This 2016 revision to Integrating CLB Assessment grew out of work with instructors from all regions of Canada who have been actively engaged in integrating assessment practices into their adult ESL classrooms.

As we began the revision, we realized that much had changed since 2005. The purpose of the original resource package was to provide an introduction to Assessment for Learning (AfL) principles along with key strategies for integrating CLB assessment into classrooms. The original resource also showed how these principles and strategies were worked out in practice in four classroom examples, included in the package.

Fast forward to 2016. Through the Portfolio-Based Language Assessment (PBLA) initiative, instructors across the country have now completed courses or workshops that introduce AfL principles and strategies, along with processes for developing CLB-aligned assessment tasks, and they are now applying these principles in their classrooms.

The purpose of this revised version of Integrating CLB Assessment is to provide

• An update on current AfL practice.
• Information about and discussion of key considerations in planning for CLB assessment in an ESL classroom.
• Updated classroom examples that deliberately embed strategies for developing assessment tasks/tools across two benchmark levels. (We have updated one classroom example and added a second classroom example.)

We have also added elements that were not part of the original document:

• A section on developing receptive skills assessment tasks.
• A section on developing multi-level assessment tasks.
• Discussion of the purposes of assessment (“for” and “of” learning) and implications for planning for assessment.

Please note that this resource is intended to be compatible with principles introduced in PBLA and Keystone Concepts and Quartz[1], but it is NOT assumed that instructors using the document will be using either PBLA or Quartz.

Use of e-book format

We chose to format the revised document in e-book format (to be uploaded to the CCLB bookshelf) for a number of reasons:

• You can read it online and/or download the book in sections (in either color or greyscale).
• You can follow links to selected resources and samples.
• We can add further classroom examples at a later date.

Navigating the Document

The resource package is in two sections: seven initial chapters exploring assessment principles, strategies, and practices, followed by two classroom examples, with additional examples to be added in the upcoming years.

You can access the separate chapters and classroom examples through links embedded in the Table of Contents.  Within chapters, links also allow you to move within and across chapters, and to externally published documents.

Tara Holmes
Audrey Habke
Sarah Schmuck

[1] Together, Keystone Concepts and Quartz are referred to as the Curriculum Guidelines for the Ontario Adult Non-Credit Language Training Program.