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[Assessment 791] Re: Using Data for Program ImprovementBorge, Toni tborge at bhcc.mass.eduFri Apr 20 14:55:04 EDT 2007
Yes, when parents move so do their children. The public school system here has a very low graduation rate and a big factor is the number of students who haven't dropped out but have moved out. And not surprising, their performance on meeting standards is not high no matter how hard the teachers in the system work to address the needs of the students. Toni Toni F. Borge Adult Education & Transitions Program Director Bunker Hill Community College Chelsea Campus 175 Hawthorne Street Chelsea, MA 02150 Phone: 617-228-2108 * Fax:617-228-2106 E-mail: tborge at bhcc.mass.edu "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." Martin Luther King Jr. ________________________________ 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 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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