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, ABE State Director
DATE:
September 23, 2014
RE:
What's in this Mailing?
Attached is the monthly mailing for September and will be posted shortly to our ACLS website. Please review the
information and share with your staff.

Adult Career Pathways Kick-Off Meeting
ACLS has scheduled a Kick-Off Meeting of the Adult Career Pathways Programs for Tuesday, October 7
from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Devens Common Center. The Center is located at 31 Andrews Parkway,
Devens, MA. At the meeting, we will discuss the goals and expectations for the programs, identify means
for incorporating ACT Career Ready 101 into programs, provide an opportunity for sharing among the
programs, and provide time in the afternoon for regional teams to work together to map out the career
pathway systems in their regions.
We strongly encourage the afternoon working regional groups be comprised of the CALC program director
and ACP coordinator, and any other staff working in the ACP program you would like to bring, the regional
WIB director, career center director, and any other employer/training partner, identified by the WIB, as
essential to the successful implementation of the career pathway program in its region.
An agenda will follow in a separate email. Register for the Meeting:
DEADLINE FOR REGISTRATION IS SEPTEMBER 30, 2014
If you have any questions, please contact Derek Kalchbrenner at 781-338-3812 or
dkalchbrenner@doe.mass.edu.

Assessment Update
-We are looking for Potential Assessment Training Sites in Programs
-Assessment Trainings Scheduled for the Fall

Career Readiness Initiative (CRI) Update
There is still time to apply for an ACT Career Ready 101 license! Programs have until Tuesday,
September 30th to apply for a license.
The Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, Department of Career
Services, the Executive Office of Education, its Departments of Elementary and Secondary Education, and
the consortium of 15 community colleges represented under the Transformation Agenda have developed
the Career Readiness Initiative (CRI) to improve education and career readiness within our state to help
individuals obtain and retain gainful employment. One exciting component of the CRI is making ACT
Career Ready 101 licenses available to adult education programs – free of charge!
ACT Career Ready 101 is a self–paced, online career exploration and academic remediation system; it
brings together courses from both ACT KeyTrain and the ACT Soft Skills Suite. Through KeyTrain, the
program prepares users for the ACT WorkKeys and the ACT National Career Readiness Certificate
(NCRC), a portable credential that demonstrates achievement and a level of workplace employability skills.
For more information on ACT Career Ready 101, go to: http://www.keytrain.com/careerready101.asp.
1
On July 30th, ACLS staff, Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development Undersecretary for
Workforce Development Jennifer James Price, and Massachusetts Workforce Investment Board Director
Cheryl Scott hosted an Invitation to the Career Readiness Initiative webinar for ABE Programs. For those
who could not attend the webinar, here is the link http://acls.adobeconnect.com/p6v3t3auj96/.
Programs have until Tuesday, September 30th to apply! Please review the attached license holder
selection criteria and consider applying for this great resource!

Curriculum Update
-ABE Staff are invited to the DESE 2014 Seventh Annual Summit on Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment on
Monday, October 27th, and Tuesday, October 28, 2014.
Date: October 27, 2014 and repeated on October 28, 2014
Time: 8:45am - 3:30pm (registration will open at 7:30am)
Place: Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel and Conference Center (Marlborough, MA)
Number of Staff who may Attend: Up to three representatives (e.g., director, curriculum leader,
teachers) Please note that due to space limitations, walk-in participants will not be allowed.

Family Engagement: In FY 14, almost half (43%) of the adult learners served in our core programs were
parents of children ages 18 years or younger. Please see below “back to school” resources as well as
information on a free training opportunity on financial education that relates to your learners who are
parents:

Back to School Resources for Parents
According to a recent report, young people aren't the only ones who get back-to-school blues. Even
dogs can get upset when their best buddies disappear with the beginning of school!
These resources and tips won’t be of much use to your students who are dog owners, but they can
help ease the stress of going back to school for the young people in their lives.

Free Symposium on Promising Practices in Financial Education for Parents of Young Children
Birth to Grade 3: October 24, 2014, 8-4 Devens (Only 30 seats available to date)
The goal of this symposium is to provide the most current information on how networks, programs and
agencies can be instrumental in increasing parents’ financial skills and behaviors and overall family
financial well-being. Morning coffee, lunch, an afternoon ice cream social and a door prize (IPad mini)
will be provided. See attached detailed information on this symposium sponsored by the
Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) and the Massachusetts Association for
Community Action (MASSCAP).
Register here: Symposium-FinEd-Oct24

Open Educational Resources Repository
The Transformation Agenda has announced an exciting resource, the Open Educational Resources
(OER) Repository. The repository contains curricula from over 100 programs that have been designed to
improve retention and accelerate completion, using strategies that include condensed formats, eight-week
terms, stackable credentials, and articulation from non-credit to credit-bearing courses. The repository also
includes developmental educational curricula intended to reduce or eliminate the time students spend in
developmental education. Users can search the repository by industry, which include Advanced
Manufacturing, Biotechnology and Life Sciences, Clean Energy, Financial Services/Entrepreneurship,
Healthcare, and Information Technology. Go to http://oermacc.edc.org/ to learn more.

SMARTT Update
-SMARTT System Moved
-Students’ Highest Level of Educational Attainment
-NRS Cohort Follow-up Entry into Postsecondary Education or Training
-Convert Partial Intakes to Full Intakes
-Steps to Start the New Fiscal Year
-Data Entry Closed and Student Auto Exit Schedules
-HiSET™ Data Matching
-Performance Standards Reports for FY14 available in Cognos
-SMARTT Training Schedule
2
Assessment Update, September 2014
We are looking for Potential Assessment Training Sites in Programs
ACLS and the director of Assessment Professional Development for ESE-funded ABE programs, Joan Ford, are in
the process of scheduling assessment trainings for the year. We are looking for sites, particularly in Boston and in
the Northeast, that might be interested in hosting a training for about 15-20 practitioners. Boston locations need to
be accessible by the subway. If you are interested (and perhaps have staff who need to be trained in administering
assessments), please contact Joan Ford at joan.ford@bristolcc.edu. Thank you.
Assessment Trainings Scheduled for the Fall
The following trainings are scheduled for September and October. Please see the SABES calendar for more
information and to register for these trainings: http://calendar.sabes.org. Additional trainings are in the process of
being scheduled; please consult the SABES calendar for more information. For questions regarding these trainings,
please contact Joan Ford at Joan.Ford@Bristolcc.edu or Jane Schwerdtfeger at janes@doe.mass.edu.
BEST Plus: Monday, September 29, 2014, 9:00 – 4:00 pm at the Asian American Civic Association, Boston
(Priority registration for Boston programs)
BEST Plus: Monday, October 6, 2014, 9:00 – 4:00 pm at the Asian American Civic Association, Boston (Priority
registration for Boston programs)
CLAS-E Writing: Two Thursdays for one training: October 9 from 1:00 – 4:00 pm (Administration) and October 16
from 1:00 – 4:30 pm (Scoring) at the YMCA International Learning Center, Boston (Priority registration for Boston
programs)
CLAS-E Writing: Two dates for one training: Monday, October 20 from 2:00 – 5:00 pm (Administration) and
Wednesday, October 22 from 2:00 – 5:30 pm (Scoring) at Notre Dame Education Center, Lawrence
CLAS-E Reading: Thursday, October 2, 2014 from 1:00 – 4:30 pm at YMCA International Learning Center, Boston
(Priority registration for Boston programs)
MAPT: Friday, October 10, 2014 from 9:30 am – 12:30 pm at the Department of Elementary and Secondary
Education, Malden
Questions? The Center for Educational Assessment is responding to assessment questions from the field.
Contact April Zenisky at aclstesthelp@educ.umass.edu.
3
ABE Career Readiness Initiative License Selection Criteria
The Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, its Department of Career Services, the
Executive Office of Education, its Departments of Higher Education and Elementary and Secondary Education, and
the consortium of 15 community colleges represented under the Transformation Agenda have jointly developed the
Career Readiness Initiative (CRI) to improve the education and career readiness services provided within the state
to help individuals obtain and retain gainful employment.
One component of the CRI program is making ACT Career Ready 101 licenses available to adult education
programs. Career Ready 101 is a self-paced, online career exploration and academic remediation system for an
unlimited number of users. For more information about ACT Career Ready 101, go to:
http://www.keytrain.com/careerready101.asp.
Programs interested in obtaining a Career Ready 101 license must meet the criteria below. In addition, once
selected, programs will be required to sign a User/License Holder Agreement and meet the criteria therein.
1. A commitment to blended learning. Programs must demonstrate a commitment to blended learning, in
which classroom instruction methods are combined with computer-mediated activities. For example, 1 hour of
a 6-hour a week program would be spent in a computer lab using Career Ready 101.
2. A designated staff person (e.g., a teacher or “learning coach” for each course). Successful blended
learning classes must have teachers or “learning coaches” to mentor, monitor, coach, and, on occasion (or as
needed), instruct students.
3. Commitment to integrating into Program Design. Programs must incorporate the Career Ready 101
level class into their weekly schedules. For example, an evening Pre-ASE class that meets Tuesday and
Thursday evenings from 5:00-8:00 will use Career Ready 101 Thursdays from 7:00-8:00.
4. Access to technology. The class must have regular access to computer labs or the use of laptop carts or
tablets during scheduled meeting times.
5. Relationship with community college and/or career center. Priority will be given to programs that have
established referral relationships with community colleges, and/or routinely have their students register with
their local One-Stop Career Center.
6. Ensure staffing to meet needs of service delivery model and that staff are properly trained.
7. Agree to attend all regional user group meetings.
8. Agree to track and report outcomes and results.
9. Appropriate system requirements. Programs must be able to meet all the system requirements, which
can be found at http://www.keytrain.com/requirements.asp.
If your program can meet all of the above criteria, and if you are interested in obtaining a Career Ready 101
license, email Derek Kalchbrenner at dkalchbrenner@doe.mass.edu by September 30, 2014. In your reply,
please describe briefly how you would like to integrate Career Ready 101 into your program.
4
Curriculum Update, September 2014
ABE Staff are Invited to the DESE 2014 Seventh Annual Summit on Curriculum, Instruction, and
Assessment on Monday, October 27, and Tuesday, October 28, 2014.
Date: October 27, 2014 and repeated on October 28, 2014
Time: 8:45am - 3:30pm (registration will open at 7:30am)
Place: Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel and Conference Center (Marlborough, MA)
Number of Staff who may Attend: Up to three representatives (e.g., director, curriculum leader, teachers)
Please note that due to space limitations, walk-in participants will not be allowed.
While this conference is oriented toward Kindergarten through grade 12 teachers in the Commonwealth, there
are a number of sessions that are applicable to ABE teachers’ needs and interests. ACLS is thrilled to be able
to offer to ABE programs the ability for directors and/or teachers to attend the Summit this year.
Among the 16 sessions, the following sessions are recommended for ABE audiences:
Session 4: Teaching “Writing to Text” to Adolescents: Strategies from Writing Standards in Action. Audience:
6 - 12
 What can student writing teach us about writing to text? This session will examine this question through
discussion of materials and instructional strategies that stem from The Writing Standards in Action Project,
http://www.doe.mass.edu/candi/wsa/. The Project presents examples of high-quality student writing with
annotations that highlight how each sample demonstrates competence in the state learning standards at
each grade level. In addition to providing direct experience working with project materials and classroom
approaches to writing to text, the session will also address how they may be used to support state and local
initiatives related to implementation of the state literacy standards, preparation for the PARCC assessment
and educator evaluation implementation.
hidden=false&req

Session 5: Writing to Texts in Grades 3 – 8. Audience: 3 - 8
Daily writing about texts in the classroom is the most effective preparation for writing on demand in formal
assessments. PARCC Educator Leader Fellows will discuss how they have incorporated reading, writing,
and research into curriculum units in all subjects in their districts. Participants will leave with examples of
the grade 3-8 PARCC research simulation tasks and related performance assessments from ESE's Model
Curriculum Units and district-created units.
hidden=false&req

Session 6: Bringing Disciplinary Literacy to Life: Stories from the Field. Audience: 7 - 12
Disciplinary literacy is an approach to literacy instruction that focuses on mastering literacy demands in
specific content areas. The approach encourages the acquisition of academic and workplace language,
promotes reading comprehension, and builds language proficiency. Disciplinary literacy also enhances the
development of evidence-based argumentation and rhetorical skills in adolescence.
The session will begin with a description of why disciplinary literacy matters and how the common core
standards motivate the work, presented by Jacy Ippolito, author of Adolescent Literacy in the Era of the
Common Core. Then we will be hearing from districts who have put disciplinary literacy into practice.
District leaders will leave the session with an understanding of the essential domains included in
disciplinary literacy: vocabulary, discussion, digital literacy, use of multiple texts, and writing to learn.
District leaders will also leave with exemplars from districts who are engaged in the work and a chapter
from Mr. Ippolito’s book.
hidden=false&req

Session 7: The Implications of PARCC Math Assessments for Math Instruction in grades 3-8. Audience: 3
-8
The goal of this session is to increase participants’ understanding of the PARCC Math decision-making.
The session will focus on Mathematical Practice #4 - Model with Mathematics; however the same strategy
can be applied across all standards of mathematical practice. Participants will examine PARCC sample
items and consider practical classroom strategies that will prepare students for them. The session will
feature district math teachers, DESE math staff and PARCC fellows.
hidden=false&req
5

Session 8: Connections: Model Curriculum Units, Aligned Curriculum, Educator Evaluation, and PARCC.
Audience: K - 6
This session will focus on ESE’s Model Curriculum Units as opportunities to connect work on aligned
curriculum with evidence for Educator Evaluation Standard I Curriculum, Planning, and Assessment while
preparing students for the rigors of PARCC. The audience for this session is curriculum coordinators,
directors or instructional teams who are interested in changing or adjusting their curriculum to increase
alignment with the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. This session will also be useful to districts
considering implementing ESE’s Model Curriculum Units.
Participants will review the standards-based components of ESE’s Model Curriculum Units and learn how
these units are examples of the Frameworks in action and solid core instruction to support a range of
learners. Information about the variety of ways districts have adapted, implemented or used ESE’s Model
Curriculum Units to design their own units will be presented. Participants will discuss evidence from
teaching a Model Curriculum Unit that would address Educator Evaluation Standard I. The session will
include examples of the Curriculum Embedded Performance Assessments (CEPAs) which are included in
every Model Curriculum Unit and explore how the CEPAs compare to the assessment tasks in PARCC.
Participants will gain an understanding of the connection between these three initiatives, ideas for further
work in curriculum alignment, and an overview of the Model Curriculum Units as well as ESE’s support of
implementation or adaption of the units.
hidden=false&req



Session 9: Maximizing Impact & Efficiency: Educator Evaluation Implementation Strategies from the Field.
Audience: PreK – 12
In this session, participants will learn about strategies MA districts are employing to create evaluation
systems that promote educator growth and development through clear shared expectations, systems that
support and respect both educator and evaluator capacity, and opportunities for reflection and feedback.
Featured examples will include strategies evaluators use to create coherence between implementation of
practices embodied in the Curriculum Frameworks and the educator evaluation framework. Participants will
take part in strategic planning activities that will provide time for district teams to discuss how the ideas and
practices shared can be put to use in their local contexts.
Session 12: Leveraging EDWIN to Strengthen Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment. Audience: PreK 12
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, in partnership with Thinkgate, is excited to bring
you Edwin Teaching and Learning (ET&L). It is rare in education that we can have curriculum materials,
curriculum mapping, unit planning, lesson planning, resources, assessments, and our frameworks all in one
place. With district access to the ET&L tool, your faculty can create assessments with MCAS released
items, use Model Curriculum Units and Lesson Plans, and also access PBS Learning Media content – all
aligned to the MA Curriculum Frameworks including CVTE. ET&L also has the Competency Tracking
system for CVTE, specifically designed by and for Massachusetts educators. The extensive reporting
features allow teachers to identify students who are struggling and the specific standards where they are
challenged. Resources tagged to standards provide teachers tools to address the needs of various
students. Access near-real time teacher, student, and course information which is fed into the tool with a
seamless connection to your Student information System. Do you have District Determined Measures
(DDMs)? Use Edwin’s assessment builder tool. Then, have your students access those assessments
online where they are automatically graded, or opt for paper tests where you can input their results for
analysis.
This session will provide a live demonstration of the features of the Edwin Teaching and Learning, and an
opportunity to hear from some of the state’s most knowledgeable early adopters who can describe how
they have been using EDWIN to strengthen their curriculum and instruction.
Session 16: Emerging Practices in Turnaround Schools: Key Levers with Impact. Audience: PreK - 12
What are the specific strategies or practices observed in Achievement Gain schools that explain how
schools have been able to accelerate and sustain students’ academic growth? What can we learn from
districts and from Achievement Gain schools—those schools that exited Level 4 status—in contrast to
schools that were not able improve student achievement, with respect to: (a) how districts and schools
used authorities afforded by state and federal law; (b) how districts and schools targeted resources; and (c)
how districts organized to monitor and support turnaround efforts? Focusing exclusively on the experience
of Massachusetts’ initial 34 Level 4 schools during the first three years of turnaround (2010-11 to 2012-13),
we have isolated key findings that may be used by school and district administrators and other key
stakeholders to continue to make informed decisions about how to improve the success of ongoing and
future turnaround efforts.
6
To register, please click on the link for the day in which you wish to attend:
Link for Monday, October 27, 2014:
http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/1794354/2014-Fall-Summit-Monday-October-27-2014
Link for Tuesday, October 28, 2014:
http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/1794178/2014-Fall-Summit-Tuesday-October-28-2014
Questions? Contact Jane Schwerdtfeger at janes@doe.mass.edu
7
September 2014 ACLS Monthly Mailing
Back to School Resources for Parents
According to a recent report, young people aren't the only ones who get back-to-school blues. Even dogs can
get upset when their best buddies disappear with the beginning of school! These resources and tips won’t be of
much use to your students who are dog owners, but they can help ease the stress of going back to school for
the young people in their lives.

PBS PARENTS: Back-to-School Tips for Parents
o Before School Starts
o Tips to Ease the Transition to Full-Day School
o The First Days of School
o Settling In
o Parents’ Separation Pangs
o Allergies at School
o Starting School Tips for Parents (presented by children’s age)
o What to Do When Your Child Doesn’t Like the Teacher

HOMEROOM, the official blog of US Department of Education
o Get in Gear for the New School Year: Back-to-School Tips for Parents
o Countdown to School Success

FUTURE READY: Back to School Preparations for Parents
o What parents can do to prepare their children for the kindergarten classroom
o Help freshman transition to college
o Resources to help demystify the Common Core State Standards.

CHILDREN’S TRUST: Preparing Your Child for Elementary School

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGISTS: Back-to-School Transitions: Tips for
Parents
o Before School Starts
o The First Week
o Overcoming Anxiety
o Extracurricular Activities
o When Problems Arise

COLORIN COLORADO: Helping Children Read to Succeed (available in English and Spanish)
o What you can do at home
o Helping your child succeed at school
o Building Strong Parent-Teacher Partnerships
o Let's read: Fun reading tips, activities, and more!
8
Department of Early Education and Care and the
Massachusetts Association for Community Action
SYMPOSIUM ON PROMISING PRACTICES IN FINANCIAL EDUCATION
FOR PARENTS OF YOUNG CHILDREN
FRIDAY, 10/24/14, 8AM TO 4PM
DEVENS COMMON CENTER, 31 ANDREWS PARKWAY, DEVENS, MA
Register: Symposium-FinEd-Oct24
9
EVENT DETAILS
8:00 – 9:00
Registration
Opening Plenary – Connecting Early Learning Communities
To Asset Building
Welcome! (Jennifer Amaya-Thompson, EEC and Joe Diamond, MASSCAP)
Tom Weber, Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Early Education
and Care
9:00-10:30





Steven Grossman, Massachusetts State Treasurer (Invited)
Mary Ann Higgins, Regional Administrator, ACF
Tom Shapiro, Institute on Assets and Social Policy, Heller School, Brandeis
University, Keynote
10:45-12:15




Promising Practices in Financial Education for Parents of
Young Children –Workshops (partial list)
Financial Education for Young Children
Panel--Promising Practices in Financial Education for Parents of Young
Children(CFCE providers/partners/parents)
Financial Education Toolkit-Mini Course
Understanding Credit
12:15 to 1:00
Lunch
(Provided at no charge. See information regarding special diet requests.)
1:15- 2:45
Promising Practices in Financial Education for Parents of
Young Children-Workshops
Repeat of morning session, plus more!
3:00-4:00
Networking, Brainstorming, Door Prize
Ice
cream
social
– Networking

“World Café” session on implementing and sustaining financial education in

your program, practice or community
Door prize (IPad mini!)

ORGANIZERS
The Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) and the Massachusetts Association for
Community Action (MASSCAP)
For further information about the symposium contact: Patricia Pelletier, email- patricia@pelletier-consulting.com
MASSCAP, 508-982-8535, or Jennifer Amaya-Thompson, HSSCO/EEC, 617-988-6634, jennifer.amayathompson@state.ma.us
For additional information about this project, click the following link: http://www.mass.gov/edu/birth-grade-12/earlyeducation-and-care/workforce-and-professional-development/training-and-orientation-resources/financial-literacyeducation-project-.html
If you require disability related or dietary accommodations in order to fully participate in this event please contact
Patricia Pelletier at patricia@pelletier-consulting.com or 508-982-8535 by no later than September 26th so we
can accommodate your request.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
10
SMARTT Update, September 2014
1.
SMARTT System Moved
The SMARTT system was officially moved to FY15 on Thursday, September 4th at 6:30 PM. Sites with
approved program plans were moved to FY15. Additional sites will be immediately moved to FY15 once
the plan for FY15 is approved. If the approved plan is revised and submitted at a later date, please note the
changes for your Program Specialist since the changes/updates need to be made manually.
2. Students’ Highest Level of Educational Attainment
Because of changes in the way that the National Reporting System (NRS) captures state data, ACLS now
needs programs to more accurately report students’ highest levels of educational attainment. Going forward
two questions on the intake form will require additional probing: 1) Last Grade Completed, and 2) Schooling
Completed.
If a student says that the last grade he/she completed was 10th, then the staff person must not assume that
that student does not have a high school credential. The staff person must still ask about that student’s
schooling (e.g., what kind of credential he/she received if any). In some countries, only 10 years of schooling
are needed to obtain a high school equivalency credential. The opposite of this is also true; if a student says
that he/she had 12 years of schooling, the staff person should not assume that that student has the equivalent
of a high school credential. This portion of the intake might require a follow-up question about how many years
of schooling is needed in that student’s country in order to get a high school credential or its equivalent.
Moreover, some students believe that the information they give during intake will affect whether they receive
services; therefore, it is crucial that program staff make students feel comfortable answering questions during
intake.
3. NRS Cohort Follow-up - Entry into Postsecondary Education or Training:
We want to emphasize the importance of follow-up for the NRS Cohort “Entry into Postsecondary Education or
Training” measure. When contacting students you should ask if they entered into higher education or if they
entered into any occupational training program. Occupational training programs teach job skills and provide job
placement services for adults who are at least 18 years of age. The programs are administered locally by One
Stop Career Centers.
4. Convert Partial Intakes to Full Intakes
Programs must convert all partial intakes to full intakes that were created in July and August so that newly
enrolled summer students could take the MAPT test. If the student left prior to MAPT testing, please delete the
partial intake. The partial intakes can be deleted only if no MAPT tests were administered. The MAPT scores
will not appear in the student assessment screen or in the assessment reports until the partial intake has been
converted to a full intake.
5. Steps to Start the New Fiscal Year
Please review the steps on the SMARTT section of the ACLS website to make sure that all the information is
updated and accurate: http://www.doe.mass.edu/acls/smartt/startsteps.html.
a) Use the “Class Completion” screen to set-up your classes so that you can enroll students and enter
attendance. Once the classes are completed, they will appear in the ABE Directory under “Class
Schedule”.
b) When assigning teachers to classes, the teacher must be listed in the “Staff” section. The instructor names
will appear in the class lookup screen if adequate teaching hours are entered in the staff salary record.
c) If you are intaking a student who is listed on the waitlist screen, find the student record in the waitlist
search, click on the student name, and then click on “Convert to Full” on the left menu.
d) When entering assessments, don't forget to mark an area as “Primary”. Students can be enrolled in
classes, but attendance cannot be entered until the primary area is set. If appropriate, select and copy over
any May/June assessments administered in the previous fiscal year for returning students if a new test has
not been administered. You will see a box in the first column under the copy icon next to the May/June test.
Click on the box and hit "Save" and the test will be copied to the next fiscal year. The copied scores will be
11
pre-tests for the new fiscal year and will be color coded to indicate they were copied. They will be listed
with a 7/1 date.
e) Update project and site coordinator names and work e-mails to ensure that ACLS notifications are sent to
the correct staff member. If this is not updated, crucial news and notifications will not reach them.
6. Data Entry Closed and Student Auto Exit Schedules
Please note the schedule below when student intakes and attendance data must be entered.
FY15 Monthly Attendance
July, August, & September
October
November
December
January
February
March
April
May
June
Month/Day Data Entry Closed
November 30
December 31
January 31
February 28
March 31
April 30
May 31
June 30
July 31
August 31
The NRS requires states to automatically report follow-up measures for all students who meet certain
criteria for each outcome measure. This automatic cohort designation varies according to each follow-up
measure. Once the program documents in SMARTT that a student is no longer participating, that student
officially becomes part of a cohort based on certain characteristics (e.g., have a job/do not have a job; have
a high school equivalency credential/do not have a high school equivalency credential). Because our state
tracks student outcomes, programs must exit students from SMARTT when they move on from the
program. To ensure that students are exited when they have no attendance entered for 90 days or more,
we implemented an automatic exit policy.
When BOTH of the following occur, SMARTT will automatically exit a student from the site:
1) No attendance was recorded for that student during the three most recent months which have
been “locked out” from data entry, and
2) No attendance has yet been entered for that student during the current two month period for which data
entry is allowed.
Automatic Exit Schedule
Automatic Exit
Schedule
December 1
January 15
February 15
March 15
April 15
May 15
June 15
July 15
August 15
Month of Last
Attendance
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
January
February
No Attendance in
These Months
July – November
August – December
September – January
October – February
November – March
December – April
January – May
February – June
March – June
System Assigned
Exit Date
June 30
July 31
August 31
September 30
October 31
November 30
December 31
June 30
June 30
September 15
March
April – June
June 30
7. HiSET™ Data Matching
If you find that a student passed the HiSET™ and the record was not updated in SMARTT, email Tom Mechem
(tmechem@doe.mass.edu) to determine what data element was incorrect so that the record can be corrected.
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8. Performance Standards Reports for FY14 available in Cognos
The performance standards reports for Community Adult Learning Centers and Correctional Institutions are
now available in Cognos. The high school equivalency credential goal data will continue to be updated through
September 30.
9. SMARTT Training Schedule
The following upcoming trainings are on the SABES website at: http://calendar.sabes.org. Register by clicking
on the register icon on workshop title on the SABES calendar.
September 8 - September 26
DL: Cognos Update: Accessing Performance Standards Reports (online)
September 15 - September 26
DL: SMARTT New User Training (online)
September 20
SMARTT Update: Starting the New Year – online (10:00 am - 12:00 pm)
If you need SMARTT / Cognos help, email smartthelp@gmail.com, and include a clear subject header. You do
not need to include detailed information in the initial email to smartthelp. A short subject is adequate because
once you send an email, you will receive an auto-response containing a link to a form; fill out this form
completely, and hit the “Submit” button at the end. You will be contacted either by phone or email shortly
afterwards by the SABES field technologist if further information is needed.
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