The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Department of Elementary & Secondary Education
75 Pleasant Street, Malden, Massachusetts 02148-5023
Telephone: (781) 338-3000
TTY: N.E.T. Relay 1-800-439-2370
Adult and Community Learning Services
TO:
ABE Directors, SABES Coordinators, WIA Administrators, Career Centers, LWIB,
Teacher/All Staff
FROM:
Jolanta Conway, ABE State Director
DATE:
July 10, 2015
RE:
What's in this Mailing?
The monthly mailing for July is now posted to our ACLS website. Please review the information and share with your
staff.

Assessment Update:
Formative assessment is a key factor in students’ pathway to success. Use formative assessment to provide
feedback, check for understanding and guide students on their next steps in each lesson. We encourage
practitioners to check out these resources on formative assessments to learn about some real-classroom
examples of formative assessment practices.

Curriculum Update:
August 31, 2015 Submission of Scope and Sequence: Frequently Asked Questions
Program directors received an email from Jola Conway on Friday, July 3, 2015 that addresses questions
regarding the submission of one level of an instructional scope and sequence. The Frequently Asked
Questions will be posted shortly to the ACLS Curriculum web page, under the menu header, Frequently Asked
Questions.
Questions about the Curriculum Update? Contact Jane Schwerdtfeger at janes@doe.mass.edu.

EPT FY15 Update:
-Educator Policy: Year in Review
-Educator Evaluation Pilot

HiSET® Update:
-Paper-based Practice Tests
-Computer-based Practice Tests
-Individual Test Reports

SMARTT Update:
-Adding Students n SMARTT during July and August
-Automatic Exit – June 15, 2015
Update on Viewing SABES PD Staff Participation Data

Update on WIOA Planning and Stakeholder Engagement:
The WIOA Steering Committee of the Massachusetts Workforce Investment Board (MWIB) has established
subcommittees and workgroups charged with addressing key priorities, strategies, and policies pursuant to
implementing WIOA. The subcommittees and workgroups, all of which have representatives from ACLS and
the ABE field as shown below, have posted meeting notes and materials on
http://www.mass.gov/massworkforce/wioasubcommittees/. Please visit the site and use the tabs to the left to
access materials from the individual workgroup pages.
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Formative Assessment
Formative assessment is a key factor in students’ pathway to success. Use formative assessment to provide
feedback, check for understanding and guide students on their next steps in each lesson. We encourage practitioners
to check out these resources on formative assessments to learn about some real-classroom examples of formative
assessment practices.
Attributes of Effective Formative Assessment:
http://www.ccsso.org/Documents/2008/Attributes_of_Effective_2008.pdf
Formative Assessment-Examples of Practice:
http://www.ccsso.org/Documents/2008/Formative_Assessment_Examples_2008.pdf
Feed Up, Back, Forward by Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey: http://www.ascd.org/publications/educationalleadership/nov09/vol67/num03/Feed-Up,-Back,-Forward.aspx
http://fisherandfrey.com/uploads/posts/Science_Assess.pdf
Classroom assessment: Minute by Minute, Day by Day: http://www.ascd.org/publications/educationalleadership/nov05/vol63/num03/Classroom-Assessment@-Minute-by-Minute,-Day-by-Day.aspx
Five Key Strategies for Effective Formative Assessment: http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/40877F5B-D6C04EB5-A5A4-5644A86CA523/0/Research_brief_04__Five_KeyStrategies.pdf
Using Common Formative Assessment as a Source of Professional Development:
http://fisherandfrey.com/uploads/posts/CFA_TeacherEd.pdf
Fact Sheet, Formative Assessment:
https://teal.ed.gov/tealGuide/formativeassessment
For any assessment-related questions, please contact: Dana Varzan-Parker, Assessment Specialist at dvarzanparker@doe.mass.edu, tel: 781-338-3811.
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Educator Policy: Year in Review
Five representatives from the field joined the Educator Policy Team (EPT) this year:
Elaine Dougherty, Program Director, YMCA, Woburn
Maria Kefallinou, Program Director, Quinsigamond Community College, Worcester
Sue Miller, Director of the Educational Leadership PD Center (SABES)
Kevin O’Connor, Assistant Director, Framingham Public Schools
Mandy Townsend, Program Director, Project Hope, Roxbury
Their expertise, wisdom and insight were invaluable and contributed to an exceptionally successful year. Their most
notable accomplishment is the development of a framework for advancing ABE professionals. The framework consists
of four proposed policies that will build teacher capacity, strengthen ABE instruction, acknowledge practitioner
leadership and support a culture of professionalism.
The Massachusetts Framework for Advancing ABE Professionals
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Conditions that Support the Advancement of ABE Professionals in Massachusetts
The Massachusetts Credentialing Pathway for Teachers of Adult Education
The Massachusetts ABE Educator Evaluation System
The Massachusetts Practitioner Leadership Award
Conditions
Credentials
Effectivenes
s
Leadership
As with the educator evaluation system, each proposed policy within the framework will be piloted to gather feedback
from the field. Details will be forthcoming.
Educator Evaluation Pilot
Phase One of the piloting of the Massachusetts ABE Educator Evaluation System has been successfully completed.
Math teachers and program directors from seven ABE programs implemented the system this year.
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Bristol Community College Attleboro
Dimock Community Center
Framingham Public Schools
Franklin County House of Corrections
Holyoke Public Schools
Quinsigamond Community College
Rockland Public Schools
The pilot group had a positive experience and agreed that the field will benefit from this evaluation system.
Recommendations from the group will inform the revision of the system as we prepare for Phase Two. ACLS is
grateful to the teachers and directors who participated in this pilot and provided constructive feedback that will assist in
the further development of the system.
Phase Two will begin in October 2015. ESOL teachers and program directors will be piloting the evaluation system in
this phase. ACLS is seeking three additional ESOL programs to participate in this phase. A team consisting of 1-3
teachers and the program director is required. Contact Patricia Hembrough by August 14, 2015 at
phembrough@doe.mass.edu to request an application.
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HiSET® Updates
Paper-Based Practice Tests
The math subtests of the 2013 free and paid practice tests (FPT1 and PPT1) were updated in April, 2015, to include
algebraic concept items similar to those on the operational 2015 HiSET ®. All currently-available paper-based practice
test resources from the Educational Testing Service can be found by accessing the HiSET Practice Test Quick
Reference Guide (PDF).
Computer-Based Practice Tests
As of July 1, 2015, two free computer-delivered HiSET® interactive practice tests are available. The content of these
tests is identical to that on the two free paper-based practice tests, FPT1 and FPT2, but is provided in an interactive
practice test format, allowing potential examinees to get comfortable with a computer-delivered test. Each item on the
math subtests has a drop-down calculator available.
On these tests, the examinee receives immediate feedback as to the correctness of each response. In addition, at the
end of each subtest, she will receive an estimate of her level of readiness to take the operational 2015 HiSET ®, an
estimate of her HiSET® scaled score, and the opportunity to review each question with deeper explanations of the
correct answers.
To access these tests, go to www.hiset.ets.org > For States and Educators > About > Test Preparation. Registration is
required, but it is quick and free. As of this writing, these tests are not available in Spanish.
Registrants for the computer-based practice tests may also access a new service of ETS, The CBAL™ Quick Math
Practice system. Quick Math exercises are not specifically aligned to the HiSET ® math subtests, but they do allow for
practice on a narrow range of mathematical concepts and procedures.
Individual Test Reports
As of July 1, 2015, ETS has changed the detail on the Performance Summary of the HiSET® Individual Test Report to
reflect percentages rather than the number of items correct for each Content Category. ETS expects this to eliminate
confusion since, due to item variations across forms and the equating process, the number of correct responses in
each category varies by form. They feel this change will still assist candidates in identifying areas of improvement.
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SMARTT Update
1. Adding Students in SMARTT during July and August
As noted in the June monthly mailing, the “Partial Intake” link will not be available. Users will need to click on the
“Add Student” link in left navigation bar system and follow the same process as adding a Student. The system will
accept an “Intake Date” between July 1 and August 31 of next fiscal year. The system will set “Summer Intake” to
‘Yes’. A new column “Summer Intake” is added to show students entered in the summer. After the system rollover
to next fiscal year, the beginning of September, the system will set all the Summer Intakes to “No”.
2. Automatic Exit – June 15, 2015
There were 1,085 students who were auto exited on June 15, 2015 who had no attendance for the months of
January 2015 through May 2015. SMARTT automatically exits a student from the site when both conditions below
occur:
1) No attendance (class, match, and distance learning curricula attendance) was recorded for that
student during the three most recent months which have been “locked out” from data entry (October,
November, December)
2) No attendance has yet been entered for that student during the current two month period (January and
February) for which data entry is allowed
3. Update on Viewing SABES PD Staff Participation Data
In FY15, the SABES SMARTT database was redesigned to reflect the new structure and priorities of the PD
system. All of the FY15 SABES PD staff participation data has been safely entered into SMARTT. However, you
are not able to view this PD data from your SMARTT staff and project screens or in your staff PD reports at this
time. This issue is on the “to be resolved” list, and you will be notified when the data (reports) can be viewed. In the
meantime, the Non-SABES PD form is working properly and you can view all this data as normal. Please do not
use the Non-SABES PD form to enter SABES PD.
If you need SMARTT/Cognos help, send an email to smartthelp@gmail.com and be sure to include a clear subject
header. You do not need to include detailed information in the initial email to smartthelp. Once you send an email,
you will receive an auto-response containing a link to a form that you will need to fill out completely and then click
"Submit" at the end. You will be contacted either by phone or email shortly afterwards by a SABES field
technologist if he/she needs further information. Or, if you would rather, go directly to http:/tinyurl.com/smartthelpform to access the form to cut out the intermediate step of emailing.
Questions? Please contact Brian Newquist at bnewquist@doe.mass.edu.
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Update on WIOA Planning and Stakeholder Engagement
The WIOA Steering Committee of the Massachusetts Workforce Investment Board (MWIB) has established
subcommittees and workgroups charged with addressing key priorities, strategies, and policies pursuant to
implementing WIOA. The subcommittees and workgroups, all of which have representatives from ACLS and the ABE
field as shown below, have posted meeting notes and materials on
http://www.mass.gov/massworkforce/wioasubcommittees/. Please visit the site and use the tabs to the left to access
materials from the individual workgroup pages.
WIOA Steering Committee:
- Jola Conway (ACLS)
Eligible Training Provider List (ETPL):
- Derek Kalchbrenner (ACLS)
- Richard Goldberg (Asian American Civic Association)
Job Seeker and Employer:
- Jola Conway and Kathy Rodriguez (ACLS)
Career Center Standards and Process:
- Suzanne Speciale and Dana Varzan-Parker (ACLS)
- Chris Tibor (Framingham Public Schools)
Employer Engagement:
- Kathy Rodriguez and Trish Hembrough (ACLS)
- George Kohout (Springfield Technical Community College) and Roberta Soolman (Literacy Volunteers of
Massachusetts)
Performance Measurements:
- Cheryl Ransom and Brian Newquist (ACLS)
- Mina Reddy (Cambridge Community Learning Center) and Kevin O’Connor (Framingham Public Schools)
Workforce Development Board (WBD) Certification:
- Jola Conway and Derek Kalchbrenner (ACLS)
- Christine Cordio (Clinton Public Schools) and Maria Kefallinou (Quinsigamond Community College)
Youth:
- Olivia Steele (ACLS)
- Mary Giordano (Lawrence Public Schools)
WIOA subcommittee and workgroup meetings are open to the public and notices of the meeting dates, times, and
locations are posted on http://www.mass.gov/lwd/eolwd/mwib/. Documents released for public review and comment
are also posted on http://www.mass.gov/lwd/eolwd/mwib/.
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