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 Program—A 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.