Massachusetts Department of
Elementary and Secondary Education
75 Pleasant Street, Malden, Massachusetts 02148-4906
Telephone: (781) 338-3000
TTY: N.E.T. Relay 1-800-439-2370
Adult and Community Learning Services
TO:
ABE Directors, SABES Coordinators, WIA Administrators, Career Centers, LWIB,
Teacher/All Staff
FROM:
Jolanta Conway, ABE State Director
DATE:
January 21, 2016
RE:
What's in this Mailing?
The monthly mailing for January will be posted to our website shortly. Please review the information and share with your staff.

Assessment Update:
-BEST Plus Recertification Reminder-Recertification Using Activity #2 will be due February 26, 2016 (attached)
-FY16 TABE CLAS-E Recertification – new for FY16 – Change in Procedure for Submitting CLAS-E Writing Scoring
Recertification
-BEST Plus Program Recertification Form - February 2016 for FY17

Family Engagement:
- Did you respond our January 4 invitation to participate in a Family Engagement in ABE Needs Assessment? If not,
please consider doing so today. This five minute survey will help us better provide programs with support, specifically by
helping us understand how many parents and family members are enrolled in ABE programs; what information and
resources they need to achieve their family goals; and what PD ABE and ESOL teachers and programs would like to
receive. To participate, please visit: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/2442626/Family-Engagement-in-ABE-NeedsAssessment
- Innovations in Family Engagement to Bring About Equity
- Family Engagement in Early Childhood as a way to Bring About Equal Educational Opportunities
- Professional Development to Build Capacity to Engage All Families

Funding Opportunity: Mass Humanities’ Common Good Reads
ABE Programs are eligible to apply for a new discussion grant from Mass Humanities called Common Good Reads.
Common Good Reads funds reading and discussion programs for public libraries, Adult Basic Education programs, and
other community organizations. Common Good Reads is tied to Mass Humanities’ Negotiating the Social Contract
theme and makes use of Pulitzer Prize-winning literature and journalism. Programs can contact Abbye Meyer at Mass
Humanities with any questions about the application process or program.

Professional Development Announcement:
ACLS requires all ESE-funded ABE advisors to complete the SABES Foundations for New Staff: The Art of
Advising course in the first 12 months of employment. This is a 10-hour course that is typically held over two days. The
next Art of Advising course, offered by the SABES PD Center for Education and Career Planning is scheduled for March
9 and 23. See http://www.sabes.org/calendar for more information.
SAVE THE DATE: The ACLS and SABES Fourth Annual Conference on Implementing the CCR Standards will be held
on Tuesday, October 18 and Wednesday, October 19, 2016 at the Mariott SpringHill Devens Common Center, Devens,
MA. In order to accommodate everyone who would like to attend the conference, we will be repeating the same one-day
conference on two consecutive days. Look for more details in future mailings.
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
SMARTT Update:
-Wait List Verification – Due January 28, 2016
-NRS Cohort Follow Up
-Data Lock-Out and Automatic Exit
-SMARTT/Cognos Trainings and Support
-Name that Data System

WIOA Update
The Massachusetts Combined State Plan (MassWorkforce Issuance #27-100) is now available for review and
comment (30 day public comment period). It is located at http://www.mass.gov/massworkforce/issuances/wioainformation/27-state-plan/ Instructions on how to submit comments are provided on the website:
http://www.mass.gov/massworkforce/state-plan/
OCTAE issued a Program Memorandum on Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education under the
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act on January 11, 2016. The purpose of this memorandum is to clarify
statutory provisions related to the expanded use of integrated English literacy and civics education, which are education
services provided to English language learners under Title II of WIOA.
OCTAE issued a Program Memorandum on Competition and Award of Adult Education and Family Literacy Act
Funds under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act on December 9, 2015. The program memorandum
provides answers to frequently asked questions that may assist States in determining when they would need to compete
and award AEFLA funds under WIOA. States are required to award new grants under WIOA no later than July 1, 2017.
You can find the two memoranda on OCTAE’s website under announcements:
http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/AdultEd/wioa-reauthorization.html
ACLS will issue an Open and Competitive RFP in the fall of 2016 and award new WIOA grants for implementation
starting July 1, 2017.
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Assessment Update, January 2016
BEST Plus Recertification Reminder—Recertification Using Activity #2 will be due February 26, 2016
Each year, practitioners who are certified to score the BEST Plus assessment are notified by ACLS in early January that the
recertification process will begin soon, and this is your notice! Program directors are responsible for giving this relevant
information to their staff.
BEST Plus test administrators will have one month to score a sample set of assessments and submit them to their Program
Director/ESOL Assessment Coordinator so that she/he may send them to Joan Ford, SABES Director of Assessment
Professional Development. The deadline for getting the completed Scoring Activity # 2 to the SABES Center for ABE
Assessment is Friday, February 26.

There are no exceptions for late submissions, and test administrators who are not recertified are not permitted to
administer or score the BEST Plus.

Practitioners receiving their Initial Certification in FY16 will not have to recertify until FY17.

The SABES Center for ABE Assessment will inform Program Directors/ESOL Assessment Coordinators of their staff’s
recertification status by the end of March 2016. We strongly recommend that programs avoid last minute submissions.
Recertifications will be processed in the order in which they are received, and thus programs will be notified sooner than
the end of March.

Those who do not pass the scoring activity will be contacted to receive remediation.

*Note: no certificates will be given; retain your notification email from the SABES Center for ABE Assessment about
successfully passing the BEST Plus Recertification Activity.
Check to Determine Whether High Scoring BEST Plus Test Administrators Need to Recertify
BEST Plus test administrators who have scored consistently in the "recommended" area for Listening Comprehension,
Language Complexity, and Communication in the annual recertification for the past three years may recertify every third year
instead of every year. Practitioners who benefit from this change must also continue to test at least 20 students each year to
maintain their fidelity to the BEST Plus scoring rubric. If a program director needs more information, please contact the SABES
Center for ABE Assessment.
Procedure for Submitting BEST Plus Recertifications
We ask that Program Directors/ESOL Assessment Coordinators send BEST Plus recertification scoring activities together with a
list of practitioners’ names rather than each practitioner sending their own separately. Be sure that the practitioner’s name is on
every scoring activity sheet. A BEST Plus Recertification Form
has been developed for your use. Program
Directors/ESOL Assessment Coordinators are required to use this form when submitting BEST Plus recertification
forms.
All information regarding successful recertification or any need for remediation will also go to the Program Director/ESOL
Assessment Coordinator who needs to pass this information to their staff.
We believe this system will result in clear communication between programs and the SABES Center for ABE Assessment, and
we appreciate your cooperation.
FY16 TABE CLAS E Recertification
New for FY16: Change in Procedure for Submitting CLAS-E Writing Scoring Recertifications
The CLAS-E Writing Scoring recertification process will begin on March 1, 2016, and the completed recertification packet will be
due to the SABES Center for ABE Assessment on March 25, 2016.
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This year, there is a revised method for submitting CLAS-E Writing Scoring Recertification Forms.
There are two steps in this process:
1. We ask that Program Directors/ ESOL Assessment Coordinators fill out the CLAS E Writing Program Recertification
Form and send it to the SABES Center for ABE Assessment by the first week in March, 2016. A copy of this form will be
sent out together with the recertification test package in February.
2. Practitioners will then be completing the recertification score sheet online. Paper documents will not be accepted. The
link to the online recertification score sheet will be made available to Program Directors/ESOL Assessment Coordinators
at the time the recertification test is released (end of February 2016).
All information regarding successful recertification or any need for remediation will also go to the Program Director/ESOL
Assessment Coordinator who needs to pass this information to their staff.
We believe this revised system will result in clear communication between programs and the professional development
assessment office, and we appreciate your help in this matter.
For assessment-related questions, contact Dana Varzan-Parker, Assessment Specialist, at
dvarzan-parker@doe.mass.edu or (781) 338-3811.
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Family Engagement

Did you respond our January 4 invitation to participate in a Family Engagement in ABE Needs Assessment? If not,
please consider doing so today. This five minute survey will help us better provide programs with support, specifically by
helping us understand how many parents and family members are enrolled in ABE programs; what information and
resources they need to achieve their family goals; and what PD ABE and ESOL teachers and programs would like to
receive. To participate, please visit: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/2442626/Family-Engagement-in-ABE-NeedsAssessment

Many Massachusetts children lack access to resources and opportunities that promote learning. The Harvard Family
Research Project (HFRP) offers research-based resources that promote educational equity by engaging families as
partners and advocates in children's learning. These resources help keep alive the dream that all children will have
opportunities to learn anywhere and anytime. Please visit the HFRP website for these and other resources.
Innovations in Family Engagement to Bring About Equity
 Quilting Stories of Innovation in Family Engagement
 Latino Family Engagement Resources
 How Families, Schools, and Communities Are Reshaping Family Engagement to Reach All Learners



Ensuring Every Child Succeeds Through Anywhere, Anytime Learning
Family Engagement in Anywhere, Anytime Learning
Libraries Helping to Close the Opportunity Gap: Maryland Library Partnership
Fighting the Achievement Gap
Family Engagement in Early Childhood as a way to Bring About Equal Educational Opportunities


Sharing Assessment Data With Preschool Families in Preparation for Kindergarten
Building Bridges to Success


Professional Development to Build Capacity to Engage All Families
Create Your Own Case Toolkit: Building Your Family Engagement Skills and Knowledge
Blended Learning: Preparing and Supporting Educators to Engage Families
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SMARTT Update, January 2016
1) Waitlist Verification - Due January 22, 2016
The Waitlist Verification as listed on page 12 of the FY 2015 ACLS Massachusetts Policies for Effective Adult Basic
Education in Community Adult Learning Centers and Correctional Institutions is due annually by December 1. The deadline
for this year was extended to January 22, 2016. The waitlist verification screen can be accessed by clicking on “Waitlist” on
the left menu and then “Waitlist Verification.” The Waitlist Verification screen provides a checkbox to verify that you have
reviewed the waitlist data by length of time:
When you check the “Signature Verification” box you are affirming that: “The waitlist information contained within this
report is true and accurate and does not need to be updated or corrected.”
The “Waitlist Search” screen provides the capability to search students by Site, Period on Waitlist (less than 1 year, 1-2
years, 2-3 years, more than 3 years), Last Name, Status, (current, all, removed, intaken) and Type (ABE or ESOL).
You can review the waitlist policy at http://www.doe.mass.edu/acls/abeprogram/GuidelinesCI.pdf.
2) NRS Cohort Follow-Up
Please continue to follow-up with students listed on the “NRS Cohort” screen who are exited and require follow-up. The
fiscal year is half over, so please follow up quarterly with your students who appear on the NRS Cohort screen. When
following up on students who entered post-secondary education, make sure that the date entered is after the exit date which
is shown on the NRS Cohort screen. If you are following up on the employment cohorts, you need to ask the student when
she/he became employed after leaving the program. Note that data matching uses the middle date of the middle quarter
month so dates do not need to be exact.
 For enter employment, the dates must be in the quarter AFTER the student exited.
 For retained employment, the dates must be in the third quarter AFTER the student exited. You do not want to
follow-up too soon for the retained employment cohort.
For more information concerning the cohort measure definitions, populations, and timeframes for follow-up, please see
pages 32-33 within the NRS Implementation Guidelines at http://www.nrsweb.org/docs/implementationguidelines.pdf.
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3) Data Lock-Out and Automatic Exit
Please remember to enter November’s attendance no later than January 31, 2016, at which point the data will be locked out.
The next automatic exit for students was on January 15, 2016. SMARTT automatically exited students from programs when
both of the following occur:
 No attendance was recorded for that student during the months of August, September, and October, which have
been locked out.
 No attendance has yet been entered during the months of November and December for which data is still allowed.
4) SMARTT/Cognos Trainings and Support
SABES is offering the following trainings:
Intro to Cognos (Online): January 11-29, 2016
SMARTT / Cognos Update: Reviewing Mid Year Data (Live Webinar):
 January 26, 2016 at 10:00am
 January 28, 2016 at 5:00pm
 February 4, 2016 at 1:00pm
 February 5, 2016 at 1:00pm
SMARTT New User (Online): February 1-26, 2016
Intermediate Cognos (Online): February 22-26, 2016
You can register online by visiting: http://www.sabes.org/calendar/.
For SMARTT or Cognos technical assistance, bookmark http://smartthelp.zendesk.com. On that page, near the upper right
corner, click "Submit a Request” or search the help files there.
5) Name that Data System
As you know, ACLS is working to migrate our data collection system (SMARTT) to a new web-based platform called
SchoolBrains. However, we’re not sure we like the name, "SchoolBrains" so we’ve come up with a few alternatives. Please
click on the link to vote for your favorite name or to add one of your own. If your suggested name is chosen, we’ll give you
bragging rights, unless you prefer to remain anonymous.
http://goo.gl/forms/UQEcLpJwS3
Questions? Please contact Russell Fenton at russell.fenton@doe.mass.edu.
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