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CABS Common Assessment of Basic
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by Judith Fox Lee & Rose Strohmaier Third Edition, May 2000
CABS is an informal, interactive tool for assessing adult literacy levels in the domains of reading, writing, speaking, listening and numeracy. The five levels are based on Ontario’s Literacy & Basic Skills programming. Now in its third edition, CABS is being used as part of initial assessment procedures in community, school board and college programs. It is designed to be used on its own, or in a cut and paste fashion, along with any other favorite materials. Detailed instructions and guidelines for its use are included in the manual. Although designed to meet the particular challenges of initial assessment, many practitioners report success in applying it to ongoing assessment needs. The CABS approach to initial assessment starts with a relaxed but thorough interview which focuses on the learner’s educational history, current skills and goals. Next, familiar activities encourage the demonstration of learning outcomes. A challenge approach requires the assessor to note the abilities already mastered, and to provide successive activities to discover the current learning levels to be addressed. The CABS philosophy suggests that understanding each learner and communicating in a positive manner holds more importance than the particular tool used in an initial assessment. Listening carefully to the educational and personal history provides opportunities for the assessor to encourage the learner to suspend any “educational disbelief” based on previous challenges, and to try learning anew, within the supportive environment of an adult literacy program, where hopefully beneficial learning outcomes can be achieved. NEW CABS DEVELOPMENTS: The initial phase of the CABS website has been on-line since January 2001. It is part of the Literacy Link Eastern Ontario (LLEO) website at www.lleo.ca . Currently it provides an introduction to CABS, and in the upcoming year, more materials from Levels 1 & 2 will be available for use. If the learner successfully completes this activity with ease, provide a Level 2 activity on similar outcomes such as the following sample. The Literacy/Basic Skills program at Mohawk College, Hamilton, ON has been successfully pioneering the use of CABS in their group-format intake process. Of interest to any literacy or upgrading programs which administer group, rather than individual initial assessments, please contact us for further information on this useful application. On the AlphaRoute front, a new initial self-assessment tool for on-line learner use is being developed based on the CABS approach. It will be available as part of the on-going field testing this fall. Look for it there. Gwen Sturdy of the Espanola (ON) Learning Centre is developing a CABS Evaluation Rubric as an add-on to the manual. It will provide grading criteria for each activity, to assist with judging student performance, as well as sheets for tracking learner progress. While CABS provides a descriptive scale for assessing each demonstration, this new evaluative scale will provide a more formal, structured approach. This will give assessors more choice in how they work, and provide additional guidance for making the professional judgements required in assessment. Workshops detailing CABS initial assessments, the approach and philosophy, are available from Judith Fox Lee, co-author. To book a Putting CABS to Work for Your Program: Everything You Need to Know to Get Started workshop, or if you have any questions about CABS, please contact foxlee@superaje.com . To order a copy of CABS, please contact LLEO at the website, or at oalleo@kingston.net .
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