Good point. 

I realized that by confusing "readiness assurance" with "readiness assessment" I have inadvertently turned into Emily Litella, the character from Saturday Night Live's first season. Gilda Radner played her and she always rebutted editorials from Weekend Update where she got worked up because she misheard some term. Then Jane Curtin would correct her, saying things like, "Uh, that's 'UNICEF', not unisex." or  "The editorial was on bussing schoolchildren. Not busting." or "Miss Litella, President Ford wants to make Puerto Rico a state. Not a steak." Then Emily would squint and grin into the camera and say "Oh, well, well that's very different.  Never mind."

So, in the spirit of Emily Litella, I feel I must say (with a squint and a grin) about my confusion of "assurance" with "assessment"--oh, well, well that's very different.  Never mind.

- Don

On Mar 17, 2006, at 2:26 PM, Arletta Fink wrote:

Hi Don,

Just a word about "readiness assurance." 

It is my understanding that the Readiness Assurance Process (RAP) refers to the "process" that students engage in at the beginning of every individual unit of instruction.  For example, at the beginning of each unit of instruction, students are assigned all the readings for the content material (which they complete outside of class).  Then, when they come to class they participate in the Readiness Assurance Process.  The RAP is to insure that the students are ready to "apply or use" the content they have learned.  

The Readiness Assurance Process includes the following:

        1)  The individual readiness assessment test,
        2)  The group readiness assessment test,
        3)  The appeals process, and
        4)  Corrective instruction - an opportunity for the teacher to offer additional information to reinforce student understanding of key concepts.

Hope this helps to clear up any confusion between "readiness assessment" and "readiness assurance."

Have a great day!

Arletta Bauman Knight



At 09:18 PM 3/16/2006, Don McCormick wrote:

On Mar 16, 2006, at 2:05 PM, Philpot, Robert J. wrote:

I thought it was "readiness assurance" test.
You are right. How embarassing!

- Don