Sometimes, turning in monthly hours or forms can seem like a minor issue, but it is actually a critical piece of the work being done at your local council. Today’s blog post will share the primary uses for the data you submit to the councils.
Accountability
All literacy councils in Arkansas are registered 501 c 3 organizations. As such, they operate with a board of directors and submit accountability documentation to The Adult Learning Alliance of Arkansas. While not the most glamorous part of the work, it is an important legal and ethical obligation in the work we are doing. In order to regularly convey information to the public about the mission, impact, and finances of the organization, councils rely on data such as the information you turn in each month.
The first part of accountability is transparency. In order to be transparent with supporters, councils must have accurate information about the services being provided. This ensures they can evaluate the effectiveness of their own programs, plan for future work, and disclose the impact they are making to the stakeholders.
The first part of accountability is transparency. In order to be transparent with supporters, councils must have accurate information about the services being provided. This ensures they can evaluate the effectiveness of their own programs, plan for future work, and disclose the impact they are making to the stakeholders.
Seeking Support
Literacy councils rely on grants, donors, and fundraisers to pursue their mission. In order to do so, they need information to share to those parties about the success they have had and plans for growth. This is why it is important that you share more than just instructional hours.
One of the best measures of success in a literacy council is student goals. Every student comes to the council with different ability levels and seeking support for different skills. While we assess students using the appropriate curriculum or tool, there is no test that could convey the gains of all those students in a comparative way. Sharing that a student was able to pass a driver’s license test, read a book with a child, get a job, or any other accomplishment helps to tell the story of literacy councils.
Your Role
As a tutor, you do vital work for the adults in your community. In order to capture that work, we need your help. Check with your local council about data they need, and set up a routine for submitting that data. Your work is important, and your local council wants to know about it!
Today’s post is about fidelity. For the purposes of administering assessments, the definition of fidelity is, “the degree of exactness with which something is copied or reproduced.” It is not difficult to see why this level of precision is important in giving formal assessments.
The first step to ensuring fidelity in giving an assessment is being sure you have fully reviewed the directions and scoring guidelines. If you are not sure that you understand, ask for help or practice giving the assessment to a friend.
If you are using a curriculum based assessment, such as one in your teacher’s manual or the student’s workbook, you will also want to be sure you don’t use those questions for practice immediately before. You will want to be able to see if the student is able to do the work independently.
It can also be tempting to help the student. If you do help the student, your test results are not valid. While there are cases this may be necessary, such as a student struggling with confidence or you realizing the test is too advanced, this should only happen on informal assessments used in workbooks or that you created. Be sure to note on the assessment or in your notes for lesson planning that the student was not able to do the test independently. Any formal assessments used for tracking student progress should be done entirely independently.
Cheating is also a concern with assessments. However, it is important to rethink cheating and put it into context. Often, we are happy to help each other with tasks or an adult who struggles with reading or learning has become reliant on those around him. Many times, it is just second nature to look around for help. Rather than wait until the situation occurs, prepare ahead of time for students to have plenty of space to work without nearby distractions. This avoids the entire sticky situation of “cheating”.
A great way to increase fidelity is to teach students the purpose of the assessments. Helping students understand why assessments are necessary for lesson planning can ease some of the tension over “the score” or feelings of failure. It can also help students hold up their end of the process with fidelity since they understand how the assessment aids their learning.
One part of the process that can cause a breakdown in accuracy is the scoring and data entry of an assessment. Even if you are an expert at the content being assessed, it is always wise to use an answer key and double check your results. If the assessment needs to be input into a data management system, double check that the correct score was entered.
Most tutors use a curriculum provided by their local agency, but some planning may still be required. Even if you work almost entirely off the lessons in the curriculum or not, sometimes you may need extra activities or ideas to support a lesson.
This list of resources is to help you meet the needs of your student. Some are designed for K-12 education, and may need adjustments. Please do not feel obligated to use all of these resources. As we find new resources we will add them. If you need something, please let us know! This list was last updated January 25, 2023.
Math
Khan Academy – fantastic website with great videos that students can watch over and over till they get the concepts. The math section includes practice and an extensive tracking program for the teachers. http://www.khanacademy.org/
BBC English and Math for Adults – lots of good stuff in here including videos, training, quizzes, and games. http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise
TV411 – Get practical practice – reading, writing, vocabulary, math, learning. http://www.tv411.org/
Mathantics – The instructional videos are free and a few of the worksheets and answer keys are free. If a teacher wants to use all of the worksheets and answer keys (for all lessons) the fee is $20.00 per year. Before I bought the extras on this, I used the website and backed up each video lesson with lesson worksheets that matched from https://www.math-aids.com. https://mathantics.com/ (Review and recommendation by Gayla Fiest)
Reading
Goodwill Community Foundation – includes Reading, Computers, and Math. Nice layout with lots of activities. http://www.gcflearnfree.org/
Starfall – starts at the beginning and works its way up. The site is designed for children but is effective for anyone. http://www.starfall.com/
U.S.A. Learns – Learn English and improve basic reading, writing, speaking and life skills. Slick website with videos and audio. www.usalearns.org
Learning English – free printable materials. http://www.englishbanana.com/
BBC English and Math for Adults – lots of good stuff in here including videos, training, quizzes, and games. http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise
Pearsonlongman – Online practice reading tests. http://www.pearsonlongman.com/ae/marketing/sfesl/practicereading.html
TV411 – Get practical practice reading, writing, vocabulary, math, learning. http://www.tv411.org/
RHL School – Reading comprehension worksheets http://rhlschool.com/reading.htm
Read Write Think – Lesson plans, guides, materials, and more. http://www.readwritethink.org/
Natural Reader – your computer will read aloud any text to you. http://www.naturalreaders.com/
PaperRater – Free online Grammar Check, Plagiarism Detection, and Writing Suggestions http://paperrater.com/
Chompchomp.com – Grammar terms, exercises, handouts and more http://www.chompchomp.com/
Free Reading – Provides a library of activities and other curricular resources for literacy development. http://www.freereading.net
Read Central – A veritable goldmine of free online books by the most widely read and best known authors from across the world. No Downloads. No subscription. Just read books online for free. Use the Smart Reader switch to change font size and colors. https://www.readcentral.com
English As Second Language
DuoLingo -Top notch, full featured language learning program. https://www.duolingo.com
New American Horizons – great ESL instructional videos that help with lesson planning and teaching ESL instructional techniques. http://www.newamericanhorizons.org/training-videos
PUMAROSA – this site is bilingual phonetic and is designed to help you learn English as quickly and easily as possible. http://www.pumarosa.com/
Rong-Chang – conversations with audio and exercises. Large selection of lessons for beginners and intermediates. http://rong-chang.com/
English Speak – text and audio that allows the user to point at any text in the story and it will instantly read it out loud at your chosen speed. http://englishspeak.com/
ESL Cyber Listening Lab – stories are read out loud to the listener with quick quizes afterwards. http://esl-lab.com/
Color In Colorado – is a free web-based service that provides information, activities and advice for educators and Spanish-speaking families of English language learners (ELLs). http://www.colorincolorado.org/
Typing
Typing Club – this site comes highly recommend by computer teacher Linda Holland: https://www.typingclub.com
Sense-Lang – Great typing website. Tutorials and games that are well thought out and informative. Even includes a school section that allows you to register as a teacher and make assignments for your students. http://www.sense-lang.org/typing/
Typing Web – Another good typing website. Tells you your problem keys, has “Tools for Teachers” that allows you to track your students progress and time. http://www.typingweb.com/
Speed Typing Online – https://www.speedtypingonline.com/typing-test
Keybr.com – quick and easy touch typing http://www.keybr.com/#!game
Computers
Learn Excel with Excel Easy- well laid out site with downloadable examples that will help you quickly learn various Excel topics. http://www.excel-easy.com
Microsoft Digital Literacy – Whether you are new to computing or have some experience, this curriculum will help you develop a fundamental understanding of computers. The courses help you learn the essential skills to begin computing with confidence, be more productive at home and at work, stay safe online, use technology to complement your lifestyle, and consider careers where you can put your skills to work. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/digitalliteracy/home
GCF – Goodwill Community Foundation – Computers, reading, and Math. Computer section includes Computer Basics, Microsoft Excel, Facebook 101, Microsoft Office, Internet Basics, Google, and more. Most sections have lessons, interactives, quizzes and videos. http://www.gcflearnfree.org/
For a full list of topics see http://www.gcflearnfree.org/topics
Microsoft Office Training – courses for specific parts of Office. Courses include practice and tests.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/support/training-FX101782702.aspx
Jan’s Computer Literacy – not the best of the bunch, but some useful components including quizzes. http://www.jegsworks.com/lessons/
Vocabulary
Free Rice – Great for vocabulary. It will automatically adjust to your vocabulary level, or hit the change level button to access all levels of vocabulary. It also has several other subjects to choose from. http://freerice.com
Vocabulary.com – Puts words into context and asks multiple choice questions. Works well and you can sign up so it can track your progress. http://vocabulary.com
Vocabulary.co.il – Vocabulary games and resources. http://www.vocabulary.co.il/
History and Geography
Khan Academy – history videos. http://www.khanacademy.org
Hippo Campus – In depth website with interactive topics and courses. http://www.hippocampus.org/
Geoguessr – this is a fun and entertaining site that uses Google Maps to locate you somewhere in the world and you have to guess where. Great for getting people interested in Geography. https://www.geoguessr.com
Sheppard Software – Great map games that have different levels of play. If you want to learn geography and memorize locations and capitals quickly, this site will help you achieve it in a fun and challenging way.. http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/Geography.htm
Maps.com – wide range of fun geography games. http://www.maps.com/funfacts.aspx
GED Practice Tests
Khan Academy – history videos. http://www.khanacademy.org
Hippo Campus – In depth website with interactive topics and courses. http://www.hippocampus.org/
Geoguessr – this is a fun and entertaining site that uses Google Maps to locate you somewhere in the world and you have to guess where. Great for getting people interested in Geography. https://www.geoguessr.com
Sheppard Software – Great map games that have different levels of play. If you want to learn geography and memorize locations and capitals quickly, this site will help you achieve it in a fun and challenging way.. http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/Geography.htm
Maps.com – wide range of fun geography games. http://www.maps.com/funfacts.aspx
Free Online Courses
Coursera – “Take the world’s best courses, online, for free.” https://www.coursera.org
Onlinecourses.com – browse free online courses and quickly find the course you are looking for. Watch out for the “Sponsored” search link, instead use “Browse by Category”. http://www.onlinecourses.com/
Makeuseof – 8 Websites to Take Free College Courses Online http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/8-awesome-websites-free-college-courses-online/
Miscellaneous
Books Should Be Free – audio books that can be downloaded or streamed. http://www.booksshouldbefree.com/
Watch Know Learn – large list of learning videos for many subjects. http://watchknowlearn.org/default.aspx
Free Rice – Great vocabulary site that also includes several other subjects. Works like a multiple choice game. http://freerice.com
Hippo Campus – In depth website with interactive topics and courses. http://www.hippocampus.org/
Spelling – very good site that allows you to type in your own words and then it will test you by reading the words out loud, also has flash cards and more http://www.spellingcity.com/
Spelling – you can use this site to get lists of words for a certain grade level, then copy and paste them into spellingcity.com (above) to learn and test http://www.homespellingwords.com/index.htm
Spelling – list of most common misspelled words on the GED test. Copy and paste parts of the list into spellingcity.com to learn and test http://www.gedforfree.com/free-ged-course/language-arts/most-commonly-misspelled-ged-words.html
Interactive Online Activities for ESL and ABE / GED – great list of websites. If you can’t find it on our page look here. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1j907b3kxoEoiJrWEfxFfKC6TRIYwIrWaor6SeJc7f18/edit
Jefferson Lab – balance chemical equations http://education.jlab.org/elementbalancing
Mometrix Academy – extensive test preparations https://www.mometrix.com/academy
