Virginia is.  Check out http://www.theliteracyinstitute.org/efset/ and 
http://www.efsetva.org/.  This is a new program that is being piloted.

**************************************************************
Lauren Ellington
Online Training Specialist, 
Learning Disabilities Specialist, and
Writer/Editor of Update and Update on LD
Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center
Virginia Commonwealth University
817 W. Franklin Street, Room 221  |  P.O. Box 842037
Richmond, VA  23284-2037
Phone:  1-800-237-0178 or  804-828-6158 
Fax:  804-828-7539
http://www.valrc.org



"Julie  McKinney" <julie_mcKinney at worlded.org> 
Sent by: focusonbasics-bounces at nifl.gov
05/12/2006 12:25 PM
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To
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Subject
[FocusOnBasics 276] Re: Supporting out of school study






Does anyone else out there do any kind of distance education or have
methods to keep students studying when have to drop class for a while?
Part of the NCSALL research Barb mentioned suggests that most students,
over the course of several years, are forced to move in and out of class
programs, due to changing life circumstances. This means that programs
will need to move toward offering support for students to keep learning
during their out-of-class phases. So it is interesting to hear about
Katrina's program and others that are working towards that. 

Katrina, I'm also curious to know what you mean when you put students
"in the database" and what your "online component" is like? 

Julie

Julie McKinney
Discussion List Moderator
World Education/NCSALL
jmckinney at worlded.org


>>> khinson at future-gate.com 05/12/06 6:56 AM >>>

I thought I might have misunderstood. However, I do think my program is
moving in the direction you're talking about. I know we're looking at
growing our distance education component in basic skills to do just what
you're talking about. We want to be able to reach students who can't
come to a "normal/regular" class time but who are motivated to learn on
their own.  The software we use has an online component to it that makes
this a viable option for us - in addition we're looking at creating some
components similar to blackboard courses that we can offer that address
the needs of our students as well. What we've talked about doing is at
least having them come out to do a pre/post test, some kind of midterm
and some kind of exit exam if they're adult high school oriented and if
they're GED oriented, they would have to come on campus to take their
practice test and the offical test. If they're improving they're basic
skills for employment etc, they would just need to demonstrate progress
on their pre/post test scores.  There are ways to capture "seat" time
for such students as well even if they are not part of a "traditona"
environment. The whole idea is to find ways to help students progress
towards their goal even when they feel like life is preventing them from
doing so. We also have video component with workbook materials. Students
who can't come/enroll in a class can "check" out the videos, complete
the workbook component and any other materials that the instructor deems
necessary and still make progress towards whatever the desired
goal/outcome might be.  What we run into is trying not to pull students
from the existing classes for these options but to actually target the 
information to that population who really needs this kind of option in
order to pursue their goals.
We're only in the beginning phases of this - well, we've been working on
it for almost a year and still trying to get the glitches out.

Regards
Katrina Hinson

>>> Barbara Garner <b.garner4 at verizon.net>  >>>

It's great, Katrina, that you have students who do homework while a
program is in session and even more wonderful that some do online work
during school breaks.

You're right, though, my interest right now, is a little different: I"m
curious about whether anyone is expressly doing things to let students
know that if they have to stop coming for some reason, they can continue
to study on their own. Does anyone do that, and introduce students to
self-study materials they can purchse or borrow, or online resources? 
Barb Garner 
====================
From: Katrina Hinson <khinson at future-gate.com>
Date: Thu May 11 18:42:04 CDT 2006
To: focusonbasics at nifl.gov, b.garner4 at verizon.net
Subject: Re: [FocusOnBasics 271]  Supporting out of school study

I'm not exactly sure I understand the question or if I read it
correctly. At first glance however, what springs to mind for me is my
students who study outside of class as well as attend on a regular or
semi-regular basis.  My most successful students are the ones who study
in and out of class. They'll ask for additional work or they'll work
online via several computer programs we use. They'll even actively seek
out information online to use as study aids such as math websites or
practice test websites etc.  We don't have any formal supports in place
for students but I do know that sometimes teachers will come by and say
'can you put John/Jane Smith in the database so they can do some work
online during Spring Break or Semester Break etc." Most of the time when
I've encountered students who are not actively participating in class or
in a program, it's usually because they don't have the time to devote to
studying whether it's because of work, family or personal reasons etc.
We do try to accomodate students though and our online component allows
us to help students who sometimes cannot attend a traditional classroom
setting.  At the moment that's all I can think of.


Katrina


>>> Barbara Garner <b.garner4 at verizon.net> 05/11/06 8:46 AM >>>

Research coming out the NCSALL Lab School in Portland, OR, finds that
many people who have participated in ABE or would be good candidates for
ABE study on their own. 

Has anyone's program taken this into account and put into place
supports for students who want to continue to study on their own when
not actively participating in a program? If so, what do these supports
look like? How has it gone?

Barb Garner
Editor, Focus on Basics
Sharon, MA
b.garner4 at verizon.net 

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