Adult and Community Learning Services (ACLS)

Revised BEST Plus Recertification

March 14, 2011 Dear Program Directors: Please share this REVISED important assessment information with the BEST Test Administrators on staff regarding their upcoming BEST Plus Recertification. It has come to my attention that some programs are concerned about meeting the March 31st deadline for the BEST Plus Recertification. I hope that those programs that are able to meet the original deadline of March 31 will, but if programs need additional time to complete the recertification process, they will have until April 10 with the condition that:

Test Administrators will not receive their certification status until one month after their submission date (e.g., for March 31, this would be April 31; for April 10, this would be May 10).
Test Administrators may not begin any post-testing until they have received the results of their certification activity, and SABES must have the full time they need to score. Therefore, programs that need to begin post-testing before May 10 will need to plan accordingly with the date they submit their recertification to SABES.
SABES staff are very busy this time of year; please do not ask them to rush the scoring of recertifications.

The following information is a copy of the original information that went to Program Directors on March 7. To ensure scoring accuracy, BEST Plus test administrators must recertify annually by taking part in a Scoring Refresher and successfully completing a 30-minute scoring activity. Recertification entails successfully completing Scoring Activity #3. To ensure successful completion, you should review the BEST Plus Scoring Refresher Toolkit first. In order to recertify, you must use the following materials:

A 3-ring binder entitled, "BEST Plus Scoring Refresher Toolkit," with two accompanying DVDs or VHS videos
A white booklet entitled, "BEST Plus Scoring Refresher Workbook, Test Administrator's Edition"

If you do not have these materials at your program, please contact your SABES Regional Curriculum and Assessment Coordinator to borrow them, or purchase a new Refresher Toolkit and/or Refresher Workbook from the Center for Applied Linguistics. To purchase, go to this link: http://calstore.cal.org/store/detail.aspx?ID=335 The completed Scoring Activity must be sent to the Program's Regional SABES Curriculum and Assessment Coordinator by Thursday, March 31 (see above for extension information). The SABES Curriculum and Assessment Coordinator will score and send a new Certificate of Competence to the practitioner by April 30. The new certificate will be valid for at least one year. Staff who receive a borderline "Acceptable" or an "Unacceptable" score in any one of the three rubric areas will have an opportunity to receive remediation in order to continue to administer the BEST Plus. Test Administrators who do not return their Scoring Activity by this date will not be able to administer the BEST Plus until they re-take the initial BEST Plus training, refresher, and scoring activity. Thank you for your continued hard work. With Literacy in Mind. Anne Serino
ABE State Director
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Last Updated: March 15, 2011