Skip to main content;
Texas LEARNS logo.
6005 Westview Dr. | Houston, Texas | 77055-5419 | 713-696-0700 | 1-866-696-4233

Adult Education Administrator's Manual

Revised August 2007

State Assessment Policy for Adult Education

(Revised January 2007)
Effective Date – January 1, 2007

II. General Assessment Requirements

A. Federal & State Guidance

  1. FEDERAL
    Measures and Methods for the National Reporting System (NRS) for Adult Education, March 2001
    According to the NRS, an educational gain, a key outcome in the NRS, provides a measure of student literacy gains resulting from instruction. To determine this measure, local programs assess students on intake to determine their educational functioning level.
  2. STATE
    Copied from: Texas Education Code, Chapter 29, Educational Programs, Subchapter H, Adult and Community Education Programs, State Role in Adult and Community Education § 29.252. [Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 260, § 1, eff. May 30, 1995. Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 761, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.]

    (8) adopt or develop and administer a standardized assessment mechanism for assessing all adult education program participants who need literacy instruction, adult basic education, or secondary education leading to an adult high school diploma or the equivalent.
    The assessment mechanism prescribed under Subsection (a)(8) must include an initial basic skills screening instrument and must provide comprehensive information concerning baseline student skills before and student progress after participation in an adult education program.

B. Students to be Assessed

  1. Assessing ABE and ASE Students
    ABE and ASE students must be assessed with the TABE. An alternate form of the TABE must be used for the post-test.
  2. Assessing English Language Learners or English as a Second Language (ESL) students
    Limited English Proficient (LEP) Students, English Language Learners (ELL) or English as a Second Language (ESL) Student must be pre-tested with the BEST Plus or the BEST Literacy and post-tested with an alternate form of the same test. The BEST Literacy and BEST Plus assessments are not interchangeable, i.e., if a student is pre-tested with the BEST Literacy, he/she must be post-tested with an alternate form of the BEST Literacy not BEST Plus.
    NOTE: Programs may not decide program wide to test in one subject area. The student determines the student’s needs.

C. Pre & Post-Testing

  1. Pre-Testing Requirements
    Each student must be pre-tested with an approved standardized assessment, before enrollment, at intake, or during orientation.
    Guidelines outlined in the publisher’s test administration manual must be followed.
    Note: ELL/ESL students pretest with BEST Plus who score at a SPL 7 must be administered the TABE as a baseline. Students pre-tested with the Best Literacy who score at a SPL 8, must be administered the TABE as a baseline.
  2. Post-Testing Requirements
    Programs must post-test no less than 65% (2006-2007 Performance Measure Target) of enrolled students that have a baseline using a different test form than was used in the pre-test. Each student should be administered post-testing according to the following guidelines:

D. Assessments Permitted

Under the legislative mandate of Texas House Bill 1640, [January 1998] the State of Texas has adopted two standardized assessment instruments to measure performance by participants in adult education programs by NRS established levels:

Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE) for Basic Skills and Secondary Education students.

Basic English Skills Test (BEST) for Limited English Proficient (LEP), English Language Learners (ELL), and/or English as a Second Language (ESL) students.

  1. TABE Description

Test of Adult Basic Education
TABE is the designated assessment instrument for students enrolling in Adult Basic Education (ABE) or Adult Secondary Education (ASE). TABE assesses basic reading, mathematics, and language skills of students enrolled in Adult Basic Education and/or GED classes. Programs must use the TABE Locator Test to determine the correct level of the Survey or Battery Test that is administered to each individual student. TABE’s various skill areas or domains/component levels are: Literacy (L), Easy (E), Medium (M), Difficult (D), and Advanced (A) forms allow a program to efficiently focus its assessment activities. TABE’s four parallel forms, Forms 7, 8, 9 and 10 should be used to ensure valid results when retesting the same student. (See Appendix B for a chart of TABE Scale Scores and functioning levels.) Although if the TABE 7/8 is used as a baseline and TABE 9/10 may be used as a progress assessment, the publisher has stated that once the TABE 9/10 is administered as a baseline, programs should no longer assess with TABE 7 or 8 as a progress assessment.

If the pre and post-test are the same level and use the same form (e.g., TABE 9 level M to TABE 9 level M): 120 hours of instruction are required between the pre and post-tests.

CTB/McGraw-Hill (publisher of the TABE) suggests the pre- and post-test guidelines as Best Practices recommendations based upon feedback and APA guidelines. The purpose for assessing with TABE will also have an impact on the implementation of these recommendations. CTB discourages random and frequent testing as it will not present valid gain scores and could create a practice effect, thus producing questionable or spurious scores. Instructional intervention between testing periods is strongly recommended to maximize gain. Proper use of the Locator Test as a determinant of appropriate content level testing is also strongly recommended and is an integral part of the testing process.

According to the publisher, if a test is to be administered as a retest because the initial test session was invalid, there is not a prescribed length of time that needs to occur. However, CTB strongly encourages some instructional time in order to avoid a practice effect.

  1. BEST Literacy and Best Oral Description

The Basic English Skills Test (BEST) NOTE: BEST Oral will no longer be an allowable assessment after June 30, 2007. TEAMS will not roll post-test scores from the BEST Oral to be the pre test score for 2007-08. The state office encourages programs to discontinue the use of the BEST Oral with newly enrolled students beginning in January 2007.

Literacy Skills Section
BEST Literacy is the assessment of reading and writing skills for limited English proficient (LEP), English Language Learners (ELL), and English as Second Language (ESL) students. The BEST is performance-based and assesses the reading and writing skills of limited English speakers and English language adult learners. There are two forms of the BEST Literacy; B and C, and a third form BEST Literacy D is now available. The three forms are used on an alternating basis.

The Literacy Skills Section focuses on daily reading and writing tasks e.g., reading clothing and food labels, addressing an envelope and filling out an application. This section can be administered individually or in a group and requires a testing time of one hour. The key criterion in scoring the literacy section is comprehensibility.

  1. BEST Plus Description

BEST Plus
The Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) has added the BEST Plus, the newest addition to a product line of distinguished language tests. BEST Plus is an adaptation of the Basic English Skills Test (BEST) Oral Interview. Like the BEST, BEST Plus assesses interpersonal communication using everyday language. The BEST Plus is now available to Texas and each GREAT Center has a certified CAL trainer on staff to provide test administrator training by appointment.

BEST Plus comes in two versions - a computer-adaptive assessment on CD or a semi-adaptive print-based version. Both versions are administered as a face-to-face oral interview. In the computer-adaptive version, the test items are delivered via computer. Prompted by the computer screen, the test administrator asks the examinee a question, listens to the examinee's response, uses a rubric to score the response, and enters the score into the computer. The computer then selects the next test item, choosing questions most appropriate for the examinee's demonstrated ability level. In the print-based version, test items are arranged in fixed-form level tests. The test administrator gives the examinee a quick locator to determine the appropriate level test, administers the items in the level test, and marks the score in the test booklet.

E. Training for Administering Assessments

All staff that administers a standardized assessment must be trained in proper test administration practice according to the publisher. CTB-McGraw-Hill (TABE Publisher) and Center for Applied Linguistics (BEST Plus publisher and BEST Literacy) have trained according to their respective administrator’s manuals a cadre of trainers in Texas. TABE training is 3 hours, BEST Plus training is 6 hours, and BEST Literacy Training is 1 hour. The local program is responsible for maintaining the security of all assessments and for keeping record of all persons trained to administer the TABE, BEST, and BEST Plus. The GREAT (Getting Results Educating Adults in Texas) Regional Teacher Training Centers provide assessment training and contact information for certified trainers. Programs should call toll free, 800-441-READ, to find the closest training option or go to the TCALL website for a calendar of training in each GREAT Center region. The Web address is: http://www-tcall.tamu.edu/ Assessment training can be provided to meet the schedule of the local program.

  1. TABE
    Every local program must have at least one test administrator who has completed the CTB-McGraw-Hill approved training.
  2. BEST Plus
    Every local program must have at least one CAL certified BEST Plus test administrator. Note: CAL will only accept orders for BEST Plus computer administrations from a certified test administrator who has been issued a certification number.
  3. BEST Literacy
    Every local program must have at least one person who is familiar with the CAL approved administrators manual and understand how to score and convert the scores as necessary.

F. Accommodating for Students with Disabilities or Other Special Needs

  1. Students with documented disabilities who require accommodations may request assessment instruments in alternative formats and alterations in test administration procedures. Documented disabilities means that the individual can present a formal document provided by a qualified professional (physician, educational counselor, psychologist, special education teacher, or a rehabilitation counselor) such as a doctor’s report, a diagnostic assessment, an Individual Education Plan (IEP) or other formal record of disability that include:

    a. A diagnosis of the disability, whether it be a medical disability, psychological disability, learning disability, developmental disability and/or attention deficit disorder disability.

    b. An evaluation of the educational implications of the diagnosis and the impact of the disability on areas of functioning.

    c. Recommendations for the specific strategies and accommodations in education required by the disability which are reasonable and necessary as provided by ADA/Section 504.

  1. The accommodations provided in the assessment should be the same accommodations used during instruction.
  2. Students who are mentally retarded and/or developmentally disabled and served by local programs are subject to the standardized testing requirements as referenced in the State Assessment Policy for Adult Education.

Next | Table of Contents for State Assessment Policy | Adult Education Administrator's Manual Table of Contents | Previous