The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Department of Elementary & Secondary Education
75 Pleasant Street, Malden, Massachusetts 02148-5023
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, Acting ABE State Director
DATE:
April 11, 2014
RE:
What's in this Mailing?
Attached is the monthly mailing for April and will be posted shortly to our ACLS website. Please review the information and
share with your staff.

ABE Directors’ Meeting Registration – Reminder - Tuesday, April 29th and Wednesday, April 30th, register for
workshops. For agendas and workshop descriptions information please go to
http://www.doe.mass.edu/news/news.aspx?id=10152 Deadline for registration is Friday, April 25th at 5PM. The
Directors’ Meeting will be held at the Westford Regency Inn & Conference Center, 219 Littleton Road, Westford, MA
01886. To make reservations, please call 1-800-543-7802 and refer to the ABE Directors’ Meeting.

Community Planning: Article on: What is the Right Membership Mix for your ABE Community Planning Coalition?

Family Engagement in ABE: (post 3 documents sent)
On March 7, 2014, 60+ people convened at the Worcester Adult Learning Center for Integrating Family Engagement in
Advising and the Classroom, a day-long event featuring ABE and family literacy programs and their approaches for
discovering and addressing students' goals -- including family engagement goals. Two hour morning sessions
addressed advising and goal setting in small, medium, and large programs and two hour afternoon sessions provided
models and samples of contextualized family engagement curriculum. ACLS will share the materials presented with all
programs in the April, May, and June monthly mailings. In April, we are pleased to provide materials from the small
programs session and the ESOL for Parents and Caregivers Curriculum session.

Financial Literacy: Support Your Learners’ Goals for Financial Literacy during Financial Literacy Month in
April!
-Visit: April is Financial Literacy Month which is geared at helping individuals and families improve their
understanding of financial principles and best practices. The website provides a number of resources including a
toolkit, worksheets, tips, e-books, posters, and webinars. Learners can personalize their goals and create their own
custom goal certificate in three easy steps.
-Visit: A Day at Dollar General which features online activities and financial literacy lessons and activities
parents can engage in with their children.
-Visit: Edutopia’s Easy-to-Implement Ideas for Financial Literacy Month for resources and lesson plans for
students from kindergarten to grade 12.

HiSET Testing Update: As of Wednesday, April 9, 2014, the following Massachusetts HiSET test centers are open for
registration, scheduling, and testing:

Boston Centers for Youth and Families (computer testing only)

Berkshire Community College (computer & paper-based testing)

Bristol Community College (computer testing only)

Cape Cod Community College (computer testing only)

Greenfield Community College (computer & paper-based testing)

Holyoke Community College (computer & paper-based testing)

Lawrence Adult Learning Center (computer & paper-based testing)

Lowell Public Schools (paper-based testing only)

Mt. Wachusett Community College (paper-based testing only)

New Bedford Public Schools (paper-based testing only)

Northern Essex Community College (computer testing only)

North Shore Community College-Danvers (computer testing only)

North Shore Community College-Lynn (computer testing only)

Peabody High School (paper-based testing only)
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Addresses and contact information for these centers can be obtained from the High School Equivalency website,
http://www.doe.mass.edu/hse/list.html.
Candidates wishing to register for and schedule HiSET tests should go onto the HiSET website, www.hiset.org, and
create an account.

Massachusetts Professional Standards for Teachers of Adult English Speakers of Other Languages: What
ESOL Instructors Need to Know and Be able to Do is now available on the ACLS home page at
www.doe.mass.edu/acls/pd/ESOLstandards.pdf

Policy Update: Educator Evaluation: In March, ACLS began a pilot of the Massachusetts ABE Educator Evaluation
System. A group of directors from seven ABE programs are participating in phase one of this pilot. Math teachers from
these programs will participate in phase two beginning in fall 2014. Participants in the pilot are providing feedback and
recommendations to the Department on various components of the system. Two of these components are:
-The 5-step Continuous Learning Cycle
-The ABE Teacher Evaluation Rubric

SMARTT Update:
-SMARTT/Cognos Downtime for Server Upgrades – Monday, April 28th 5PM – April 30th 5PM
-Program Plans Move to FY15 on April 25th
-SMARTT Enhancement Released on March 27th
-Exiting Students in a Timely Manner
-NRS Cohort Follow-Up
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What is the Right Membership Mix for Your ABE Community Planning Coalition?
By Patricia Pelletier, ACLS Community Planning Consultant
Back in the early 2000’s, when ABE community planning partnerships were developing in Massachusetts, a
suggested list of potential partnership categories was generated by ACLS:
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Community residents (including ABE students)
ABE providers
K-12 schools
Community colleges/post-secondary education
Child care providers
Health care providers
Human services
Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs)
Employers/businesses
Elected officials
Community groups
Over a decade later, this list is still representative of a sound membership mix. ABE community planning
partnerships also include other members, depending on the focus and model of their partnership, such as:
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
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Transportation providers
Banks/credit unions
Public safety representatives
Real estate/housing representatives
Job training providers
Private occupational schools
Mental health providers
Community foundations
Libraries
One-stop Career Centers
ACLS continues to emphasize flexibility as key to developing and expanding your community planning
coalition/partnership. So how do you decide who should be on your coalition? Several factors can be taken into
consideration:
o
Identified coalition model and goals: One way to organize your membership recruitment plan is to first
identify which community planning model your coalition represents. Below are the models identified in the FY
14-17 ACLS Community Planning Policy and some ideas on who you might want to consider for membership.
-
Single Focus Community Planning: These partnerships, supported since the initiation of ABE community
planning, involve convening a variety of stakeholders with a single focus on ABE. They may be convened
by one or more CALCs in a community or region.
-
The suggested list of potential partnership categories generated by ACLS represents a variety of
stakeholders for this coalition model. However, you might want to also consider the ABE strategic
framework goals of access, quality and next steps, when developing a membership recruitment plan.
You would first want to discuss with your coalition, or the coalition’s steering committee, the goals of
the partnership. If, for example, there are long waiting lists for ABE program seats in your community,
the priority goal for your coalition could be to increase access to ABE programs and services for people
on waiting lists. From there, you would determine who should be recruited for membership on your
coalition, or perhaps on a planning committee or work group of the larger coalition. Could the local
library help with having some volunteers to tutor learners on the wait list? Would the One-Stop Career
Center provide space and teachers to add a class? Is there a foundation or bank that could
supplement your funding to add seats/slots to your program?
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Or, maybe your program needs help to support learners in achieving their “next steps” goals. Who in
your community could help? Job training providers and private occupational schools (previously called
“proprietary schools”) could be very helpful on your coalition. (For further information on private
occupational schools, go to: http://license.reg.state.ma.us/public/schools/licensure/listings.html)
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Or, perhaps your coalition has identified curriculum enhancement to align with the Common Core State
Standards to be a priority for the community and ABE program(s). In this case, you might want to
convene a curriculum work group of the coalition, and recruit appropriate members such as a
curriculum specialist from the local community college, ABE teachers/coordinators and others who can
help with this “quality” goal. Potential coalition members are often more willing to initially participate in a
time-limited work group than commit indefinitely to a coalition. But, once they see the progress and
achievements of the coalition they may want to join the larger group!
These kinds of considerations will not only help you to know who to recruit for your coalition membership,
but will also help you to have a clear focus and goals for the work of your coalition.
-
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Multi-Focus Community Planning: These partnerships, developed between programs and community
stakeholders, involve the participation of CALCs in a community-wide partnership not exclusively focused
on ABE.
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An example of a community-wide partnership is the Lawrence Community Pathways Partnership which
was originated as the family literacy partnership in the city. This partnership evolved into a communitywide partnership which includes many stakeholders, and in which the Lawrence ABE Partnership is
actively involved. ABE program directors in the city actively participate in this multi-focus group, in
addition to working separately as a steering committee focusing on ABE issues. Another example of a
multi-focus community coalition is the Beverly Resource Group, a collaboration of community partners
who come together to discuss resources available, promote financial stability and improve the quality of
life of low-income Beverly residents. Steering Committee members of the North Shore Adult Education
Partnership actively participate in this group, as well as other community groups in their ABE service
area.
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If your ABE community planning coalition is part of a larger, multi-focus coalition, or if you are looking to
join this type of group, look for groups that have members that can support the ABE strategic goals of
access, quality and next steps for your program and learners. These might be partnerships that
comprise members who can help support student persistence by removing identified barriers to
participation (i.e., transportation, child care, mental health, housing, etc.). Or, it could be a partnership
whose members can support learners’ next steps goals. You also want to request that ABE is on the
agenda for discussion at the larger partnership meetings.
Family and Community Engagement: To promote the effective involvement of parents and the
community in supporting the success of children and schools, these partnerships include a local school or
district and may include other stakeholders, such as early education and care providers, in the
development of specific goals and outcomes related to children's academic achievement.
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For an ABE program that primarily serves parents who have children enrolled in a specific school, a
coalition might partner with the principal, guidance counselor, parent council, teachers representing
different grade levels and any specialty areas such as English language learners (ELL teachers),
school nurse, etc. Activities might include the provision and use of authentic materials for
contextualized curriculum such as report cards, school policies, MCAS results, navigating the school’s
website, etc. The school nurse may present to parents regarding different aspects of health and
wellness. The principal may provide several opportunities to meet with the parents to make them feel
welcome and comfortable and to encourage their involvement in their child’s education. The parent
council can inform the parents about its purpose and the advocacy role they can play. School and ABE
teachers may plan and conduct parent and child activities; or role play with parents to prepare parents
to attend parent/teacher conferences, etc.
-
If children are enrolled in schools throughout the community, partnerships may be established with key
school district staff. This might include a representative of the superintendent’s office, curriculum and
instruction, bilingual education/ELL, and representatives from the schools where children are enrolled.
Areas of involvement may include exploring funding through Title I and ELL (both are required to do
parent involvement) to support the provision of parent education classes and bringing in specialists, or
to fund additional ABE classes at the school, etc.
-
For more examples of topics/activities, see Guidelines for Effective Adult Basic Education, Appendix E,
pages 128-129: Family and Community Engagement as the Primary Focus of Community Planning.
4
-
o
College and Career Readiness: These partnerships can play a significant role in the successful transition
of ABE students to college, further training, and career. Community planning allows programs to work in
partnership with college, training, and workforce partners for the purpose of helping students achieve their
college and career related goals.
-
A coalition may decide to partner with a local community college to support their learners’ goals for
post-secondary education. Examples may include visits to the campus, experience sitting in on
classes, community college representatives visiting the program, meeting students to hear about their
interests, explaining what programs the college provides, and responding to questions ranging from
programming requirements to available support services (i.e., child care, financial aid, etc.).
-
Depending upon learners’ interests, a coalition may wish to seek out local businesses and employers in
predominant industry sectors in their region along with one-stop career centers and their local
workforce investment board (LWIB) or partner with a local health care facility. Examples of these
partnerships might include development of contextualized curriculum tailored to specific fields in
demand in the area. Local employers might visit the program to meet with interested learners to share
what a typical day/month in certain jobs entails, skills or licenses needed, salary ranges, or arrange for
students to make onsite visits to observe employees in action.
Recruit for Skills and Knowledge: A key component to successful recruitment is to include the people who
have the skills and content knowledge of areas in which the coalition wants to address based on its goals, as
well as the capacity to carry out the work of the coalition. Maybe the skills and knowledge you need on your
coalition are related to recruiting employer members. You might want to find someone with a good sales
background, or a member of the Chamber of Commerce or trade association. Or, perhaps you are in need of
someone to perform administrative duties. You could recruit someone who has excellent organization skills to
send out meeting notices, coordinate agendas and provide logistical duties like obtaining meeting space. Or
maybe you need a new brochure for marketing but no one has that expertise, or time. There might be a local
printing business or college print shop that could help. One of the best ways to recruit and maintain coalition
members is to identify the skills and knowledge you need in your coalition, and recruit members who match
those needs. Everyone likes to feel they can make a contribution if they are going to give their time to a
coalition, so spend some time matching the needs of the coalition to the skills, knowledge and influences of its
membership. The number of members is not as important as skills, knowledge, community connections and
influence.
So, whether you’re a new or renewing ABE community planning partnership or a long-standing group, it’s important
to look at the composition of your membership to maximize the coalition’s effectiveness and impact on your
program and learners, as well as the community. But, before you decide on adding or changing members of your
coalition, be sure you know what your coalition’s focus is and what skills and experience are needed to carry it out.
This can be accomplished by reviewing your vision and mission, developing goals, and instituting a plan of action
for your ABE community planning coalition.
www.pelletier-consulting.com
5
Integrating Family Engagement in Advising and the Classroom
On March 7, 2014, 60+ people convened at the Worcester Adult Learning Center for Integrating Family
Engagement in Advising and the Classroom, a day-long event featuring ABE and family literacy programs and their
approaches for discovering and addressing students' goals -- including family engagement goals. Two hour
morning sessions addressed advising and goal setting in small, medium, and large programs and two hour
afternoon sessions provided models and samples of contextualized family engagement curricula. The presenters
were:
-
Jeanne Annino, Plymouth Public Library
Elizabeth Butler, Boston Public Schools
Katie Ehresman, Boston Public Schools
Stacie Fehrm, Plymouth Public Library
Richard Goldberg, Asian American Civic Association
Lee Haller, English for New Bostonians
Barbara Krol-Sinclair, Chelsea Public Schools
Mila Monteiro, Boston Public Schools
Kevin O’Connor, Framingham Public Schools
Kelly Staniunas, ABCD – South Side
Participants learned about processes and procedures that are working, exchanged ideas with other directors and
advisors, and took home materials and resources that can be used in any ABE setting. Evaluations indicate the
sessions provided practical ideas, materials, and resources that could be put to immediate use back at programs.
They also indicated an interest in continued support on the topic of family engagement.
This month we are pleased to provide the following materials from the small programs session and the ESOL for
Parents and Caregivers Curriculum session:
-
Career Planning and Goal Setting: Processes and Procedures, Stacie Fehrm
Topic 3 Unit 9: Goal Setting, English for New Bostonians
Resources for Teachers, English for New Bostonians
For more information about the ESOL Curriculum for Parents and Caregivers, visit:
http://www.englishfornewbostonians.org/resourcesforteachers
Coming soon…
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Materials from the medium programs session and the Curriculum for Building on Families’ Interests and
Needs session (May)
Materials from the large programs session and the Contextualized Curriculum for Family Centered
Learning session (June)
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Massachusetts Professional Standards for Teachers of Adult English Speakers of Other Languages
ACLS is pleased to announce that standards for ESOL teachers have been developed. The Massachusetts
Professional Standards for Teachers of Adult English Speakers of Other Languages: What ESOL
Instructors Need to Know and Be Able to Do is now available on the ACLS home page at
www.doe.mass.edu/acls/pd/ESOLstandards.pdf
Just as the Massachusetts ABE Curriculum Framework for ESOL provides teachers with standards, benchmarks,
and examples that describe what ESOL students need to know and be able to do, these teacher standards outline
what ESOL teachers need to know and be able to do.
Using standards clarifies instructional goals for both students and teachers. Standards does not imply standardized.
Standards based education allows for multiple approaches to content, teaching methodology, and curriculum
design. For more than 20 years standards based initiatives have been in the foreground of education reform in the
United States.
The standards in this document were developed collaboratively over a two-year period with considerable input from
ESOL practitioners, and staff from SABES. (Please refer to the acknowledgement page for specific information
about contributors who spent considerable time and effort discussing, drafting, revising, and researching.) Sarah
Young and Amber Gallup Rodriguez, primary researchers and authors, bring their expertise in linguistics and
second language acquisition to the articulation of the standards and supporting explanatory text. The standards
were informed by research in prevailing theories of, and methods in, second language acquisition and applied
linguistics as well as by other standards developed for teachers such as those published by the international
professional association, Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc. (TESOL). The standards also
reflect attention to, and respect for, intercultural awareness and social context.
Six of the seven standards are aligned with professional development offerings (The seventh standard is
Professional Development.) Three standards-based workshops are being piloted in FY 14. For example, in May,
SABES is offering:
 The Components of Language (What Do You Know When You Know a Language?)
 Navigating New Worlds: How Culture Affects Learning and Teaching and Responsive and,
 Engaging Curriculum Design for Language Learning.
Due to demand, the three May workshops are fully enrolled. Stay tuned, however, to the SABES calendar
www.sabes.org for three additional standards-based workshops to be piloted in June 2014. These will be:
 Adult English Language Acquisition: Translating Research to Practice,
 Teaching and Managing Your ESOL Class in a Learner-Centered Way and,
 Identifying and Acknowledging ESOL Accomplishments: The Role of Learner Assessment
In FY 15 and beyond, ACLS expects to roll out all the standards-based workshops in all regions to be fully available
to ESOL directors, teachers and other practitioners. In the coming year, we hope you will begin to familiarize
yourself with the standards.
Questions? Contact Olivia Steele (osteele@doe.mass.edu) or Suzanne Speciale (sspeciale@doe.mass.edu)
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Policy Update: Educator Evaluation
In March, ACLS began a pilot of the Massachusetts ABE Educator Evaluation System. A group of directors from
seven ABE programs are participating in phase one of this pilot. Math teachers from these programs will participate
in phase two beginning in fall 2014. Participants in the pilot are providing feedback and recommendations to the
Department on various components of the system. Two of these components are
The 5-step Continuous Learning Cycle
1. Self-assessment
2. Goal setting
3. Implementation of a Professional Development Plan
4. Formative Assessment
5. Summative Assessment
The ABE Teacher Evaluation Rubric
This rubric is a critical component of the Massachusetts ABE Educator Evaluation System. It is
designed to help educators and evaluators (1) develop a consistent, shared understanding of what
proficient performance looks like in practice, (2) develop a common terminology and structure to
organize evidence, and (3) inform ongoing professional development.
The rubric consists of three Standards, six Indicators and 16 Elements denoting the professional
practices of proficient teachers. It is intended to be used throughout the 5-step continuous learning
cycle for all teachers. Since responsibilities of ABE teachers vary, ACLS encourages teachers and
evaluators to use the rubric strategically by discussing and agreeing upon certain indicators and
elements that should be high priorities according to that teacher’s role and responsibilities as well as
his/her professional practice and student learning needs.
As the pilot continues, ACLS will share current information about this initiative with the field via the Directors’
Meeting, monthly mailings and program site visits. Questions about this initiative may be submitted to Patricia
Hembrough at phembrough@doe.mass.edu.
8
SMARTT Update, April 2014
1. SMARTT/Cognos Downtime for Server Upgrades – Monday, April 28 5 PM – Wednesday, April 30 5 PM
Please note that SMARTT and Cognos will be down for two days for moving the SMARTT data to new servers.
The migration process will start on April 28 at 5 PM and the system will be back up by 5 PM on April 30. MAPT
testing will still take place, but programs need to use this link for MAPT testing: http://owl.oit.umass.edu/acls/
2. Program Plans Move to FY15 on April 25th
All programs plan will be moved to FY15 on April 25. All federally funded programs must verify with their
program specialists that the summer classes (7/1/2014 – 8/31/2014) listed in the FY14 plan are accurate before
the plans are moved to FY15. The updated program plan reference materials and technical manual for FY15
will be posted on the SMARTT section of the ACLS website next week. These are the changes for FY15
program planning:
A. Supplemental – added Distance Learning (users will enter $5,000 or $10,000 for Option 1 or 2)
B. Class Funding Detail screen - see changes below for Collaborative section
Collaborative Slots and Collaborative Funding
540 Adult Career Pathways – deleted since this is state funded
541 CALC – Added
Policy to Performance – deleted since this initiative ended in FY13
C. Administrative Cost Worksheet
We added a signature verication section and a line for the Project Coordinator to sign and date. The Program
Director needs to submit the signed hard copy with the refunding package.
Signature Verification
The administrative costs reflect correct percentages.
Certification:
1. Checking this box is equivalent to the Program Coordinator's Signature.
The administrative costs contained within this report is true and accurate and does not need to be updated or
corrected.
Signature: ______________________________________________________
Date: ___________
3. SMARTT Enhancement Released on March 27
All "Assessment" reports in the "Site" section listed below now include tests for all students regardless of the
site where they were administered. This means that if a student took a pre test at Site A and then enrolled in
Site B and took another test, both tests would be included in the Site reports at both sites. Both sites will get
credit for the pre and post test.
 Assessment Report (Primary Set)
 Assessment Report (Primary Not Set)
 Assessment Report (Other)
 TABE Report
 BEST Plus Report
 CLAS-E Writing Report
 CLAS-E Reading Report
 MAPT Report (Primary Area)
 MAPT Report (All Areas)
4. Exiting Students in a Timely Manner
Please refer to the special mailing posted on February 21, 2014 regarding “Policy Changes Regarding
Student Intakes and Exiting Students” at http://www.doe.mass.edu/news/news.aspx?id=8084
With input from the SMARTT User Group, the following changes will take place:
 The auto-exit policy will be implemented starting in December of each fiscal year and ending in June
excluding summer months. The first data-entry lockout starts on December 1 after July, August, and
September data have been entered by November 30. This new policy will start on May 1.
 The policy will exclude the site specialties of “Volunteers” and “Distance Learning Hubs” until we review the
data for these two specialty areas.
 To help programs adjust to this new policy, ACLS is developing a link on the “Welcome” screen in SMARTT
that will display names of students whose length of absence is two months. This will be a reminder to staff
9
to check with those students to see if they plan to return to class before they will be auto exited after three
months of no attendance. The NRS cohort model tracks and captures outcomes for students only after their
exit date from a program. Any student who remains in the SMARTT system unexited, cannot be included in
the pool of students achieving outcomes.
Please note that it is easy to re-intake students when students return to your program. There are two ways to
re-intake students.
1) Click on “Students” on the left menu, and then click on “Add Student”. Type the required information for the
student name. Students previously enrolled will appear in the “Look-up” box. Click on the student name and
the entire history will appear. In most cases you will only have to change the intake date and click through
the tabs to complete the reintake.
2) Click on “Students” on the left menu. Change the “Status” to “exited. Type the required information for the
student name. Then click on the name and all the previous information appears.
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5. NRS Cohort Follow-up
Be sure to follow-up with students who are listed on the NRS Cohort screen as requiring follow-up. Data
matching only applies to students who signed the confidentiality agreement and provided a social security
number. Here are some reminders about when to contact students for the employment measures.
Entered Employment
If the exit occurred during January, February, or March, the follow-up should occur with the student on or after
July 1. During the follow-up call, the former student should be asked if he/she had any employment at anytime
during April – June. If the student is unsure of the exact date but knows the month of their employment, enter
into SMARTT any date within the same month.
Exit Occurs
During These
Months
January,
February,
or March
Employment
Period
Anytime during
April - June
Contact Students
Anytime on or after
July 1
Information to Collect During
Contact
Yes/No – if student was
working during employment
period
Retained Employment
If the exit occurred between July and September 2013, the follow-up should occur with the student by the end
of the third quarter. The caller should request information regarding the employment status during April – June
2014. You do not want to follow-up too soon for the retained employment cohort.
Exit Occurs
Employment
Contact Students
Information to Collect During
During These
Period
Contact
Months
July, August, or
Anytime on or after
Yes/No – if student was
Anytime during
September of last
working during employment
July 1
April - June of
year
period
this year
If the student indicates “Yes”, then there is no need to ask for a specific date indicating beginning date of
employment. For the purposes of recording the information, any date in April – June can be entered into
SMARTT.
Questions? Please contact Donna Cornellier at dcornellier@doe.mass.edu
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