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5 METHODOLOGY
This chapter aims to provide a broad methodological sketch of all the phases of developing an assessment for the Eastern Tamang people, which can then be
generalizable for other language groups in Nepal as well.
5.1 Identification and Training of a Committee
When a local, national, or international literacy organization in Nepal wants to develop a literacy assessment, it should first identify the stakeholders of the literacy
program who would want to know and use results from the assessment. In the context of Nepal, any literacy organization might identify the following stakeholders:
participantslearners, teachers, facilitatorscoordinators, supervisors, advisorsconsultants, program managerdirector, village education committees, regional andor national
education officers, educational policy makers, and localnationalinternational financial donor agencies. The assessment committee needs to include representatives from all
stakeholders or as many as feasible. The assessment committee should first agree on a definition of literacy and
literacy skills as well as the purpose of the program and the assessment to be developed. Then the committee should identify the literacy skills to be assessed. The committee
needs to refine the standard of literacy performance levels I proposed in chapter 3. The
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committee should also plan the types of tests, devising test item pools, pilot testing, details of the assessment implementation, recruiting and training the assessors, scoring
and data processing, and reporting protocols. If necessary, delegates from the assessment committee may visit potential test
sites in advance. They need to contact local community leaders as well as regional education officers to explain to them the purpose, procedures, and benefits of the
assessment. In this way, the delegates can gain their cooperation for the assessment. They may also want to contact central andor regional government agencies interested in
developing assessment instruments for the indigenous people groups of Nepal. Hopefully, they will be able to arrange for collaboration from these institutions as well. This kind of
collaboration could be the first significant step toward developing a national assessment instrument for the indigenous languages of Nepal.
5.2 Development of Language Specific Instruments
