Adult and Community Learning Services (ACLS)

FY17 BEST Plus 2.0 Recertification Information

To ensure scoring accuracy, BEST Plus 2.0 test administrators must recertify annually by taking part in a Scoring Refresher and successfully completing a 30-minute scoring activity. Practitioners who took an Initial Certification training for BEST Plus 2.0 during FY17 (July 1, 2016—June 30, 2017) do not need to recertify at this time. Recertification entails successfully completing Scoring Activity #3. To ensure successful completion, the BEST Plus 2.0 Scoring Refresher Toolkit must be reviewed first. When reviewing the BEST Plus 2.0 Scoring Refresher, practitioners must use the following materials:

A 3-ring binder entitled, BEST Plus 2.0 Scoring Refresher Toolkit, with two accompanying DVDs (The Refresher DVD and the Scoring Activities DVD);
A white booklet entitled, BEST Plus 2.0 Scoring Refresher Workbook, Test Administrator's Edition.

If you do not have these materials at your program, please purchase a new Refresher Toolkit and Refresher Workbook-Test Administrator Edition from the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL). BEST Plus 2.0 test administrators will have one month to score a sample set of assessments and submit them online. The deadline for submitting Scoring Activity # 3 online is Tuesday, February 28, 2017.

There are no exceptions for late submissions and test administrators who are not recertified are not permitted to administer or score the BEST Plus 2.0.
Practitioners receiving their Initial Certification in FY17 will not have to recertify until FY18.
We strongly recommend that programs avoid last minute submissions.
Those who do not pass the scoring activity will be contacted by the SABES Assessment Center to receive remediation.
No paper certificates will be given; print and retain your results generated by the online system. See instructions in the attached document and part B below.

Check to Determine Whether High Scoring BEST Plus 2.0 Test Administrators Need to Recertify

BEST Plus 2.0 test administrators who have scored consistently in the "recommended" area for Listening Comprehension, Language Complexity, and Communication in the annual recertification for the past three years may recertify every third year instead of every year. Practitioners who benefit from this change must also continue to test at least 20 students each year to maintain their fidelity to the BEST Plus 2.0 scoring rubric. If program directors need more information on the recertification status of their BEST Plus 2.0 administrators, they should contact the SABES Assessment Center.

Procedure for Submitting BEST Plus 2.0 Recertifications

Please note that the procedure for submitting the BEST Plus 2.0 recertification has changed this fiscal year.

PART A (for BEST Plus 2.0 administrators and ABE Program Directors/Assessment Coordinators)

Practitioners who are due for annual recertification must now submit their scoring activity scores online. See detailed instructions for online submission in the attached document. To protect the integrity of the recertification process, practitioners must not share the log-in information with anyone. ACLS and SABES believe that this web-based submission system makes the BEST Plus 2.0 annual recertification process less time consuming and more efficient. Practitioners will be able to see their results in each section of the BEST Plus 2.0 scoring rubric immediately. Using the PASS/FAIL key below, practitioners can determine their PASS/FAIL recertification status. With a PASS status, they can start administering BEST Plus 2.0 tests immediately. With a FAIL status, practitioners must wait to be contacted by SABES and go through the remediation process before administering and scoring any BEST Plus 2.0 tests. Please note that SABES Assessment Center will not issue any paper certificates. The BEST Plus 2.0 Recertification form (see part B below) will be sent by SABES to the program directors within two weeks after the end of the recertification period with the names of the practitioners who passed or failed the annual recertification. This form will serve as the official SABES notification regarding the practitioners' BEST Plus 2.0 annual recertification status. ACLS and SABES understand that some practitioners may need to administer BEST Plus 2.0 as soon as they have passed the annual recertification. For this reason, practitioners who passed the recertification and need to administer BEST Plus 2.0 tests immediately do not need to wait for SABES' official notification and can administer tests before such notification is received.

PASS/FAIL Key

A recertification score for the Scoring Activity is determined by the accuracy with which the practitioner uses each of the three sections of the BEST Plus 2.0 scoring rubric, which assesses for students' basic listening comprehension, language complexity, and communication. The possible combinations of scores for the three sections are:

R-R-R:* PASS status, no remediation required;
R-R-A in any combination: PASS Status, no remediation required;
R-A-A in any combination: PASS status, no remediation required;
A-A-A: FAIL Status, remediation required; wait to be contacted by SABES before resuming testing;
U in any area: FAIL status, remediation required; wait to be contacted by SABES before resuming testing;
*(R = recertification recommended; A = acceptable but may need remediation; U = unacceptable).

Those passing the scoring activity will also have their name and certification status entered into the SMARTT Professional Development database by the SABES Assessment Center. However, with a fail status, practitioners must not score until they have received and successfully passed the remediation administered by the SABES Assessment Center. The SABES Assessment Center will contact those practitioners who have failed the recertification and will work with them towards their remediation process.

PART B (for ABE Program Directors/Assessment Coordinators)

We also ask that ABE Program Directors/Assessment Coordinators fill out and send the SABES Assessment Center the attached BEST Plus 2.0 FY17 Recertification form

listing their program's practitioners' names that are due for recertification this year. There is no need to fax or email copies of the practitioners' scoring activities together with this form since each practitioner can now go online and submit their own scoring activity directly to the SABES Assessment Center. When filling out the BEST Plus 2.0 FY17 Recertification form, program directors must ensure that they list the names of their program's practitioners as they appear in the SMARTT database together with their email addresses. The deadline for sending the BEST Plus 2.0 FY17 Recertification form to SABES is Friday, February 10. The form must be filled in electronically and emailed or faxed. No other types of submission will be accepted. Within two weeks after the end of the recertification period, SABES will email the completed BEST Plus 2.0 FY17 Recertification form

to the program director listing the pass/fail status for each practitioner at their program. This will be the official notification from SABES and program directors are expected to share it with their BEST Plus 2.0 administrators. We believe this system will result in clearer communication between programs and the SABES Assessment Center and we appreciate your cooperation.

Contact Information

If you have any questions about the BEST Plus 2.0 recertification process, please contact Dana Varzan-Parker, ACLS Assessment Specialist at dvarzan-parker@doe.mass.edu or Annemarie Espindola, SABES Assessment Center Director, at annemarie.espindola@bristolcc.edu.

Attachment

BEST Plus 2.0 FY17 Recertification Form

Last Updated: February 1, 2017