TABE Testing

This page is about the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE).

Literacy Action Center focuses on adults who have less than 5th grade level reading, writing, or math skills on the Test of Adult Basic Education, when they initially enroll.

For example, the adults we served in 2012 fell into the following categories:

54% entered at ABE1 level (0.0-1.9 grade level -- with 36% in reading; 16% in language; & 2% in math)

32% entered at ABE2 level (2.0-3.9 grade level -- with 5% in reading; 22% in language; & 5% in math)

14% entered at ABE3 level (4.0-5.9 grade level -- with 2% in reading; 2% in language; & 10% in math)

Test Uses

TABE (Test of Adult Basic Education), a nationally-normed test, is used by all adult high school completion programs in the state of Utah for measuring and monitoring the progress of the adults in their programs. Even though Literacy Action Center is a community-based organization and not an adult high school program, we use the TABE so our learners can co-enroll in these completion programs. Because SLCC/Applied Technology Center also currently uses TABE, our test score results help our learners monitor their readiness to enroll in their programs. We use the test results to identify instructional starting points, oversee academic changes, and connect learners with other adult and higher education programs.

Test Areas

The TABE tests in three areas:

• Reading -- Demonstrate reading comprehension of fliers, short stories, and business letters.

• Language -- Identify the correct usage of capitals, punctuation, grammar, text flow, and main ideas.

• Math (2 parts) -- Math Computation: Perform addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division problems with whole numbers, decimals, fractions, and percentages. Applied Math: Integrate math and reading skills to solve story problems. Test items require interpretations of graphs, charts, maps, and other visual aids.

Test Levels

TABE has five test levels: L (Literacy), E (Easy), M (Medium), D (Difficult), and A (Advanced).

Each test targets an increasingly harder range of content difficulty. As such, our aim for our learners is to test into the A level test content and score high school level scores. The decision about which test to start in is based solely on each person’s results on the Locator – a series of tests designed specifically to determine starting test levels.

Content range for each test level M (Medium) = 4.0-5.9 grade equivalent content

L (Literacy) = 0.0-1.9 grade equivalent content D (Difficult) = 6.0-8.9 grade equivalent content

E (Easy) = 2.0-3.9 grade equivalent content A (Advanced) = 9.0-12.0 grade equivalent content

ABE Levels

The results of the TABE scores is reported in ABE levels. The ABE levels are not related to the TABE test levels. Rather, they are arbitrary designations that suggest attained as well as missing skills and abilities necessary to get to the next level.

ABE Levels

ABE1 = 0.0-1.9 grade equivalent ABE4 = 6.0-8.9 grade equivalent

ABE2 = 2.0-3.9 grade equivalent HSC1 = 9.0-10.9 grade equivalent

ABE3 = 4.0-5.9 grade equivalent HSC2 = 11.0-12.9 grade equivalent

Test Progress

Literacy Action Center retests after every 50 hours of instruction. We retest in the person’s two lowest areas. We retest in the third area only when the learner requests the additional testing.

While we push that scores go up one grade level after every 100 hours of instruction, the reality is that sometimes learners' scores go up, and sometimes learners' scores go down. Overall, in the long view, our learners' scores go up.

Test Sample Problems -- For sample problems, see the attachments listed below.