Monday, October 28, 2013

NMHED Adult Basic Education ENROLLMENT, INTAKE,



NMHED Adult Basic Education ENROLLMENT, INTAKE,

AND GOAL-SETTING PROCEDURES
 
 
 
 
SECTION I: INTRODUCTION AND CONTEXT
 
This policy is intended to provide programs with guidance on intake, enrollment and goal-setting procedures. A standardized process is required to ensure that programs are consistent in collecting and maintaining accurate information. It is necessary for local ABE programs to reliably report high-quality data to the State Adult Basic Education Division for analysis, trending and required reporting to the NRS, various agency officials and legislative representatives.
 
 
 
 
SECTION II: GENERAL REQUIREMENTS
 
 
 
The National Reporting System (NRS) Implementation Guidelines require States to use a standardized process (and forms) to collect student data and information for annual reporting. The State Adult Education Division requires local ABE programs to have in place standardized methods for student enrollment, intake, and goal-setting.
 
All students must be provided written copies of their rights under FERPA, including their rights to confidentiality of educational records, rights to access and/or correct educational records, and students’ rights to file a complaint/grievance (due process). Students must be provided copies of the written grievance procedure including information about how to file a complaint with the State ABE Division office, and this information must be posted in every ABE classroom (in both English and Spanish). Student requests for translations of forms and orientation materials, including requests for alternate formats (e.g., braille) must be made available to the students upon request.
 
 
 
 
Enrollment
 
 
 
 
Enrollment is a student participation measure that captures the type of participation selected by the student. Local ABE programs may offer open or managed enrollment models. There are advantages and disadvantages to the open or managed enrollment models, which can vary from providing schedules that accommodate working students (open model) to increasing the number of students who attend at least 12 hours (managed enrollment). The local ABE programs are expected to periodically review their program performance to determine which model is most effective for student outcomes.
 
The enrollment types are:
 
Adult Basic Education Program—A program of instruction designed for adults who lack competence in reading, writing, speaking, problem solving, or computation at a level necessary to function in society, on a job, or in the family.

Adult Secondary Education Program—A program of instruction designed for adults who have some literacy skills and can function in everyday life but who are not proficient or do not have a certificate of graduation or its equivalent from a secondary school.
 
 EL Program—A program of instruction designed to help adults with limited English proficiency achieve competence in the English language.

Correctional Education Program—A program of ABE, ASE, or EL instruction for adult criminal offenders in correctional institutions.

Correctional Facilities—Any prison, jail reformatory, work farm, detention center, or any other Federal, State, or local institution designed for the confinement or rehabilitation of criminal offenders.

Community Corrections Programs—A community-based rehabilitation facility or halfway house.

Family Literacy Program—A program with a literacy component for parents and children or other intergenerational literacy components.

Workplace Literacy ProgramA program designed to improve the productivity of the workforce through improvement of literacy skills needed in the workplace by:
  • Providing adult literacy and other basic skill services and activities, including basic computer literacy skills.
  • Providing adult secondary education services and activities that may lead to the completion of a high school diploma or its equivalent.
  • Meeting the literacy needs of adults with limited English proficiency.

Program for the Homeless—A program designed for homeless adults. Homeless adults lack a fixed, regular, nighttime residence or have a residence that is (1) a publicly supervised or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations (including welfare hotels, congregate shelters, and transitional housing for the mentally ill), (2) an institution that provides temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized, or (3) a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings. The term homeless adult does not apply to any individual imprisoned or otherwise detained pursuant to an act of the Congress or a State law.

Other Institutional Programs—Any other medical or special institution.

Distance Education—Formal learning activity where students and instructors are separated by geography, time or both for the majority of the instructional period. Distance learning materials are delivered through a variety of media including, but not limited to, print, audio recording, videotape, broadcasts, computer software, web-based programs and other online technology. Teachers support distance learners through communication via mail, telephone, e-mail or online technologies and software.

Intake
 
 
When students enter a program, the intake process must collect important information to include in annual reports. This includes demographic information, such as, age, ethnicity, race, gender, employment status, public assistance status and student goals. Programs should use standardized forms for data collection to limit data-entry errors and help ensure data quality. At the State level, program data is aggregated to measure progress against state performance standards.
 
The intake process includes student orientation which describes the services offered, counseling students on program expectations, conducting assessments of the educational functional levels of students in order to determine initial educational placement, and goal-setting.
 
Local ABE programs are expected to train all staff involved in the intake process. All tasks, procedures, and responsibilities must be clearly documented to help ensure accurate data collection and reporting in the statewide data system (LACES).
 
Local ABE programs must provide students with written information about their rights under FERPA in intake/orientation, including their rights to confidentiality of educational records, rights to access and/or correct educational records, and students’ rights to file a complaint/grievance (due process). Local ABE programs must provide students a copy of the local ABE grievance procedures in writing and in a format that allows students to benefit (e.g., in a native language or alternate format) from the information. Local ABE programs must make all program materials available in Spanish and English (e.g. intake and orientation forms).
 
 
 
 
Goal-Setting
 
 
 
 
Although the NRS has now developed a process which automatically places students into cohorts, the State Adult Education Division still requires local ABE programs to collect information related to student goals. The Performance-based funding formula is partially based on the degree to which students achieve the goals that they set.
 
Local ABE programs must help students establish goals based on assessment results,
 
Student’s personal and professional interests, and other factors, such as student work schedule, family responsibilities and other issues. Classroom instruction will better meet student needs and expectations, become more meaningful, help improve attendance, aid retention and enhance program success if there are opportunities for periodic review of goals in ways that support student goal achievement. Local ABE programs must advise students about goals as they relate to the requirements associated with adult education level gains, progress in English language learning activities, citizenship, employment, postsecondary education and training. Local ABE programs must ensure that students are informed about their rights to have access to and review their records, assessment results, and any educational files, notes or information related to their participation in the program. Student records must be updated on a timely basis (at least monthly).
 
SECTION III: FOLLOW-UP
 
Local ABE programs must explain the follow-up process to students in orientation. Follow-up activities can be conducted according to the student’s preferred method of contact (phone call, email, mail or personal contact), but local ABE programs may use other contact methods if the preferred method is ineffective.
 
To comply with National Reporting System (NRS) requirements, State performance in Adult Basic Education is based on several indicators of student achievement. These
 
 
core outcome measures are:

1. Obtain a job
 
2. Retain current job
 
3. Earn a GED
 
4. Enter post-secondary education or training
 
5. Advance in educational level
 
The NRS has identified several optional, secondary outcome measures that students may want to select as secondary goals (please refer to
 
 
Implementation Guidelines for further information:

Achieved work-based project learning goal

Reduced or left public assistance

Achieved citizenship skills

Voted or registered to vote

Increased involvement in community activities

Increased involvement in children’s education

Increased involvement in children’s literacy activities

Even though States are not required to collect and report on these optional outcome measures, students may find them to be an important part of their educational effort.
 
Achievement status on these goals is reported annually on Table 11.
 
 

NMHED Local ABE Program Data Management Procedures FY 2013-14



NEW MEXICO HIGHER EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

NMHED Adult Basic Education Division Data Management Procedures


SECTION I: INTRODUCTION AND CONTEXT


This policy is intended to provide programs with guidance on intake, enrollment and goal-setting procedures. A standardized process is required to ensure that programs are consistent in collecting and maintaining accurate information. It is necessary for local ABE programs to reliably report high-quality data to the State Adult Basic Education Division for analysis, trending and required reporting to the NRS, various agency officials and legislative representatives.


SECTION II: GENERAL REQUIREMENTS


A. Data Collection


The Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA, WIA, Title II, Section 212), via the NRS Implementation Guidelines, and the New Mexico State Plan require the use of a standardized process (and forms) to collect student data and information for annual reporting. This data collection includes student demographics, assessment, attendance, goal-setting, pre-and post-testing among others.

Data technicians are required to be trained on the NRS system as well as the LACES database. Certifications must be readily available to present to the State Office Site Visit Review Team. Local ABE programs must enter data into LACES on a timely basis (at least monthly).

WIA (Section 212, A) and the New Mexico State Plan require the collection of program information related to the core indictors of performance in order to analyze program performance:

"(i) Demonstrated improvements in literacy skill levels in reading, writing, and speaking the English language, numeracy, problem solving, English language acquisition, and other literacy skills.

(ii) Placement in, retention in, or completion of, postsecondary education, training, unsubsidized employment or career advancement.

(iii) Receipt of a secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent."

Goal-Setting

Although the NRS has now developed a process which automatically places students into cohorts, the State Adult Basic Education Division still requires local ABE programs to collect information related to student goals (please see

State policy on Enrollment, Intake and Goal-setting). The performance-based funding formula is partially based on the degree to which students achieve the goals that they set.

Local ABE programs must help students establish goals based on assessment results,

Student’s personal and professional interests, and other factors, such as student work schedule, family responsibilities and other issues. Classroom instruction will better meet student needs and expectations, become more meaningful, help improve attendance, aid retention and enhance program success if there are opportunities for periodic review of goals in ways that support student goal achievement. Local ABE programs must advise students about goals as they relate to the requirements associated with adult education level gains, progress in English language learning activities, citizenship, employment, postsecondary education and training.


Follow-up Process



To comply with National Reporting System (NRS) requirements, State performance in Adult Basic Education is based on several indicators of student achievement (
See NRS Implementation Guidelines). These core outcome measures are: Topic
Measures

Definitions

Educational Gains

Pre- and Post-testing for Educational Level Gains

Improvements in educational
functioning levels in reading, writing, speaking and listening and functional
areas


Follow-up Measures

Entered employment
Retained employment (Includes Improved Employment)
Receipt of secondary school diploma or GED
Placement in postsecondary education or training


Learners who obtain a job by the first quarter after exit quarter
Learners who entered employment who are employed in the third quarter after program exit
Learners who obtain a
GED, secondary school diploma or recognized equivalent
Learners who enroll in a
postsecondary educational or
occupational skills program building on prior services or training received


Friday, October 25, 2013

Who is in the Enter Employment Cohort?


The 13/14 Table 5 for Enter Employment includes students who left between 10/1/2012 - 9/30/2013.  The following link from the NRS has additional information about when students are included on Table 5 for the Employment outcomes based on when they left the program:  http://www.nrsweb.org/Tips/EmploymentReporting/NRSTips_Employment_Reporting.pdf   


What Students to follow-up on?


I would use the All Followup Outcomes tab to find the students who need to be data matched.  If the students meet the requirements for being included on Table 5, a cohort record will have been created for them and will be in the All Followup Outcomes tab (accessed by clicking the little double arrows at the bottom of the left navigation pane).

 

Once you are in the All Followup Outcomes tab, you can click the + next to Outcome in the left Navigation Pane and then select Enter Employment, so you are only left with the Enter Employment cohort and goal records.

 

Then, if you are currently only interested in data matching the students who left between 4/1/13 - 6/30/13 (to check employment status between 7/1/12 - 9/30/13), then you can limit the selection to only those students who left in this time period using a General Search I created.  Go to Find > General Search and click Use Existing Query.  In the dropdown menu, choose 'left date 4/1/13 - 6/30/13' and then click query IN SELECTION (so you are only searching the Enter Employment records).

 

This will leave you with all of the students who are in the Cohort and left in the specified time period (2591 in the SEA database).

 

From here, you can choose to data match all of these students, but you may want to exclude any students who are already marked as achieving the outcome and who also have responded to survey checked.  To do this, I would export the data to Excel (Print > Export) and in Excel, sort first by Outcome Status and then by Responded to Survey.  You can then delete anyone who is marked as YES on both.

 

You may also want to exclude from the data match people who are marked as having met the outcome even if Responded to survey is currently marked as No.  If that is the case, you might want to contact the agencies who have students indicated as achieving the outcome but not responding to survey to let them know they will need to mark responded to survey in order for it to count as Met on Table 5.

 

I am not sure in SD if there is a fee for you to do the data match.  If there isn't, I would start with the largest selection of students which is just everyone who is in the cohort and left in the relevant time period.  But, if there is a fee, you may want to go those extra steps to omit the people who have already been marked as achieving the outcome.

 

Keep in mind that the All Followup Outcomes tab is processing lots and lots of data so it is a little slow to work in it, but it will definitely give you the info you need on students who need to be data matched.

Primary Program


Distance Education - based on having 51+% of hours in the fiscal year with the Type 'Instruction-Distance Learning.'  This triggers inclusion on 4C and 5A if the student meets NRS reporting requirements.

Family Literacy - the Primary Program Family Literacy triggers inclusion on Tables 6 and 8

Workplace Literacy - the Primary Program Workplace Literacy triggers inclusion on Tables 6 and 9

Work-based Project Learner - the Primary Program Work-based Project Learner triggers inclusion on Tables 6 and 12

Corrections - triggered by either Primary Program of Corrections or the dropdown for Correctional on the Demographics screen.  There is information detailing this in the LACES 2012.1.0 Release Notes when we made some updates to this.

The following rules apply to how Corrections students are displayed on Table 6:

  • When a student’s primary program is Corrections (Option Code 500), and the Correctional and Institutional fields in the student’s demographics folder are blank, the student counts as 'In Correctional Facility.'
  • When a student’s primary program is Corrections (Option Code 500), and 'No' is selected in the Correctional field in the student’s demographics folder, the student counts as 'In Correctional Facility.'
  • When a student’s primary program is Corrections (Option Code 500) AND ‘ Yes – Community’ is selected in the Correctional field in the demographics folder, the student will count as ‘In Community Correctional Programs.’
  • When any other choice except ‘No’ or ‘Yes - Community’ is selected in a student’s demographic folder, AND the field Institutional is ‘yes’ in the student’s demographic folder AND the primary program is not Corrections, the student will count as ‘In Correctional Facility.'
  • When ‘Yes – Community’ is selected in the Correctional field in the demographic folder, AND the field Institutional is ‘yes’ in the student’s demographic folder AND the primary program is not Corrections, the student will count as ‘In Community Correctional Programs.'
  • When a student’s primary program is Corrections (Option Code 500) AND the field Institutional is ‘yes’ in the student’s demographic folder, the student will count as ‘In Correctional Facilities.’
  • When ONLY ‘In Other Institutional Setting’ is selected and Corrections is NOT the primary program, the student will count as ‘In Other Institutional Settings.’

Freeze and Roll over


Data Freeze - this is the date that the ability to create new FY Records is removed from all agencies in the state.  The date of the data freeze is selected by the state office.  Since the FY Records are the 'snapshot' of the data that is used to populate the NRS Reports, any data entered for the previous fiscal year after the data freeze will not be reflected on the NRS Reports.  So, for example, if NM decides to do the Data Freeze on August 16th, 2013, this means that any 12/13 data agencies enter after this date will not be reflected on the NRS Reports because they can no longer create FY Records to capture the data for the Tables.  (the only way new FY Records can be created after the data freeze is if the state office requests that we create new FY Records for students, and I will come back to that point in a moment)

 

Rollover - during the rollover, we update the hours and assessment information so it now reflects the new fiscal year - in this case 13/14 and we add the ability for agencies to create 13/14 FY Records.  The date of the Rollover is also selected by the State Office.  

 

Most states schedule the rollover a week or two after the data freeze so they have one final chance to review their data prior to the rollover.  If, during this review time, you find anything that needs to be corrected, you can ask the agency to make the necessary data correction and then you can submit a tech support request for LiteracyPro to update the 12/13 FY Record.  We would just need to know which students in which agency need to have the FY Record updated.  

 
Some states schedule the Data Freeze and Rollover to take place on the same weekend.  The states that do this have already reviewed the data prior to the weekend of the Data Freeze/Rollover to be sure everything looks good because once the Rollover takes place we no longer create new FY Records for 12/13.  The only updates to the 12/13 FY Record that can take place after the Rollover is if a student who left in 12/13 received his GED after the Rollover - in those cases we will do a limited update of the FY Record that only affects the GED information in the FY Record, not any of the other info in it.

There is not a parallel database; the only change that takes place during the rollover is that the information in the existing database is updated to 13/14 instead of 12/13.  And, there is not a time that agencies cannot enter data.  In the time between the data freeze and rollover, agencies can enter 13/14 data, but there are some states that encourage agencies not to enter data during the time between the data freeze and rollover.  The states that request that agencies not enter data during this time do so just in case there is a need to have new FY Records created during this time and they don't want agencies making multiple changes in the data that could affect the FY Records.  Typically, this is not an issue, especially since the data freeze and rollover process have been improved upon over the last several years

Goals from previous fiscal years


Goals from previous fiscal years will have no effect on the 12/13 Table 5 (other than for the Enter and Retain Employment goals that were set in the same year that the student left if he is eligible for inclusion on the 12/13 Table 5).

 

In order to be included on Table 5, the goal must be set in the same fiscal year that the student left the program.  For 12/13 no goals will affect Obtain GED or Enter Postsecondary Education/Training because those are now completely cohort based.  Since the 12/13 Table 5 includes students who left the program between 10/1/11 - 9/30/12 with an Enter Employment goal, goals will still be included for those students who left in 11/12, but only if the goal was also set in 11/12.  The 12/13 Table 5 will include students who left with the Retain Employment goal between 4/1/11 - 3/31/12, so goals from 10/11 or 11/12 will cause students to populate the Table.  If an Enter or Retain Employment goal for a student who is eligible for inclusion on Table 5 is marked as met with met date in the correct follow-up quarter, the student will count on Table 5 as having met the objective. 

 

For Table 11, only goals that are set in the reporting year are included, so if a student still has an active goal to Leave Public Assistance from last year or any previous year, it will not populate the 12/13 Table 11.
   

The NRS is no longer using Table 13 beginning in the 12/13 fiscal year.


The NRS is no longer using Table 13 beginning in the 12/13 fiscal year.

 

For obtain GED, agencies are allowed to include students who pass the GED after the end of the fiscal year until 12/31/13.  If there are students who fall into this category after the data freeze, you can request that we update the GED data in those students' FY Records so they will be included on the 12/13 Table 5.  After the data freeze, the request to update this data will need to come from the state office rather than from the individual agencies.

 

For Enter Postsecondary, the NRS has implemented two year reporting for obtaining this outcome, so if the student is not captured for 12/13 reporting, they will be included in 13/14.

 

For the Employment Outcomes, the follow-up data will need to be entered prior to the data freeze to be captured for the 12/13 Table 5.  Since the follow-up time for the Employment Outcomes that are included on the 12/13 Table 5 is from 1/1/12 - 12/31/12, all of this data should be able to be entered prior to the data freeze.  Students for whom the correct follow-up quarter is 1/1/13 or later are not eligible for the 12/13 Table 5 because those students did not leave the program until after the time period reported for 12/13.

Models and Information about Work-based Projects - NRS Table 6


Some of you have asked about work-based projects.  Fees may be charged for these services (and counted as program income).

 
What is the difference between work-based project learners and workplace literacy students in the NRS?

Work-based project learners are enrolled in a State-designated program that has a goal of achieving specific workplace-related literacy skills and is limited to 12–30 total instructional hours. Programs do not collect the core outcome measures on students designated as work-based project learners, and these learners are counted separately in NRS tables. This measure is included in the NRS to allow States and programs to serve learners who have a short-term learning need without having a detrimental effect on performance of the core outcome measures.

Workplace literacy programs are designed to improve the productivity of learners through improvement of basic literacy, ASE skills, and English language skills needed in the workplace. There is no instructional time limit on these programs. Workplace literacy students are counted and treated like all other students in the NRS. (From Quick Guide to the NRS).

Here are some interesting resources that you might find helpful:

 OVAE work-based education


 Quick Guide to the NRS


 NRS Implementation Guidelines – pg. 55-56


 National Academy Foundation


 Work-based education profiles, DTI Associates, 2004


 “Work-based Learning in two-year colleges in the United States,” (1995) National Research Center for Career and Technical Education website


 

Roll over


The agency will get credit for the student passing the GED and it will count for the fiscal year that the student left the program as long as the information is captured in the FY Record for the year the student left the program.      

 

So, if student Robert Smith leaves the program on 6/30/13 and then passes his final GED test on 9/1/2013, if his 12/13 FY Record is updated after the passing scores are entered in LACES, he will get credit for passing his GED on the 12/13 NRS reports.

 

If the student passed the GED after the final FY Record creation, then if you would like we can update the 12/13 FY Record to capture the passing GED information so the student will count on the 12/13 report.  After the data freeze, the request to update the FY Record for students who have passed the GED must come from the state office rather than from the individual agencies because we don't want the data to change on your NRS reports without your knowledge.

 

If you would like, you could even schedule the update to capture the GED information to be run once a month after the data freeze so you can be sure that any student who left in 12/13 but passed the GED after the end of the fiscal year will be captured for the NRS reports.

 

Post-secondary Cohort


Highest Education Level Completed on Entry

The 'Highest Education Level Completed on Entry' field was not in LACES prior to the beginning of the 12/13 reporting year when the NRS reporting requirements made it necessary to add it.  There is a field in LACES called 'Highest Education Completed' that has always been available, but there was no consistency in how people used it.  Different agencies have different drop-down menus for it because the list is one they can modify themselves.

 

You can create a View that contains the 'Highest Education Completed' so you can then review this data.  You will need to first use the FY Data Search for two searches, first to find the students who were NRS Reportable last year, and then to find which of these left in the FY Since thost are the only ones eligible for Table 5.

 

Once you have applied the View containing the Highest Education Completed field, you will need to see how many of these students have a highest education that indicates that they completed high school.  Once again, agencies may have been using this field in a variety of ways so this will only give you a general idea on approximate numbers.

 

Passed the GED while enrolled

While you can find how many students obtained the GED and left the program last year by going to Find > NRS Table Searches > Table 5 Searches and then clicking on the number of participants who achieved the outcome, there is not a way to then find whether these students still had the status of enrolled at the time they passed the GED.  This was not necessary last year since it didn't factor into determining inclusion for Enter Postsecondary, and a search for this isn't available this year because the process is automatic so if the student passes the GED while enrolled, they are automatically in the Enter Postsecondary Cohort.

 

The best thing I can think of for this part of the inclusion in the Cohort is to look at the 12/13 data.  So far, 522 students are included on Table 5 as having obtained the GED this year (pulled using the NRS Table 5 Search).  Of those, 430 are also in the Enter Postsecondary Education Cohort.  This will at least give you an idea of what percentage of students obtain the GED while enrolled so they are then included in the Enter Postsecondary Cohort.

 

 

With the information from the Highest Education Completed and the approximation from those who obtained the GED while enrolled, you may have a general number of students who will be included in the Enter Postsecondary Cohort this year.  But, there is no way I can think of to then figure out how many of them may meet the objective because there is no data from previous fiscal years about how many of this population entered postsecondary.  In previous years, Enter Postsecondary was only tracked if the student set the goal so there is no supporting data regarding how many students who completed the GED or who had completed secondary school before entering the program went on to enter postsecondary.  If it wasn't stated as a goal by the student, the information wasn't entered in LACES and follow-up wasn't done to see if the student entered postsecondary.

 

Duplicate Students


The agency does have the ability to delete a student record using the delete button at the bottom of the Student Key Info screen.  But, the student record cannot be deleted if he has a FY Record from a previous fiscal year because this may affect the numbers that have been submitted to OVAE on the NRS reports.

 

If the agency tries to delete the student and gets the message that the record cannot be deleted because he has a FY Record from a previous fiscal year, they can go to the student's Fiscal Year folder and open the fiscal year record(s) to see if they all indicate 'NRS Reportable = 0.'   If the student was not NRS Reportable in any previous fiscal year, they can send us the name of the student who needs to be deleted and we will delete the FY Record so the agency can then delete the student.

 
But, if the FY Record from a previous fiscal year indicates NRS Reportable = 1, this means the student was counted on the NRS reports that have already been submitted to OVAE.  Since the data reported to OVAE should not change once the report has been submitted, this student record should not be deleted.  We put this edit check in place because some states have had questions from OVAE during their audits because some of their agencies had deleted duplicate students not realizing that the student had already been reported

GED Cohort


There is great, detailed info about this in the LACES 2012.2.1 NRS Cohorts Release Notes in the 'Obtained a GED or Secondary School Diploma Cohort' section. 

 

In short, the GED cohort automatically populates once an NRS reportable student has left the program if he has taken all 5 GED tests.  this can be indicated two possible ways in LACES:

 

1.  Scores are entered for all 5 GED tests in the student's Assessment folder (the scores do not have to be passing scores for the student to be included in the cohort)

2.  A Diploma Record is entered with the Type 'GED' in the Student's Diploma Info folder.  Agencies who do not enter GED scores in LACES can enter the GED info here.  If there is not a 'Date Earned' entered in the Diploma info folder, the student will be included in the outcome but does not count as met it.  Once a date earned is entered, the student will count as having met the outcome.

How to get level gain in ASE High


Completion of High Adult Secondayr is achieved by passing the GED or earning a High School Diploma.  

 

Now that the NRS has moved to automatic cohorts rather than goal achievement, the goals folder is no longer used to indicate successful completion of the GED or High School Diploma.  Completion of the GED is indicated either by entering passing GED scores in the assessment folder or (for agencies that don't necessarily administer the GED themselves), by entering a record for the GED with a 'date earned' in the Diploma Info folder.  Successful completion of a High School Diploma is indicated in the Diploma Info folder. 

Table 7, where are you?


Table 7 is still available, but it is (and always has been) accessible from the Staff tab rather than the Student tab since it pertains to staff data instead of student data like the other tables.

 
For 12/13 Table 7 has been updated so it runs from Fiscal Year Records like the student tables, but for the previous years' reports, Table 7 is still run from the raw data

NRS Reportable


You can use the FY Data Search to easily find the info you need.

 

Go to Find > FY Data Search and enter following info:

  • Reporting System:  NRS FY 09-10  (or whichever is relevant)
  • Fiscal Year Data Category: Student data
  • Fiscal Year Data Field: NRS Reportable
  • Operator: Is True
  • Search ALL records and display the result 
  • Go

This will leave you with the NRS Reportable Students from that fiscal year.  This is more difficult to pull from the raw data since being NRS reportable depends on having 12+ hours and an NRS approved assessment, and age criteria,etc so pulling it from the raw data requires multiple searches.

Clarification for Enter and Retain Employment Goal/Cohort Data


We have received a few questions from programs asking about why employment cohort records are not being populated for some students, and/or data for employment goals is not populating Table 5 for some students. Please review the following for clarification of this issue.

 

The cohort method of data collection went into effect 7-1-12. Employment outcomes are collected and reported based on dates outside of the fiscal year range. For example, students reported on 12/13’s Table 5 were students who exited between 4-1-11 to 9-30-12; only one of those quarters was in the 12/13 FY.  For students who exited prior to the cohorts going into effect on 7-1-12, you must continue to manually update the goals data in the goals folder, as those students will not receive a cohort record due to them exiting prior to that change taking place. 

 

As an example, if a student was an NRS participant and exited on 5-28-12 with an active Enter Employment goal , you will still need to manually update the goal if it is met, based on the collection quarter of 7-1-12 to 9-30-12, because the student exited prior to the cohort changes taking place and will therefore not receive a cohort upon exiting. If a returning student was a 12/13 NRS participant and exited on 7-15-12 with a Work History of Unemployed, you would not need to do anything in the goal folder because this student exited after the cohort changes went into effect on 7-1-12 so will be automatically placed in the Enter Employment cohort.

 

Additionally, please remember that for returning students, cohort data is generated from their first employment record within the reporting fiscal year. As an example, if you have a student who was active in 2008, left, and is returning in 12/13, if their Work History record was Unemployed in 2008 and they gained employment in 2011, you must update the Work History folder and add a new record of Employed (Full or Part) with a start date reflecting when they began employment in 2011. These records must be updated by the first day of the new fiscal year (or before) in order for the cohort data to populate correctly.

NRS Table 4


Important facts about Table 4:

  • Students do not have to be exited to be included on Table 4.  It includes all NRS reportable students.
  • Table 4 is based completely on assessment data (unless your program offers Adult High School in which case obtaining a secondary school diploma will show completion of the High Adult Secondary level).  Cohorts and Goals have no bearing on Table 4.
  • Work-based Project Learners are not included at all on Table 4 or the other NRS Tables other than Table 12.  In LACES, a Work-based Project Learner is indicated by assigning that primary program to the student.  For additional information about Work-based Project Learners, please refer to the NRS Implementation Guidelines section on the Work-Based Project Learner Outcome Measure
  • Table 4 is concerned with level gain based on pre- and post-assessments.  A student is counted as separated before completed if he did not complete a level and is either no longer enrolled in the program or if he went 90+ days without hours crossing fiscal years (for example, if a student last had 12/13 hours on 5/30/13 and then returned to your program on 9/15/13 but he didn't complete a level in 12/13, he will be included in the separated before completed column even though he has since returned to your program since he went 90+ days crossing fiscal years without hours)

KPI


Since goal-setting is no longer relevant for NRS Table 5 reporting, we will be removing this KPI from the dashboard and you no longer need to set the Table 5 goals for your students (in 13/14 there will still be a few students included on Table 5 based on the Retain Employment goal since the retain employment objective is based on students who left between 4/1/12 - 3/31/13).  This means you can completely ignore this KPI now.

 

But, in terms of why these students are included on the dashboard - this KPI doe not refer to the student's current employment status, but rather to the student's employment status at the beginning of the fiscal year.

 

Now that the NRS has moved to cohort reporting, inclusion in the cohorts is based on one of two things and you do not need to set goals for them:

1.  Employment status at Intake (for students who have been continuously enrolled in your program with no 90+ day gap of instruction that crosses fiscal years)
2.  Employment status as of the date of the first hours in the year (for returning students who have had a 90+ day gap in instruction crossing fiscal years)    

LACES Font


There is not currently a way within LACES to change the font size.

 

You may want to try adjusting your screen resolution to see if there is another resolution that works well for you.

 

If you are using Internet Explorer 8 or 9 (NOT 10), in Internet Explorer, you can go to the Page menu and select Zoom.  If you are using IE 10, you cannot do this because the options in the LACES Menus such a New, View, Find, etc. will not display.

 

In LACES NexGen, which will be released next year, we plan to offer the ability to adjust the font size in LACES.

scaled score range between 490 - 800


When you do a search using the General Search for the scaled score range between 490 - 800, it includes anyone who has that score on any of the Official GED Practice Tests in the time period rather than on all of their Practice Tests.  If you try to reverse the search, and find people for whom the scaled score is not in the range 0 - 489, then it still gives you the same result because it returns students for whom any  of the scaled scores are not in that range rather than students from whom all of the scaled scores are not in that range.

 

Typically the General Assessment Search could be used for this data, but since you need it for multiple forms, that won't work either.

 

Also, that would remove students like Angela Cain who scored below a 490 on her Math subtest, but later scored above 490.

 

For the information you need, do you need students who have taken all 5 practice tests (math, reading, language, social studies, and science) and have scored 490+ on each.  Or, do you need the results to include students who have perhaps only taken Reading and Math, but have scored 490+ on both of those?

LACES Manual


On the LACES User News screen, click 'Online Documentation.'  On the resulting screen, you will be able to access the LACES Reference Manual.  The Reference Manual has not bee updated with some of the more recent changes to LACES, but overall, it gives a good overview of data entry and basic information about searching and reporting.

Cohorts


For Entered Postsecondary Education or Training the NRS Implementation Guidelines indicate that the applicable population is:  

 

Applicable Population: All learners who passed the GED tests or earned a secondary credential while enrolled in adult education, or have a secondary credential at entry, or  are enrolled in a class specifically designed for transitioning to postsecondary educationwho exit during the program year.  A transition class is a class that has a specific purpose to prepare students for entry into postsecondary education, training or an apprenticeship program.

 

So, there are 3 components to the Entered Postsecondary Education or Training cohort that will include a  student in the cohort (from the LACES 2012.2.0 Release Notes): 

 

FIRST COMPONENT - Students who earn a secondary credential while enrolled.

Students who earn a GED, high school diploma or secondary diploma/credential, or EDP high school diploma will be included in the cohort automatically when the student is left. 

 

Since there is no indication in LACES (either in the assessments folder or the Diploma Info folder) that Andrew Guilez obtained a GED or High School Diploma while enrolled in your program, he is not eligible based on this criteria.

 

SECOND COMPONENT - Students who have a secondary credential/diploma at the time of entry.

Students whose Highest Level of Education Completed at Entry selection is one of the following will be automatically included in the cohort when the student is left if the student meets the NRS requirements to be fundable.  

  • High School Diploma
  • Secondary Credential
  • GED
  • Foreign Secondary Credential/Diploma
  • Some college - no degree
  • College or Professional Degree

Since Andrew Guilez is listed as 11th Grade-no diploma, is is also not eligible based on this criteria.

 

THIRD COMPONENT - Students who are enrolled in at least one class, group, or pair with the program Transition.  Transition classes are for students who are transitioning to postsecondary education.    

Since he was not enrolled in a class with the Program type 'Transition,' this criteria for inclusion also isn't applicable for him.

If he was in a class with your agency that was designed to help him transition to college, then you can create a class with the type Transition and enroll him in that and then complete him from the class.