Hi Jodi:

Hmmm!  I honestly never thought to look at how students are retained and
progress during the following year/s...great thought!  I am going to
have to go back and look at this data to see if I can find any
trends...thanks for the idea!  Luanne

-----Original Message-----
From: assessment-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:assessment-bounces at nifl.gov]
On Behalf Of JoAnn (Jodi) Crandall
Sent: Friday, April 20, 2007 4:29 AM
To: The Assessment Discussion List
Cc: The Assessment Discussion List
Subject: [Assessment 777] Re: Using Data for Program Improvement

Luanne,

This is consistent with some research I've done with Forrest Chisman and
several people at adult ESOL programs in community colleges.  Managed
enrollment not only increases attendance and learning gains, it also
increases retention and enrollment in the next ESOL level.

Jodi Crandall

> Good morning:

>

> How interesting to hear from a range of institutions---I get so

focused

> on my programs that it is interesting to hear from other types of

> organizations and structures.

>

>

>

> For my students, motivation isn't an issue at all.  We have a lengthy

> wait list - depending on the level, students could wait as little as 6

> months or as long as 2 years to get into our program.  Consequently,

> they are pretty thrilled to finally be there, and eager to

participate.

>

>

>

> For my population, (adult ESOL learners---a large majority in the

25-44

> age range) the issue is juggling demands on their time.  The majority

> work at least one job (many work 2 or more) and have children in

school.

> Our classes are in the evening, since over 90% of the population we

> serve work during the day.  Many rush directly from work to class, and

> might be late due to mandatory overtime, or a family need that

requires

> attention prior to attending class.  Given the lack of access to

> adequate preventative health care that many of our students face,

there

> are ongoing health problems for many.  Add this to the occasional trip

> back to their native country for a death in the family, or some other

> type of family emergency, and frankly I'm amazed that they are able to

> maintain such a strong commitment to their studies.

>

>

>

> Some of our research and data analysis have uncovered these issues--

> still it remains quite a challenge to respond to these problems.  We

> initially adjusted our program plan and schedule to allow for longer

> breaks during the holidays, when many students wish to return to their

> native countries.  We also incorporate school vacations in our

planning.

> When an individual student starts to have a problem, we meet with him

or

> her to see how we can help.  It doesn't always work, but sometimes we

> are able to communicate with employers, and that's been helpful for

many

> students.  Sometimes, we offer students a "leave of absence" to deal

> with pressing personal matters, and invite them to return when things

> are more settled.  All of these strategies have evolved over years of

> looking at attendance/retention data, and discussions with focus

groups.

> These strategies have had a positive impact, and students appreciate

our

> responsiveness to their needs.

>

>

>

> The first year that we implemented our "managed enrollment" (vs. open

> entry/open exit) model, our retention increased from 74% to 90%.  Our

> attendance has increased from 68% to now over 82%.  We all know how

> critical it is to keep students long enough for them to reach their

> goals...

>

>

>

> Which brings me to my final point.  We all serve so many

masters---NRS,

> our funders (in my case DOE); our parent organizations (for me a

> community college) and we are constantly looking at data to justify

our

> existence and demonstrate our effectiveness.  Let's be realistic, if

we

> want to retain our funding, we have to show results-which is as it

> should be.

>

>

>

> For us; however, when we look at our data, it is always with an eye to

> how we can better serve our students and respond to their needs.  The

> difference is subtle, but powerful.  It's a lot easier to get staff

and

> students on board with planning and change when they can see a direct

> result for our students than to respond to a bunch of charts and

> mandates from "higher ups".

>

>

>

> Luanne Teller

>

>

>

> ________________________________

>

> From: assessment-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:assessment-bounces at nifl.gov]

> On Behalf Of Fred Lowenbach

> Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2007 5:15 PM

> To: The Assessment Discussion List

> Subject: [Assessment 749] Re: Using Data for Program Improvement

>

>

>

> Hopefully everyone participating in this discussion regarding adult

> literacy is aware that almost everything you are saying applies to the

> results for students in school as well.  Coming from a public school

> background you could always see the effect that high mobility rates

had

> on overall student results.  Schools with those highest rates almost

> always struggled to meet standard on state measures connected to NCLB.

> This was the case with overall populations as well as various

subgroups

> that were tested.  The same applies to student retention, or for that

> matter attendance.  As a rule, student who attended regularly achieved

> much higher grades than students whose attendance was far less

> consistent.  This then followed suit with results on standardized

> testing and ultimately on graduation rates.

>

>

>

> The entire education community, whether it is involved with adult

> literacy, or the traditional K-12 curriculum is faced with the same

> thing.  The key to increasing literacy and to closing achievement gaps

> starts with getting and retaining students.

>

>

>

> ________________________________

>

> From: assessment-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:assessment-bounces at nifl.gov]

> On Behalf Of Condelli, Larry

> Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2007 3:33 PM

> To: The Assessment Discussion List

> Subject: [Assessment 748] Re: Using Data for Program Improvement

>

>

>

> Sandy,

>

>

>

> A few years ago I did a study on adult ESL literacy students that

> focused primarily on instruction.  But we also looked at retention.

We

> found that the proportion of time an ESL literacy student attended

> (measure by hours attended over total hours class was scheduled) had a

> positive effect on oral English skills and reading comprehension, all

> else being equal (using a complex statistical model).

>

>

>

> The possible reasons for this effect are intriguing and need more

> research.  Because this measure showed an effect regardless of how

many

> hours the student actually attended (or how many hours per week a

> student attended), my interpretation is that this measure is a measure

> of motivation (although I have no data or other information to check

> this).  In other words, the student who continues to attend over time,

> despite all of the other competing demands on time, is one that is

more

> motivated.  This motivation helps learning.

>

>

>

> I think if true, it does have implications for structuring

instructional

> segments.

>

>

>

> ________________________________

>

> From: assessment-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:assessment-bounces at nifl.gov]

> On Behalf Of Sandy Strunk

> Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2007 5:38 PM

> To: The Assessment Discussion List

> Subject: [Assessment 736] Re: Using Data for Program Improvement

>

> Larry,

>

> Could you tell us more about the ESL research on percentage of

possible

> time attended? This is a new idea to me. Does it reflect greater

> intensity as opposed to lesser intensity for a longer duration - or do

> you think something else is going on? If your research is correct,

there

> are certainly implications for how we structure instructional

segments.

>

>

>

> Sandy Strunk

>

>

>

> ________________________________

>

> From: assessment-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:assessment-bounces at nifl.gov]

> On Behalf Of Condelli, Larry

> Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2007 5:31 PM

> To: The Assessment Discussion List

> Subject: [Assessment 735] Re: Using Data for Program Improvement

>

>

>

> Hi Ella,

>

>

>

> Disaggregating by class can be very effective to understanding of what

> is going on.

>

>

>

> I wanted to comment on your last remark about tracking consistency of

> attendance.

>

>

>

> Attendance and persistence are a very popular topics these days and

most

> data systems allow for tracking of student attendance and persistence

> patterns.  One thing you might consider looking at learners who "stop

> out" -- have sporadic attendance patterns, attending for a while and

> coming back later. Another measure is the percent of time possible

that

> learners attend.  You compute this by dividing the attended hours by

> total possible (e.g., learner attends 8 hours a week for a class

> scheduled 10 hours a week=80%).  Some research I did on ESL students

> showed that those who attended a higher proportion of possible time

> learned more, independent of total hours.  I think this is so because

> this measure reflects student motivation to attend.

>

>

>

> Identifying and studying "stop out" learners might tell you a lot

about

> why these type of students don't attend more regularly and can inform

> you of needs, which could help in designing classes and programs for

> them.

>

>

>

> ________________________________

>

> From: assessment-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:assessment-bounces at nifl.gov]

> On Behalf Of EllaBogard at cs.com

> Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2007 4:47 PM

> To: assessment at nifl.gov

> Subject: [Assessment 732] Re: Using Data for Program Improvement

>

> Dear Collegues:

>

> Here at Franklinton Learning Center, we use data everyday in our

program

> to help us track and improve the end results coming out of our

program.

> We use enrollment data to check the reach of our program, average

hours

> attended data to check the depth of engagement of students, and

numbers

> of students throught he door versus number completeing enrollment to

> help us improve retention in the crucial orientation period of

classes.

>

> We have a program called ABLELink here in Ohio that has made it very

> easy to track some areas. It has also allowedus to compare statistics

> from one year to another so we know how we are doing in comparison to

> previous years. By tracking information collected on attendance,

> educational gain, hours of engagement and accomplishments, we have

been

> able to improve all of these efforts.

>

> Tracking and constantly checking this data is what has made it

possible

> to improve. We can easily pull up reports on testing, who has tested,

> progress made, who hasn't tested, attendance, etc. We can organize

that

> information by class, by teacher, by program, or by site, which allows

> us to compare effectiveness of programs and staff and assign

> responsibility for improvement where needed.

>

> I would like to be able to track consistency of attendance over time

not

> just total hours attended. I think this might give a better picture of

> the progress to be expected than the total time attended does. I would

> also like to understand more about how I can use all of the ABLELink

> data collected to improve my programs overall effectiveness.

>

> Respectfully submitted by,

> Ella Bogard

>

> Ella Bogard, Executive Director

> Franklinton Learning Center

> 1003 West Town Street

> Columbus, Ohio 43222-1438

>

> Phone: (614) 221-9151

> Fax: (614) 221-9131

>

> -------------------------------

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>



-- 
JoAnn (Jodi) Crandall
Professor, Education Department
Director, Ph.D. Program in Language, Literacy & Culture
Coordinator, Peace Corps Master's International Program in
ESOL/Bilingual
Education
University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250
ph:    410-455-2313/2376  fax:   410-455-8947/1880
email: crandall at umbc.edu
www.umbc.edu/llc/
www.umbc.edu/esol/
www.umbc.edu/esol/peacecorps.html



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