Innovation in Adult Education: Policy Changes for Reporting Educational Functional Level Gains
July 25th, 2024 | News
Does your adult education program have learners working towards their high school diploma/equivalency (HSDE/E)? Do some of your students enroll in postsecondary education while they are in your program, perhaps through an integrated education and training (IET) course?
June 2024 updates to performance accountability rules now allow these important educational milestones to be measured, documented, and reported as an educational function level (EFL) gain – equal in value to earning points on a National Reporting System (NRS) approved posttest.
Measurable Skill Gains (MSG) describe the learning we measure, document, and report with learners while they are in our programs. WIOA title II adult education has FIVE MSGs:
MSG 1 – educational function level (EFL);
MSG 2 – high school diploma or equivalent (HSD/E);
MSG 3 – postsecondary credit hours;
MSG 4 – training milestones;
MSG 5 – third party exam.
AND there are now FOUR ways to demonstrate an MSG 1 educational function level gain:
MSG 1a – paired standardized testing
MSG 1b – secondary school credits
MSG 1c – transition to postsecondary
MSG 1d – HSD/E subtest
MSG 1d is a completely new addition: “States may report an educational functioning level gain for participants who pass a subtest on a State-recognized high school equivalency examination.”
What does this mean? It means any of your learners who pass a HSD/E milestone enroute to completing their HSD/E have now also made an EFL and given your program a Measurable Skill Gain. For example, if you have GED instruction, when your student passes the Reasoning through the Language Arts section of the GED©, this would count as an MSG 1d – as valuable as a Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE) or Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment Systems (CASAS) posttest gain (MSG 1a). If you have a Spanish GED course, your student could pass the subtest in Spanish to achieve MSG 1d. National adult education data systems (i.e. LACES and others) are making the technical fix necessary to document and get credit for this important learning, and you can report it this program year.
MSG 1c is now updated to remove the idea of EXIT in MSG 1c: “States may report an educational functioning level gain for participants who are enrolled in a program below the postsecondary level and who enroll in State-recognized postsecondary education or training during the program year. A program below the postsecondary level applies to participants enrolled in a basic education program.”
This means a student who is in your program and then also enters postsecondary education – perhaps via an IET program – has achieved an EFL via 1c. There is no need for the learner to EXIT your program in order to count this achievement. This change incentivizes dual enrollment between adult education and postsecondary education to best support adult learners during their educational transition.
These policy updates modernize adult education performance, align with program innovation, and allow you to measure, document, and report the learning that matters for your adult learners.
