What Do Assessment Tools Look Like?

Learner self-assessment tools may have a variety of formats, including survey questionnaires that require learners to check areas of interest or need, open-ended interviews, or informal performance observations. For assessment to be effective, tools and activities must be appropriate for the particular learner or group of learners. For example, materials written in English might be translated into the learners' native language, read aloud by the teacher or an aide (in English or the native language), or represented pictorially. Types of needs assessment tools and activities are described in Figure II-1, followed by samples of assessment tools that may be used or adapted to meet particular program needs.

Figure II-1: Types of Needs Assessment Tools and Activities
Type of Tool/Activity Description Samples
Survey questionnaires of learners' needs and goals Many types of questionnaires have been designed to determine learners' literacy needs and goals. Frequently they consist of a list of topics, skills, or language and literacy uses. The learners indicate what they already know or want to know by checking in the appropriate column or box, or they may be asked to use a scale to rank the importance of each item. For beginning learners who do not read English, pictures depicting different literacy contexts can be shown, and learners can mark the contexts that apply to them. The list of questionnaire items may be prepared ahead of time by the teacher or generated by the students themselves through class discussion. Samples II: 1-6
Inventories of language and literacy use Checklists may be used here, as well as more open-ended questions requiring learners to keep lists of ways they use language and literacy and update them periodically. Samples II: 7-9
Learner interviews to assess needs and interests Interviews with learners may provide valuable information about what learners know, what their interests are, and the ways they use or hope to use literacy. Interviews may be done one-on-one or in small groups, in their native language, or in English. Samples II: 10-11
Personal or dialogue journal Learners' journals, in which they write freely about their activities, experiences, and plans, may be a rich source of information about their literacy needs. Sample II-12
Timelines to express learners' short-term and long-term goals Learners may prepare their own personal timelines, in writing or pictorially, that indicate major events in their lives as well as future goals. Discussion can then focus on how progress towards those goals may be met through the class. Sample II-13

(Adapted from Weddel & Van Duzer, 1997)