McLendon & Polis 2008 - Jefferson Collegevega.jeffco.edu/website/Instructor Resource PDFs...1...

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Missouri Program

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gImprovement Initiative

Presented by Lennox McLendon & Kathi Polis

Quality First

It is all about

Program Improvement!

Getting Better Every Year

22McLendon & Polis 2008McLendon & Polis 2008

at Serving Adult Learners

How did we get here?

Pre-1998

Pre-1998National Literacy Act of 1991Adult Education was a ‘regulatory’ program

5%, 10%, 15%, 20%


Direction from Washington regarding how to run our state and local programs

1998

Congress listenedMissouri is different from New Hampshire.Columbia is different from Kansas City.Program decisions should be made as l t th l ibl


close to the learner as possible.Limit regulationsGrant flexibility

BFO


Post-1998

Performance MeasuresEducational gainsEmploymentSecondary credentialsTransition to postsecondary


DRAW A LINEStart where you are now and get better every year.

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First Crisis!

Performance without DataSix years getting data systems to measure performance

Assessment policiesAssessmentsT i i t


Training everyone to follow protocolsTraining everyone to enter the data correctlyTrying to understand the reports

Second Crisis!


Getting better every year!

Second Crisis

HTHDWDT


Regulations are Easier

Data Data Everywhere!

Now What Do We Do?

Most StatesFind and fix!


The Missouri Advantage

Missouri Advantage

Critical Success FactorsWhat is important to your program?

If there is a concern, what are some of the possible causes?What are some probing questions we could ask to narrow the causes?


to narrow the causes?What are some possible solutions?You are the first to have this resource!

Objectives for Day One

Review the critical success factors and statewide needs

Review the initiatives the state staff have underway to address the statewide needs


statewide needs

Review the roles and responsibilities of the Program Improvement Team

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Objectives for Day 1

Examine locally-identified needs – the Red Flag Reports

Clarify the guidelines and timelines for submission of PI plans


Review the program improvement process, tools, and strategies

Objectives for Day 2

Learner PersistenceExamine the latest research on student persistence.Determine research implications for the delivery of adult education services.E l i t f i t ti l d


Explore a variety of instructional and management strategies.Examine professional development options that can help instructors support student persistence.Review a template for a student persistence learning project.

Challenges

1. Until now, there has been no collection of the evidence-based strategies.

2. We all come to adult education sideways!


It is all about Program Improvement!

There is no front door!


How did YOU get here?

Activity 1

At your tables, share how you got into adult education.


Two Guiding Principles

The Trident

The Wisdom of Crowds


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Pg. 5Pg. 5


Wisdom of Crowds

A group of informed individuals give better advice and wiser recommendations than experts.

People will not argue with things they help develop.


g y p p

Advice: Involve as many of your staff as possible in program improvement activities.

Objective #1

Review the critical success factors andstatewide needs.


statewide needs.

Critical Success Factors

Are students coming?

Are students staying?

A t d t l i ?


Are students learning?

Are Students Coming?

Critical Success FactorsThree year trends on enrollment

Three year trends on contact hours


Are Students Staying?

70% of enrollees attend at least 12 hours and are pre-tested.

55% of the pre-tested students will be post-tested.

Average contact hours as compared to state average h f


contact hours for:ABEASEESOLCorrections

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Are Students Learning?

Performance MeasuresEducational gains

High school credentials


Transitions to postsecondary

Employment

Job retention

Statewide Needs

Early Dropouts

Student Persistence


Secondary Credentials

Transition to Postsecondary

Objective 2

Review the initiatives the state staff have underway to address the statewide needs.


State Program Improvement Initiatives

Early Dropouts

Managed Intake and EnrollmentIdentify managed intake models and build professional development around them


around them.Analyze data from programs using managed enrollment to document its impact.Develop pilot sites for managed enrollment.


Student Persistence

Statewide/regional learner persistence workshops and resources

Support for local programs to conduct their own—conducted by the PIT membersAdding the training to the PDC menu


Promoting NCSALL’s study circles for local programsDeveloping a virtual library of persistence resources

Clear policy (guidance and expectations) so that every practitioner is clear on what is expected and how to fulfill those expectations


Secondary Credentials

Clear guidance/policies on appropriate GED goal setting Training for all appropriate

titi GED l tti


practitioners on GED goal settingIdentification of local program (in-state and out-of-state) models and promising practices for GED completions

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Transition to Postsecondary

Continue work of Transitions TaskforceQuality indicators for college transition to provide clear guidance


transition to provide clear guidance Guidance/policies on appropriate postsecondary goal setting Training for all appropriate practitioners on postsecondary goal setting Crosswalk between TABE and college entrance exams

Ongoing State Office Initiatives

Review of Selected State InitiativesContent standardsProfessional developmentLearning difficultiesGED OnlineContinuous Quality Improvement


Continuous Quality ImprovementSupplemental LiteracyPartnerships/workforce development pilotMarketing

Ongoing State Office InitiativesReview current:

PoliciesProductsProfessional DevelopmentPractice

Interview state and local practitioners.Query other states


Query other states.September 30 report will include:

An analysis of each initiativePositive componentsGaps and/or weaknessesRecommendations and sources for alternative strategies and options

State Staff Professional Development

Electronic SurveyUsing evidence-based practicesFacilitating workgroups Developing policy that provides clear guidance and expectationsCommunicating continuity, sequence and I t ti ( “d j ’)


Integration (no “du jour’)Overseeing pilot tests (no “Gut and Guru”)Measuring impactIntervening in low-performing programs

Staff-wide NeedsIndividual Needs

Objective 3

Review the roles and responsibilities of the Program Improvement Teams.


Why are you here?Why are you here?

The PIT Crew

Wisdom of Crowds

A team approach

Different perspectives


Representative of your colleagues

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The PIT Crew

Your missionYour missionTo regularly communicate with all staff to get them engaged in the PI process

Remember your representative role.To analyze program data for the purposes of

l i d i l ti i ifi t


planning and implementing significant improvements within your programTo track and measure the impact of your PI effortsTo submit PI planning documents to state office

Activity 2 – What do you believe?

What makes an effective Program Improvement Team?

With your PIT crew, make a list of what you


y , ybelieve will be important things for the crew to remember, do, or feel to guide your PI process.

Example: We believe that:All staff should have a voice in the PI process.Adult learners have much to contribute to our PI

process.

Objective 4

Examine and clarify locally-identified needs.


Structure of the Reports

Critical Success Factors

Possible Causes

Probing Questions


Possible Strategies

The Wisdom of Crowds

Activity 3 – Examining the Structure

With your PIT crew, examine the structure of the report.

Make a list of any overall questions or concerns that you have.


Reviewing Your Program Reports

Activity 4 – PIT Crew WorkSelect ONE Red FlagKeep notes from the meeting with your ‘Crowd’

Other critical success factors


Other causesAdditional helpful probing questionsMOST IMPORTANTLY, other strategies that might work.

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Group Discussion

What INSIGHTS did the analysis have for you?

What is still NOT CLEAR?


Objective 5

Clarify the guidelines and timelines for submission of PI plans.


The Big Picture

Preliminary Planning DocumentDue September 15, 2008.

Program Improvement PlansDue November 1, 2008

Implementation of Plan


December, 2008 – May, 2009Progress Report

June 15, 2009

The Big Picture

Preliminary Planning DocumentDue September 15, 2008

[email protected] steps

How, when, who?How you will:

Review performance results with staff

Pg. 7Pg. 7


Review performance results with staffPrioritize needsSet a vision, goals, and performance indicatorsSelect a strategy or approach to pilotPlan and implement the pilotGo to scale and measure impact

The Big Picture

Program Improvement PlanDue November 1, 2008Program profileNeeds assessment and visionGoals and performance indicators

Pg. 10Pg. 10


Strategies and researchActivities and timelineEvaluation

Objective 6

Review the program improvement process, tools, and strategies.


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Getting Started

How do we use the Red Flag reports?How do we engage our fellow staff members in identifying what we need to fix first?How do we pilot test new strategies?H d i l t th


How do we implement the new strategies throughout our program?

Three Resources

The Trident

Electronic powerpoints and handouts from today’s workshop for you to adapt


Going to Scale A step by step guide to program improvement

Pg. 16Pg. 16

The Steps

1. Identifying and prioritizing your program improvement needs

2. Narrowing the root cause using probing questions

3. Setting a vision, goals, and evidence4 L ti d l ti t t i


4. Locating and selecting strategies5. Planning and implementing a pilot

test6. Measuring impact7. Tweaking and going to scale

Identifying and prioritizing your program improvement needs

Identifying program improvement needs

The Red Flag reportConsider what the state office is developing and perhaps eliminate those for now


for now.

Identifying and prioritizing your program improvement needs

Prioritizing which needs to attack firstEngage as many of your staff as possible.

Ask them “How much impact would each have on our program if we could fix it?” 0=minimal impact;


could fix it? 0=minimal impact; 4=major impact

Electronic surveyStaff meeting

Or put each need on a sheet and give each staff member two sticky dots.

Prioritize the top one – two needs you will address this year.

Narrowing the root cause using probing questions

What is causing this part of our program not to work?

Engage as many of the staff as possible.Use the possible causes and probing questions in the Red Flag report to


questions in the Red Flag report to narrow down the causes.You may not be able to isolate it, but the discussion is helpful to understand and clarify the issue.

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Setting a vision, goals, and evidence

For each priority, ask the question:“What would this look like if it were

working perfectly?”

Staff members will have different i i


visions.Blend the different visions.

A common vision makes finding new strategies much easier.


Goals: To reach this vision, we will need to accomplish this…1. …2. …


3. …4. …


Evidence--Ask each staff member“If we pilot test a new strategy to solve this problem, what evidencewhat evidence will you need to be convinced it works?”

P f I di t


Performance IndicatorsFor each goal, include an objective, measurable method for measuring attainment.

Locating and selecting strategies

You now haveA prioritized needAn understanding of the causeA unified vision of what it will look like when it is working perfectly, and


Evidence you will need to collect to satisfy all staff members.

Red Flag reportsNow you can go look for other strategies!

CAELACAELA

Center for Adult English Language Acquisition at the Center for Applied Linguistics.

http://www.cal.org/caela/research/



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TESOLTESOL

Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages

www.tesol.org


professional issues > research


Focus on BasicsFocus on Basics

http://www.ncsall.net/?id=31

Best practices – professional wisdom


Current research on adult learning and literacy

How research is used by adult basic education teachers, counselors, program administrators, and policy makers


Focus on Basics TitlesFocus on Basics Titles

ESOLResearchCorrections EducationModes of DeliveryWorkplace EducationYouthTransitions

TechnologyMathematics InstructionLearning From ResearchWriting InstructionStandards-Based EducationAccountabilityAdult Multiple Intelligences


Curriculum Development"-isms“CounselingStaff DevelopmentLiteracy and HealthAdult DevelopmentFirst-Level LearnersResearch to Practice

Project-Based LearningTheories of ChangeThe GEDLearner MotivationContent-Based InstructionMulti-level ClassroomsReadingWhat is Research?

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ERICERIC

Education Resources Information Center

http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/Home portal


Portal/Home.portal

Access to more than 1.2 million bibliographic records of journal articles and other education-related materials


Putting the Four Steps into PracticePutting the Four Steps into Practice

One of the best sources for ACCESSING research

National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Lit (NCSALL)


Literacy (NCSALL)http://www.ncsall.net/



Best Resource for Program ManagersBest Resource for Program Managers

Program Administrators’ Sourcebook: A Resource on


A Resource on NCSALL’s Research for Adult Education Program Administrators

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Thoughts

Is there evidence that the strategy worked for others?Has it worked in programs similar to ours?Does it fit with other things we are doing?


doing?Will we be able to afford it?Can we find someone who is using it so we can talk to them?

Planning and implementing a pilot test

Engage as many of your staff as possible in planning the pilot test.

Use your best teachers.


Earmark necessary funds.

Planning and implementing a pilot test

Use your pilots to:Test the strategy to make sure it works.Make recommendations of any policy/procedural changes you will have to make.


Make recommendations of how much money it will take to go to scale.Develop the professional development other teachers will need to use the new strategy.Conduct the professional development.

Measuring impact

Document the impact the new strategy had toward solving the problem.Document your developed performance indicators.Document the evidence collected that


Document the evidence collected that staff indicated they needed to be convinced it worked.

Tweaking and going to scale

With the pilot site staff, make any necessary fine tuning.

Set up the professional development, make the policy/procedural changes, secure the funds tell your boss


secure the funds, tell your boss.

Go to scaleIn waves if necessary

Activity 5 -Benchmarking the Steps

Plan ahead.

Meet your deadlines.

Sample benchmark chart Pg. 6Pg. 6


[email protected]

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QUESTIONS?


QUESTIONS?

Quality First

It is all about

Program Improvement


Getting Better Every Year at

Serving Adult Learners

Always willing to help…

Lennox [email protected]

Kathi [email protected]


Reminder—First Steps

Benchmarks

By September 15, email your PPF [email protected]

Page 7Page 7

Page 6Page 6



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