The Adult Basic Learning Examination (ABLE) is a battery of tests designed to measure the level of educational achievement among adults who may or may not have completed twelve years of schooling. The test has three levels, corresponding to skills taught in grades 1-4, 5-8, and 9-12, and the screening battery can help determine which of the three test levels is most appropriate for the test taker. ABLE is a standardized test of vocabulary, reading comprehension, spelling, language use, and mathematics. It has been normed with people who are incarcerated. The test requires about 2.5 hours to complete, and the screening test takes about 1 hour to complete.

The Adult Measure of Essential Skills (AMES) is a standardized test of silent reading comprehension, written communication, and mathematics to measure basic workplace and educational skills. The assessment consists of multiple-choice questions, and measures literacy and educational attainment as well as vocational potential. The results may be used to assist correctional staff with job placement for people who are incarcerated. AMES can be administered either individually or in a group setting, and is presently used in 10 states.

The Basic English Skills Test (BEST) is designed as a task-based assessment of life skills that has two sections. The oral interview section has 50 items and yields five scores for listening comprehension, pronunciation, communication, fluency, and reading / writing. The literacy skills section assesses reading and writing more thoroughly. The first section must be administered individually and to do so is moderately complex. Administration and scoring requires prior training and practice. Little validity data are available; however the test has high inter-rater reliability. The test requires 10-20 minutes to complete.

The Burns / Roe Informal Reading Inventory is composed of a series of graded word lists and graded passages to help determine an individual’s reading level. While the test taker is reading aloud, the administrator records any oral reading miscues (insertions, omissions, substitutions, repetitions, mispronunciations, etc.). After reading the selection, the test taker answers comprehension questions about what he or she just read. Answers to these questions illustrate whether the individual is able to understand the main idea, note details, understand causal relationships, and infer information. Validity and reliability data are not available because the test is not standardized, but reviewers report that its design is sound. The test takes 30 minutes to administer.

The Correctional Assessment and Intervention System™ (or CAIS, used for adults) and the Juvenile Assessment and Intervention System™ (JAIS) were designed to provide criminal justice personnel with integrated assessment tools which identify evidence-based supervision strategies that emphasize public safety, rehabilitation, accountability, and criminogenic needs. CAIS™ and JAIS™ employ a single semi-structured interview to derive assessments of risk, strengths, and needs. The results of the interview are scored by an automated response system which produces an individualized case plan including risk, needs, and supervision strategy classifications, as well as recommendations for evidence-based programs and services. CAIS and JAIS include periodic reassessment components to automatically update individual case plans on a continuous basis. A reporting package provides real-time aggregate data reports for client monitoring, agency management and budgeting, and outcome measurement. The web-based system requires no agency investment in hardware or software, MIS redesign, or maintenance. Validity and reliability have been successfully demonstrated through multiple studies. CAIS and JAIS incorporate gender-responsive assessments and interventions to address the unique risk and needs areas of girls and women. Comprehensive training and technical assistance packages are offered.

The Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment System (CASAS) assesses the ability to perform a number of basic competencies (e.g., reading, listening, and mathematics) in everyday life situations. The system includes more than 80 standardized assessment instruments and is used to place learners in educational programs, diagnose need, and monitor progress. Levels AA, A, B, and C are suitable, respectively, for developmentally disabled, beginning, intermediate, and moderately advanced adult education learners. Level C is substantially easier than the GED test. CASAS content is exclusively life-skill oriented and does not assess specific competencies in substantial depth. The system has been validated, and requires specialized training to administer.

The Correctional Offender Management Profiling for Alternative Sanctions (COMPAS) system is a statistically based risk and needs assessment specifically designed to assess key risk and needs factors in adult and youth correctional populations and to provide decision-support for justice professionals who must make decisions regarding the placement, supervision, and case-management of individuals in community supervision and correctional institution settings. It achieves this by providing valid measurement and succinct organization of research supported risk/need dimensions. COMPAS scores each individual based on three different types of risk (violence, recidivism, and failure to appear in court) and 19 different criminogenic needs. The software also includes case planning, outcomes measurement, and reports generation modules. The internal Research Division (staffed by five PhDs) and IT Division provide the research and technical support to norm the assessment for the local population and configure the software to local policy and procedure. The time required to administer each battery of tests varies, and can be adapted to the needs of the jurisdiction. A peer reviewed validation study of the COMPAS has been accepted by Criminal Justice and Behavior for publication in the June 2009 edition. An additional independent validation of the COMPAS in a California study by Zhang and Farabee (2007) indicated predictive accuracies comparable to other major instruments.

The English as a Second Language Oral Assessment (ESLOA) is a diagnostic instrument that measures listening comprehension and oral proficiency at four levels of English proficiency for non-native English speakers. The ESLOA instrument provides an assessment that can be used by corrections staff to determine program placement for each individual. The test uses a booklet of pictures with accompanying questions beginning at Level I. Examinees answer questions through progressive levels of difficulty until they are unable to continue. The ESLOA must be administered by an official test administrator who records the correctness of responses on an answer sheet where scores are computed. Validity and reliability data are unavailable; however its use is standard in educational settings. The exam generally takes 10 to 20 minutes to complete, and is simple to score.

The Rikers Island Discharge Enhancement (RIDE) is a discharge planning program that uses a one page questionnaire (Form 983) at the time of intake to ascertain an individual’s housing and social service needs in preparation for release from jail. The housing section includes questions about past housing situations, homelessness, and the need for housing assistance upon release. Other sections assess the need for employment, healthcare, identification, transportation, substance abuse treatment, etc. The questionnaire includes a section that jail staff can use to make service referrals.

The Global Appraisal of Individual Needs (GAIN) is a series of instruments that includes a screening, a standardized biopsychosocial intake assessment, and a follow-up assessment. The instruments are designed to measure the recency, breadth, and frequency of problems and service utilization related to substance use, physical health, risk/protective involvement, mental health, environment, and vocational situation. Corrections staff can use results to identify co-occurring disorders and predict treatment outcomes. Instruments and manuals for training staff to administer and interpret them can be accessed online. GAIN instruments have been validated for use with criminal-justice involved adolescents who are receiving substance abuse treatment for marijuana use, and for use with adults under criminal justice supervision. Adolescent and adult versions are available in English and Spanish. The time that each instrument takes to administer varies, ranging from 3 minutes for screenings, to 60 minutes for assessments.

The General Educational Development (GED) is an exam that is designed to measure the educational and literacy skills that students normally acquire by completing a typical high school program of study. Each of the five tests uses a multiple-choice question format, and every GED candidate must also satisfactorily complete a timed essay on an assigned topic. The GED certificate is a prerequisite for pursuing vocational programs and higher education. Corrections officials can use the results of the exam to place individuals in appropriate educational or training programs. The full length exam takes 7 hours to complete. It must be administered at an official GED test center approved by the GED Testing Service. GED preparation and testing is common in prison and jail settings. Research has found that people who obtain a GED while incarcerated have significantly lower recidivism rates.

The Level of Services Inventory-Revised (LSI-R) is a 54 item rating scale that measures static factors related to an individual’s risk of committing a new crime and identifies dynamic areas of risk and need that may be addressed through programming. Areas evaluated by the LSI-R include criminal history, leisure / recreation, education / employment, associates, finances, substance abuse, family / marital status, emotional / personal well-being, housing, and attitude. The LSI-R may be administered at intake to aid in security classification and programming decisions. The instrument is also commonly used to determine and modify levels of community supervision. Research on the validity of the LSI-R indicates that certain items and sub-scales are more closely correlated with recidivism than others, in part because inter-rater reliability can be difficult to achieve on many of its items. Among the sub-scales, one study found that the general risk/need score correlated highly with general recidivism. It also predicted recidivism among subgroups of people convicted of sexual offenses, domestic violence, and people with mental health problems. The specific risk/need scale produced a slightly higher correlation with violent recidivism. The LSI-R requires 30-45 minutes to complete.

The Level of Services Inventory-Revised: Screening Version (LSI-R: SV) consists of eight of the 54 items contained in the full Level of Services Inventory-Revised (LSI-R). The eight items cover four risk factors: criminal history, criminal attitudes, criminal associates, and antisocial personality patterns. It also samples the domains of employment, family relationships, and substance abuse. The LSI-R: SV was designed to provide a brief and inexpensive means to establish whether the full LSI-R should be administered, and is not intended as a stand-alone assessment instrument. It takes about 10-15 minutes to complete.

The Reading Evaluation Adult Diagnosis (Revised) (READ) is an evaluation of adult reading skills. It includes three parts that measure sight-word recognition, word analysis, and reading or listening comprehension. The test’s reading difficulty ranges up to that of Grade 5. There is little validity data available and reviewers report that its manually scoring requirements can be moderately complex. The test does not have a time limit for completion.

The Slossom Oral Reading Test (SORT) is a brief screening test designed to assess a person’s reading level. This instrument is not a diagnostic measure nor does it measure all aspects of reading such as word knowledge and comprehension. SORT can be used by corrections officers to determine the educational needs and placement for people who are incarcerated. Basic administration and scoring procedures are printed on each protocol and may be conducted by a trained professional. The assessment takes approximately 3-5 minutes to complete.

The Tests of Adult Basic Education assesses a broad range of literacy and work-related skills. There are four levels of the test corresponding in difficulty to grades 2-4, 4-6, 6-8, and 8-12. TABE is a standardized test that measures vocabulary, reading comprehension, language mechanics, language expression, spelling, mathematical calculation, and mathematical concepts and application. The scores on the TABE have been moderately correlated with comparable scores on the GED. The TABE has been normed with people in adult and juvenile correctional facilities. The full TABE takes approximately 4.5 hours to administer. For this reason, many programs use only one or two sections for pre- and post-testing purposes. A locator test is also available to match individuals’ learning skill levels to appropriate test levels.

The Writing Range Achievement Test (WRAT) is a brief screening test that measures reading recognition, spelling, and arithmetic computation skills. It can be administered to determine if a more comprehensive achievement test is needed. Level two of the test is normed for people ages 12 and over. The test takes approximately 15-30 minutes to administer and five minutes to score.