Adult and Community Learning Services (ACLS)

Policy Memorandum 17.03: Assessment Policy Changes — Effective FY17

Assessment Policy Changes — Effective FY17

1. Assessment of Students Enrolled April 1 or After

   Students who are enrolled April 1, 2017 or after will be included in the denominator for the measurable skills gains (MSG).

   Prior to FY17, students enrolled April 1 or after were not included in the denominator of the learning gain standard except under certain conditions.

   With the new accountability system, programs have a measurable skills gains (MSG) target and Educational Functioning Level (EFL) completion is one of the three ways to achieve an MSG outcome.

   Starting FY17, all pre-tests administered within the span of the fiscal year (July 1–June 30) will count towards the program's denominator for MSG regardless of the pre-test date.

   Therefore, students enrolled April 1 or after will be included in the program's MSG target.

   ACLS recommends that programs implement systems to ensure that students enrolled April 1 or after have the minimum of 65 hours (40 hours for students in correctional institutions) between their pre- and post-test (as per ACLS assessment policies) in order make significant progress.

2. Pre- and Post-Assessment Target

   ACLS requires that programs pre- and post-test a minimum of 80% of their students as part of the revised assessment policy.

   Pre- and post percentage is no longer a performance standard and ACLS will no longer assign points to this target as per the performance standard memo issued on November 2, 2016. ACLS will however continue to track pre/post assessment data through SMARTT and Cognos.

   Programs should continue to employ best practices for attendance and retention in order to aim for 100% pre/post testing rate and to ensure that students progress in their academic goals.