ABE Policy & Accountability

ABE Student Eligibility Adult Basic Education means services or instruction below the postsecondary level for individuals: Who have attained 16 years of age; and Who are not enrolled or required to be enrolled in secondary school under State law; and Who qualify under one or more of the following conditions:  Are unable to speak, read, or write the English language;  Do not have a high school diploma or its recognized equivalent, and have not achieved an equivalent level of education;  Lack sufficient mastery of basic educational skills to enable the individual to function effectively in society.

ABE Eligible Content All students in state and federally funded ABE programs must be receiving instruction in at least one of the core content areas. Core content areas:  Reading  Writing  Mathematics  Speaking  Listening  ESL/ELL  GED/H.S. Diploma

Conditional Content Conditional content is supplemental to core content instruction.  For example, students may receive instruction regarding computer skills if they are using the computer or software applications to assist them in learning the core content of writing. Examples of conditional content areas:  Citizenship/civics  Basic technology skills  Employability skills  Study skills  Health or financial literacy

Computer Literacy In order for an approved ABE program to count hours related to computer literacy content for a student, one of the following two eligibility criteria must be met: 1) The student must score below high school equivalency level on one or more basic skills content areas (reading, writing, math, or speaking) using an adult appropriate standardized test, 2) AND the student must have a primary NRS literacy goal in ABE, ESL, or adult secondary, and be participating (enrolled) in instruction related to that goal

Transition to Employment Learners The following conditional content will be allowed without student participation in core content areas (and under specific referral conditions): Basic Technology Skills (e.g.- Basic Computer Literacy) Job Seeking Skills (e.g.- Résumé Writing, Interviewing, and Job Searching) Soft Skills Necessary for Work (e.g.- SCANS skills) Work Readiness Certificate Content (e.g.- National Work Readiness Credential, Career Readiness Credential)

Transition to Employment Learners Eligibility and Referral Requirements –the student must: be 16 or over and not enrolled in public (K-12) school; and be referred in writing by a state or local governmental agency such as a Workforce Center, workforce investment board, or MFIP providing agency, specifically for any one or more of the content areas noted above. Note: Referral by a college or other post-secondary educational/training institution is not acceptable under this policy.

Transition to Employment Learners Exemption from NRS: Transition to Employment Learners are not subject to the NRS processes such as pre and post testing. The student will not be counted in any of the NRS tables but would be counted on Table A for revenue generating (contact hour) purposes.

Contact Hour Policy BROAD DEFINITION: ABE Contact Hours are: All personal contact hours where the learner was with an ABE teacher, counselor, volunteer tutor or other ABE-funded staff working toward planning, assessing progress toward, and attaining basic academic and SCANS skills and ABE-related personal education plan goals; and All verifiable learner time during which ABE teachers, counselors, volunteer tutors or other ABE- funded staff worked with the learner to plan or debrief independent learning, on-the-job training or other community-based learning activities.

Recording Student Attendance All ABE consortia must be able to verify the accuracy of student contact hours reported to MDE-ABE Program staff are responsible for recording accurate attendance of in-class or other instructional, intake, goal-setting or assessment time with students Student attendance records must be on file and available to MN Department of Education fiscal auditors and ABE staff

Distance Learning Policy Defining Distance Education Students: A student must be classified in the ABE Management Information System (MIS) as participating in distance education programming if 50% or more of the student’s hours were earned through participation in a distance education curriculum component within the ABE program reporting year. The decision about the student's status made at the end of the year based on the 50% benchmark. Classroom hours and proxy contact hours recorded as separate classes in the state data system.

Distance Learning Policy Counting Contact Hours – There are two possible “types” of contact hours involved in distance education: Synchronous Hours, e.g. for example, orientation, pre- and post-testing, supplemental classroom instruction, live webinars, etc. For all synchronous hours, Minnesota ABE programs will follow the ABE Contact Hour Policy. Asynchronous Hours, i.e. instruction provided when a student works independently in complete instructional units using one or more of the state-approved delivery systems/curricula. For asynchronous hours, the manner in which proxy hours are determined will vary depending upon the curricula used.

Distance Learning Policy Instructional Delivery Models : Distance Education – Students are able to work independently at a distance and have strong computer literacy skills Hybrid – This is a blended instructional delivery model for students who need some in-class pre- teaching, but are able to work independently at a distance and have strong computer literacy skills In-Class – Students need in-class guided instruction and have strong computer literacy skills

Distance Learning Policy For more information about student eligibility, approved distance curricula, and proxy contact hours, please refer to the MN ABE Distance Learning Policy at

Accountability in ABE The National Reporting System (NRS) – core indicators of performance based on program “participants” within a program year:  Educational Functioning Level Completion (assessment)  Entered Employment (data match)  Retained Employment (data match)  Obtain GED (data match)  Enter Post-Secondary Ed. Institution or Training Program (self-report/follow-up)

Federal Accountability MDE-ABE reports MN’s aggregated NRS data annually to the Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE) – US Department of Education (USDOE)  State NRS results are ranked along side each other Negotiate NRS targets annually  Trend = continuous improvement

NRS Educational Functioning Level and Core Indicator Goals PY PY PY PY PY % Completing Each Level/Goal TargetActual TargetActual TargetActual Target Beginning ABE Literacy Beginning Basic Education Low Intermediate Basic Education High Intermediate Basic Education Low Adult Secondary Beginning ESL Literacy *Beginning ESL(Low) Beginning ESL High Low Intermediate ESL High Intermediate ESL Low Advanced ESL (Advanced) High Advanced ESL19 Entered Employment Retained Employment Receipt of Secondary Diploma or GED Placement in Postsecondary Education or Training

State Reporting ABE Program Year = May 1 – April 30 All ABE consortia must report NRS data from the previous program year to Minnesota Department of Education as part of their annual grant application process (June 1)  Table A = all documented enrollees and enrollee hours by NRS level, work-based project learners and official GED testing hours = FUNDING  NRS Tables 1-12 = demographics and other data collected on program participants

Low-Performing Consortia Policy Consortia that perform more than 25 percent below state-established target mean for an area (ABE or ESL, not combined) will be identified by the ABE office and issued a “provisional approval” status for the coming program year These consortia will complete a performance narrative and receive technical assistance throughout the provisional year If the a consortium fails to meet its negotiated targets during the provisional year, other corrective actions may result

Assessment and Testing State Mandate: ABE programs must use NRS approved adult standardized assessments (CASAS & TABE) in order to:  Pre-test and place students in an NRS level within the first 12 hours of instruction  Measure NRS level completion Required Benchmarks for Local Programs:  Level completion – NRS target percentages  Test students every 40 to 60 hours  Maintain a 60% post-test rate for all participants within a program year

Personal Education Plans Each learner enrolled in an ABE program in Minnesota is expected to meet with ABE staff to participate in a personal educational planning (PEP) process to identify their goals and objectives. This PEP should be revisited on an ongoing and regular basis and ABE staff are expected to follow up with learners to determine if they have met their goals.

Student Goal Attainment State Mandate: At the time of intake and as an on-going process throughout the year, programs must have an individual goal-setting process with each student  Establish program goals and expectations for each student  Identify students who have any Secondary NRS Goals of employment, retain employment, GED/diploma or post-sec Required Benchmarks for Local Programs:  Secondary outcome NRS targets  Goal-setting process for each student – must be reasonably attainable within a program year

Student Goal Attainment (continued) Data elements to use for comparing local results with state benchmarks (data needs to be entered regularly):  NRS table 5  Data match results Strategies for Meeting State Benchmarks:  Develop consistent intake and goal-setting processes for all sites  Review data on a regular basis. Check in with students throughout the year, survey them to gather info on secondary outcome measures  Offer focused programming and instruction for students to attain these goals

For more information: Questions? For local program policies and procedures, contact your local program supervisor. For other questions, contact Todd Wagner at or MDE-ABE: NRS: