In using performance-based assessments, it is important that both the teacher and the learner understand what is expected. The basic ingredients of a performance assessment are trifold: the specification of a performance to be evaluated, the development of exercises or tasks used to elicit that performance, and the design of a scoring and recording scheme for results.(11) Thus, some form of scoring instrument should be used for making decisions about the quality of the “performance.” A checklist, some form of anecdotal record, or rubric should be developed to formalize the assessment process.

Remember, too, that learners should have a voice in how they will demonstrate their mastery. Learners with strong writing skills may wish to include an essay of self-reflection in their portfolios, while those with strong people skills may wish to complete a group project. Roleplaying, demonstrations, videotapes, reports, journals, illustrations, interviewing — the list of potential tools for assess-ment is endless.

All of these methods provide information on whether an objective has been met. As part of the ever-changing planning of instruction, assessment is a work in progress. Creative educators can and do devise ways of assessment which are effective and nurturing, and give value to what learners know about life.

Funding
Theoretically, the bottom line in transitioning incarcerated individuals back to the community is to provide unrestricted access to any and all educational services facilitating that passage. In today’s reality of narrowing resources, however, this idealism is tempered somewhat by the age old question of, “How will it be paid for?”

A perceived lack of funding should not be the sole criterion upon which family literacy planning takes place. First, it is important to remember that a family literacy project builds on existing programs and services. Second, family literacy has become an important component of adult education planning and funding. Hence, more and more sources of local, state, federal, and private funding are becoming available; a partial list is noted below.

11 Stiggins, R.J. Learner-centered classroom assessment (Columbus, OH: Macmillan, 1994)

“When I read to my child, I will make sure that I explain to her the story I read [so] she under-stands it clearly. I can also let my child choose the book that she desires.”
Participant in family literacy program