Lunenburg Correctional Center is located in the small rural town of Victoria, Virginia. The prison houses approximately 1200 adult males. The Virginia Department of Correctional Education offers several educational programs to promote rehabilitation, including the Literacy Incentive Program (LIP) in which I am a teacher. I am employed by the state of Virginia and receive all benefits given to state employees.

My duties include: teaching classes; completing paperwork that is required by the state; developing Individualized Learning Plans and following special education guidelines; interviewing, hiring, and training teacher-aides; selecting and ordering materials; and conducting and attending staff development workshops.

Three vocational classes are offered: Water and Waste Water Works, Building Maintenance, and Masonry. Three academic classes are also available: GED preparation and two LIP classes. The Literacy Incentive Program was developed as a joint effort by the Virginia Department of Corrections, the Parole Board, and the Virginia Department of Correctional Education.

Offenders entering the correctional system are required to take the Test of Adult Basic Education. (TABE). Any student who scores below the 8th grade level on the reading section, regardless of having a high school diploma or GED, is classified as LIP eligible. There are about 200 inmates on the waiting list for these classes. With consistent attendance and active participation in the class, students may earn points towards parole and job status within the prison. Participation is voluntary, but LIP eligible students who refuse to attend will lose points towards early parole and will not be able to hold certain jobs while at the prison. Most inmates have a positive attitude towards school and look forward to attending, but there are a few who resent having to come. These few rarely make it past a few weeks in class due to excessive absences or unacceptable behavior.

I have been teaching in the LIP class since February of 1996. I teach four 90 minute classes with 12 students each. Each class meets five days a week. The first class begins at 8:15 a.m. and the last class ends at 3:25 p.m. I have hired 6-8 inmate teacher-aides (I try to keep 8 aides, but the number is always changing due to transfers, parole, etc.). Because of my experience as a reading instructor, I receive the inmates that are reading from 0-5th grade. The ages of my students range from 18-67.

The academic classes offered are held in the programs building, where I have my own classroom. Within my classroom I have four computers; two are for student use. We also have a beautiful library as part of our school. It is open to the inmate population and any materials I need are readily available to me.

Test for Adult Basic Education

Various types of assessment are conducted within my classroom regularly. The majority of students entering my classroom have taken the TABE, either upon entering our system or at another institution where they were attending school before being transferred to Lunenburg. However, the scores are often outdated and do not reflect current levels. I administer the TABE to all students every four months. These scores are used to determine if the student is still LIP eligible and to develop new individualized learning plans.

I administer the TABE over a three day period. Each class takes one or two sections each day during the 90 minute class period. The TABE is administered formally: students are not permitted to leave the classroom after the testing begins; there is absolutely no talking during the test; and time limits are followed exactly. Any student who refuses to take the test or follow the administration guidelines is dropped from the school.

The tests are sent to another prison where they are scored and returned to me, usually within a week. At this point, I sit down individually with each student and review the scores. The time used for this and for developing the new plan of study is about 30-45 minutes per student. We discuss areas of improvement and areas that need to be worked on. The information on the sub-tests is used to develop realistic goals, and it helps me decide which books are appropriate for the students. I can also pick specific units from a book that I want the student to work on. For example, if a student does well on capitalization but not on usage I will assign the usage section of the language book for intense study and capitalization for review. This way time is not wasted working on areas the student has already mastered. By comparing scores from previous TABEs with current results, I am able to evaluate the effectiveness of each student=s learning plan.

The TABE has proven to be more valuable than I originally thought it would be. At first I didn=t think it gave enough information and realized I would have to give additional diagnostic tests to get specific information on which skills the student needed. I still believe that additional information is needed, but I have found that the TABE is valuable in many ways. I have been working at the prison long enough to have administered two sessions of the TABE. After the first administration I used the scores to pick which level books to assign. The students began at the front of the books and worked through them. Most students also worked one subject at a time—for example, finishing the reading book before starting on the math.

When the second set of TABEs were evaluated, I noticed that some students had not made any progress in certain areas and great progress in others. This prompted me to go back and look at the original plans and the student's progress through the books. I found that most of the students who had not improved in a particular area had never gotten to that part of the plan or that unit in the book. Also, some students who had worked on a skill had completed it so long ago that possibly they had forgotten it. The second evaluation completely changed my approach to writing the next learning plans. Specific units in a book were assigned instead of whole books. Students where asked to study every subject each week and review often what they had learned.

I will administer the TABE again in July, and I am very anxious to see if this new approach has made a difference in the scores. I think that giving a formal test like the TABE every 4 months is quite valuable in determining the effectiveness of a program. It provides me with the valuable information needed to make frequent changes in course work and then check to see if the changes were effective.

Diagnostics

Though the scores from the TABE are useful, they have some limitations. Sometimes the student may earn a score that indicates a move to the next level. Almost every time a student moves up a test level, his subsequent scores drop or show no improvement. I realize that this is probably due to the large error of measurement present when a student takes a test not designed for his level, but this is very discouraging to the student.

Therefore, when a student enrolls in my class for the first time I like to give some diagnostic tests of my own. Sometimes the TABE scores are out-dated or not reflective of the student's true abilities. When first entering the system, the student may just mark any answer because he is upset about being incarcerated. He doesn't understand or care about the consequences of not doing well on the test. I like to administer a general reading test that will give me a starting point. I use the Botel Comprehension Test. This gives me a reading grade level. The student is asked to read words at various levels and then find a word of the opposite meaning from a list of four words. If the student scores low on this test, I will administer a reading profile that I have developed (see page 53 of this report). This profile identifies specific areas of deficiency. I use this information to develop specific objectives, decide on the books, and determine which aide would do the best job with this student. The initial reading screening takes from 15 to 45 minutes depending on the need to administer the profile.

A math diagnostic test is also administered to each new student. A pre-test with whole numbers is administered first; if the student does well, it is followed by a fractions test, then percentages and decimals, then ratios and proportions. Again this information is used to write objectives and choose books. The time needed for the administration of these tests varies greatly. Some students are not successful beyond the study of whole numbers; students work at different speeds, etc.

The last diagnostic test I give is a writing test (page 58). The test is designed to check for errors in capitalization, punctuation, sentence structure, and word usage. Some of the students are unable to attempt the test because they are unable to read; the students that are able to complete the test take from 30 to 60 minutes. If students are unable to read the test, I encourage them to write a paragraph on what their goals are for the class. The information learned from the scores on the test determine which units the student needs to cover.

Teacher-Aides

In my classroom the teacher-aides play a very important role. Each teacher-aide is assigned 1-3 students to work with each period. After the student and I complete his learning plan, a teacher-aide takes over as the primary instructor. I keep track of each student=s progress through notes written daily by the teacher-aide and the student. During class I walk around and visit each table to check on progress and help when needed. Sometimes I will do some teaching which is for the benefit of not only the student, but also the teacher-aide, who can watch how I teach certain things. I make sure that the teacher-aide is following the plan and that the lessons are appropriate for the student. While I am assessing student progress, I am also assessing the teacher-aides, watching for areas where I can help him become a better instructor. I feel that my responsibility to assess and teach the teacher-aides is just as important as my responsibility to the students. I do monthly evaluations on each teacher-aide and a six month evaluation that is used to determine pay increases and points towards early parole.

I spend 2-3 hours synthesizing and comparing TABE scores. I can compare scores from students assigned to a specific teacher-aide and check if there are any general trends. If I notice that one particular teacher-aide has students with great gains or students with no gains I begin to watch closely for possible reasons. It has been interesting to note that the teacher-aides with the most experience generally have students that make the most gains. I also decide if a particular teacher-aide seems to do well with students that have severe reading problems. I will try to assign these students to this teacher-aide. I have newer teacher-aides observe and learn from the stronger, more experienced aides.

It is very important for me to check behind the aides often. As I was studying my assessment techniques for this project, I discovered that the teacher-aides did not really understand the importance of assessment. On too many occasions, the teacher-aides would continue a student through a book without checking to be sure the student understood the concepts. When I would meet with the student after he had finished a book, it became obvious that he had not really learned much. He had completed the written work in the book but had not grasped the concepts or objectives of each unit. I did a workshop with the teacher-aides to explain the importance of assessment and show how the information we derive from assessment determines what we do next.

Progress Folders

Each day the student writes progress notes telling me what he worked on that day and at least one thing he learned. He also makes himself an assignment for the next day. The teacher-aide completes an individual progress sheet for each student. He writes which book and pages the student completed and comments on progress or problems. This is the place where he keeps track of unit test scores, reading profile graphs, and book completions. As I check a student's folder I look at both the student's notes and the teacher-aide's notes; this is very helpful to me for monitoring student progress. There is a place for me to write comments to the student and teacher-aide. The information in the students' folders is invaluable.

Checking these folders takes considerable time. Each period takes at least 20-30 minutes depending on how much I comment on each progress note. It is difficult to find the time during the school day to do this and often I have to take folders home. Sometimes I do the folders during class time, this way I can sit with the student and discuss progress. This takes the whole 90 minute period so I am unable to do this every day. This is probably the most important assessment done. The information in student folders directly affects instruction and learning on a daily basis.

Conclusions

Assessment is an invaluable tool for teaching adults. It gives students and teachers a direction in which to plan and helps us find out if we are reaching our goals. After working with this study group and learning about Equipped for the Future, I wonder what exactly our goals should be for adults and if we are working towards accomplishing valid goals. The assessments I currently use assess the objectives I have determined to be important. What if these objectives and goals are inappropriate? Does that mean my assessments are invalid? I suspect so.

Now that we know what happens during assessment, it seems that further study needs to be done after goals and objectives have been established for adults. I wonder how significant it is for a 40 year old man to know the short Aa@ sound. Yet, if he does not know it he may not be able to learn how to read. I really don=t know the answer myself and would love to see some research done that would help me make better decisions about teaching adults.