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Inclusion Of Numeracy In Adult Basic Education, Dave Tout, Mary Schmitt Dec 2001

Inclusion Of Numeracy In Adult Basic Education, Dave Tout, Mary Schmitt

David (Dave) Tout

In their chapter on numeracy, the authors begin by exploring the many terms used to describe the learning of mathematics by adults. They discuss the relationship between the terms "mathematics" and "numeracy" and explain why numeracy--making meaning with numbers and mathematical processes--is the term they chose for their overview. Moving on to examine adult numeracy education in the U.S, the authors find that little attention is paid to the development of math skills among adults in Adult Basic Education (ABE) research but that adult numeracy education is prominent in practice. They highlight the development of practitioner groups that share ideas, …

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Assessment Criteria In A Large-Scale Writing Test: What Do They Really Mean To The Raters?, Tom Lumley Dec 2001

Assessment Criteria In A Large-Scale Writing Test: What Do They Really Mean To The Raters?, Tom Lumley

Dr Tom Lumley

The process of rating written language performance is still not well understood, despite a body of work investigating this issue over the last decade or so (e.g., Cumming, 1990; Huot, 1990; Vaughan, 1991; Weigle, 1994a; Milanovic et al., 1996). The purpose of this study is to investigate the process by which raters of texts written by ESL learners make their scoring decisions using an analytic rating scale designed for multiple test forms. The context is the Special Test of English Proficiency (step), which is used by the Australian government to assist in immigration decisions. Four trained, experienced and reliable step …

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Numeracy In The Adult Literacy And Life Skills Project., M Manly, Dave Tout Dec 1999

Numeracy In The Adult Literacy And Life Skills Project., M Manly, Dave Tout

David (Dave) Tout

This paper reports on the development to date of the numeracy conceptual framework for the Adult Literacy and Life Skills (ALL) Project. The inclusion of a numeracy scale in the ALL survey offered a significant opportunity to develop a new conceptual framework for adult numeracy. This paper discusses the meaning of numeracy and the notion of numerate behaviour, represents a framework of five facets, looks at a complexity-rating scheme used to guide construction of the assessment tasks, and finally presents some preliminary findings about adults' ability to solve different percentage tasks.

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Item Panelling, Or Cognitive Walk-Through, Ross Turner Dec 1999

Item Panelling, Or Cognitive Walk-Through, Ross Turner

Ross Turner

Item panelling is a process with a long history at ACER. Essentially the same process is referred to in the US Cognitive Laboratory literature as a ‘cognitive walk-through’. Test development agencies in the UK use the phrase ‘item shredding’ to describe essentially the same process. Item panelling is one of a number of essential steps in the development of high quality test items. It is a means of subjecting draft test material to the scrutiny of experts who can provide a rigorous evaluation of the quality of the material, and where appropriate can propose ways in which the material may …

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Are Teaching Evaluation Questionnaires Valid? Assessing The Evidence, Larry D. Barnett Dec 1995