for the purpose of
improving instruction. 
Summative assessment
A culminating assessment, which gives information on students' mastery
of content, knowledge, or skills. 
High-stakes test
A test used to provide results that have important, direct consequences
for examinees, programs, or institutions involved in the testing. For
example, in Massachusetts, the MCAS (Massachusetts Comprehensive
Assessment System: K-12) is considered a high-stakes test because
children who do not pass the examination do not receive a high school
diploma, regardless of their performance in other areas of their school
education. 
  
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