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Recruiting students or marketing our Adult ESOL Programs will be critical to the success of any program by ensuring enough students for the program to thrive and prosper. Healthy enrollment numbers can allow Adult ESOL Programs to offer more distinct levels of instruction so that student needs can be met. As students needs are met through effective instruction aimed at specific proficiency or functioning levels, retention of students within the program until their goals are met should also increase.
Retaining ESOL students until they complete their goals has long been a challenge for adult ESOL educators. New guidelines for reporting instructional/contact hours will make retention of Adult ESOL students a "high stakes" investment of time and effort as those students who do not attend a minimum of twelve instructional/assessment hours cannot be counted for Full Time Equivalent (FTE) funding. Also, funding will be calculated from the first and last day of instruction so retention through the end of any course is an additional challenge. However, retention of students is critical to their success, so retention of students should raise our completion rates while ensuring students achieve their ultimate goals.
Concerns about workload associated with adult general education courses have led to the development of new instructional hours/FTE reporting procedures. Please use this link to print, read and understand the Guidelines for Instructional/Contact Hour Reporting.
SUPPORT. Student attendance and persistence
improve when support services meet students' nonacademic
needs.
- Let students know that a support network is available, and help them establish links/rapport with the staff and other students.
- Provide educational and career-planning counseling. During intake, help students clarify their purposes for enrolling and set appropriate, specific goals. Help students establish realistic expectations; compatibility between student abilities and expectations; and program requirements and expectations leads to student satisfaction and success.
- Establish caring, trusting relationships. Demonstrating respect and concern and expressing confidence and encouragement help students overcome self-doubts and become more confident and motivated.
- Provide an intervention program that teaches problem-solving skills and coping strategies and helps students manage personal as well as educational transitions.
- Refer students with other nonacademic needs (transportation, child-care, employability skills, job placement, health care, etc.) to appropriate agencies/services.
- Encourage or build on family support.
INSTRUCTION. High-quality instruction
is the foundation of effective student retention.
- Conduct a successful first class; "reach" every student.
- Use the correct Adult ESOL Progress Report or Standardized Syllabus as a guide to help you plan your instruction. Allow students to chart their own progress on the standardized syllabus to show them what they've learned if you like, or keep examples of students' work and track their progress for them. Adults respond well to interactive but structured classroom instruction with a clear plan.
- Build an adult-learner-centered, rather than a program-centered, program; apply adult learning principles, which include self-directed learning.
- Practice joint planning, regularly review students' learning goals for possible changes, and assess progress toward meeting those goals.
- Help students convert their gains in self-confidence and higher expectations of self into expanded learning plans and new educational goals.
- Offer instruction that meets the purposes of students. Ensure that sessions are meaningful and productive so that students recognize their value and want to attend regularly.
- Provide clear, thorough explanations of content in a patient manner.
- Offer opportunities for students to apply learning as soon as possible so that they can perceive benefits.
- Provide feedback as soon as possible after performance. Regular feedback with checklists or graphs provides tangible evidence of progress and helps sustain motivation.
- Employ strategies that emphasize cooperation and maximize learner involvement in order to accelerate learning and foster self-direction.
- Plan strategies for periods when student progress is slow and students are at a high risk for withdrawal; focus on the importance of the small steps students make and the effort needed to succeed.
- Obtain student feedback about progress in relation to goals. Student participation fosters a sense of empowerment.
PROGRAM COMPONENTS. When program functions
focus on student success, students benefit and retention
rates improve.
- Recruitment. Provide appropriate information about the program (its scope, benefits, appropriateness to needs, etc.).
- Orientation. Center intake processes on program completion. Describe attendance expectations and the commitment needed, discuss student needs and expectations, and establish learning goals.
- Assessment and Placement. Develop a system for placing students, diagnosing skill needs, monitoring progress, certifying skill gains and mastery, and identifying affective needs.
- Instruction. Ensure that personnel are qualified and trained.
- Recognition. Recognize student achievement, time invested, and dedication through a program-wide activity (as well as in the classroom).
- Evaluation. Institute an early-detection and counseling system to identify and address problems before they reach a crisis level and the student drops out.
- Support system. Establish processes for student referral and coordinate/collaborate with other agencies to expand program capacity to deliver services.
- Student-contact system. Initiate activities for students (support-group parties, etc.). Create a contact system that includes no-show and excessive absentee follow-up.
Listed above are suggestions for retaining students. Have you used similar activities in your classroom or at your ESOL program? Perhaps you have some special activity for developing a sense of community and retaining students. Please share your ideas with other ESOL teachers in Florida. Post 3 to 5 sentences to the bulletin board.
- Greater accountability for adult education (ABE, GED, AHS, ESOL) programs.
- Program funding will be driven by student mastery of Literacy Completion Points (LCPs): student achievement of academic or workforce competencies.
- Adult student gains (LCPs) are shown through standardized instruments or for Citizenship, Workplace Readiness, and Literacy for Adult ESOL Learners or Academic ESOL, through Progress Reports (formerly Curriculum Checklists).
- Funding for adult education programs will be determined by LCPs for student progression from one placement level to the next or student program completion.
- Student orientation, recruitment, and retention are critical factors to program success.
The Florida 1998 Workforce Development legislation requires adult education programs to document student progress and educational gains. Literacy Completion Points (LCPs) will determine student progress. Subsequent changes in State Board Rule, effective October, 2004, and subsequent changes in 2006, mandate that ESOL students' progress and LCPs must be measured according to the following guidelines:
- For students enrolled in English Literacy/Adult ESOL Levels Foundations through Advanced, scale score improvements must be measured by an approved test, such as CASAS, BEST, or BEST Plus. (See Component One for guidance on approved tests.) *school districts and community colleges may use any of the listed state-approved tests.
- For students enrolled in Literacy for Adult ESOL Learners
Levels A, B, and C, ESOL Citizenship, Academic Skills,
or ESOL Workforce Readiness, improvement of literacy or
workforce readiness skills may be documented with the
appropriate completed Student Progress Reports.
Only gains demonstrated on standardized assessment instruments, such as CASAS, BEST or BEST Plus are acceptable for LCP attainment for English Literacy/Adult ESOL Levels Foundations through Advanced.
For ESOL Literacy Levels A, B and C, Citizenship, Workplace Readiness and ESOL Academic Skills only, mastery of the performance standards as demonstrated by a completed Progress Report is an acceptable measure of student progress and LCP attainment. Student achievement of the competencies on these checklists is verified by the instructor's signature beside each standard.
Although instructors will certify each student's achievement
of competencies with a signature on the appropriate Progress
Report, districts generally require that examples of student
work demonstrating mastery of these competencies be kept
in a student portfolio. Your students' Progress
Reports which have been counted for LCP attainment must
be maintained in a permanent recordkeeping system in an
auditable fashion. Instructors should talk with local supervisors
for further clarification of your district or institution's
policies for documentation.
An exit test or other portfolio documentation might be required by your district or institution, these documents cannot replace the signed Progress Reports The purpose of student portfolios is to measure what students have learned; therefore, work saved in a portfolio should be representative of a student's ability as related to a particular competency. Portfolios might contain:
- The Progress Report, the state-mandated list of targeted
competencies for Literacy Level A, B or C, Citizenship,
Workplace Readiness, or Adult ESOL Academic Skills must
be maintained in record in an auditable fashion for all
LCPs claimed. Check with your supervisor to determine
procedures for cataloging and saving Progress Reports
as the progress report is the one required item
that must be retained in order to claim LCPs.
- Examples of student's work showing mastery of competencies (Recommended but some districts might not require. Please check with your district or institution).
- Or tests containing items from the state's LCP exit tests which demonstrate mastery of the performance standards.
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