CASAS ESL Appraisal—Reading

Purpose: To assess adult English language learners' ability to apply reading skills to everyday situations.

Target: Adult English language learners in adult education programs.

Method and format: Group administration; 20 multiple choice questions.

Content: Material reflects everyday topics and is lifeskills oriented. Test items are aligned with more than 300 learner competencies related to basic communication, employability and workplace skills, and computer literacy.

Administration time: There is no time limit, but allow about 25 minutes.

Levels and scoring: Scores are reported on a numerical scale. CASAS skill descriptors provide information on how the numerical score corresponds to the ability to accomplish life skills and job-related tasks and correspondence of scaled scores to student performance levels (SPLs). Scores indicate appropr iate placement levels.

Reliability/validity: "All CASAS assessment instruments undergo rigorous test development and validation procedures and meet the standards of the American Education Research Association (AERA), the National Council for Measurement in Education (NCME) and the American Psychological Association (APA). The CASAS Technical Manual contains detailed information about test validity and reliability" (publisher's statement).

Number of forms: One

Materials available: Training is required for all test administrators. Materials are available only after training has been completed.

CASAS
51551 Murphy Canyon Road, Suite 220
San Diego, CA 92123
858-292-2900
http://www.casas.org

Adult Basic Learning Examination (ABLE)

Purpose: To measure the basic reading skills of adult native speakers of English.

Target: Low-literacy adult native speakers of English in adult basic education programs.

Method and format: Group-administered multiple choice test.

Content: The ABLE has separate sections on vocabulary, reading comprehension, spelling, and language use. The language is appropriate for adults and reflects everyday situations, but the test is not designed specifically for non-native speakers of English.

Administration time: Approximately 2 hours and 40 minutes.

Levels and scoring: The test has three levels, corresponding to skills taught in grades 1-4, 5-8, and 9-12. Scores can be reported as scale scores, percentiles, stanines, and grade equivalents.

Reliability/validity: No information available from publisher.

Number of forms: Two at each level, so may be used for pre- and post-testing

Materials available: Screening battery, reusable test booklets, answer sheets, administration instructions, group record

The Psychological Corporation
A division of Harcourt Assessment, Inc.
19500 Bulverde Road
San Antonio, TX 78259
800-211-8378