Narrative: f.

The Arkansas Department of Career Education, Division of Adult Education evaluates programs quarterly through a desk audit process in which measures such as average attendance hours, educational functioning level (EFL) gains, number of students post–tested, etc. are reported and reviewed. The desk audits also allow programs to review operational aspects of the program such as the percentage of funds expended, completion of required professional development, and completed personnel activity reports.

Arkansas Department of Career Education, Division of Adult Education also performs an annual site visit for each adult education and literacy program to ensure that state and federal laws and policies are followed, to review program performance, and to connect with Local Education Agency Administrators. Based upon the findings during the site visit, regional program advisors provide technical assistance to program directors and staff to ensure continuous improvement.

Additionally, approximately every five years, a team of program advisors conducts an intensive program review through which Division staff assesses each program in the following areas:

1. Program Management and Reporting

2. Financials

3. Advisory Committees

4. Personnel and Professional Development

5. Student Intake, Documentation, and Orientation

6. Program Policies

7. Instruction

8. Teaching/Classroom Observation

9. Technology

10. Recruitment/Retention

11. Collaboration

12. Facilities

13. Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

This program review process allows program advisors and the State Disabilities Project Manager to thoroughly assess program operations, observe classroom instruction, and review state and federal laws and policies. Each program review is accompanied by a full financial review by the state finance department.

Once each program is reviewed, the program receives a report which indicates all findings, recommendations, and commendations. The program then develops and submits a Corrective Action Plan (CAP) which details how each finding will be remedied. The program director and program advisor work together to ensure that each finding is corrected, at which time the program and Local Education Agency are notified.

Evaluating Professional Development

In addition to the technical assistance provided through the evaluation processes, The Arkansas Department of Career Education, Adult Education Division provides varied professional development through the efforts of the Arkansas Adult Learning Resource Center (AALRC). Through the AALRC, program directors, faculty and staff have access to training in educational technology, student assessments, and assisting students with disabilities along with many other topics. The AALRC uses a state-wide assessment of professional development needs of educators to plan professional development for the field in order to improve instructional and programmatic practices.

The establishment or operation of professional development programs to improve the quality of instruction pursuant to local activities will continue to be a top priority for the state in order to increase the success of student outcomes. Training will continue for local adult education/literacy providers on the use of resources available electronically, for accessing curricula and for sharing locally produced curricula with other providers. In addition, a stronger emphasis will be placed on ensuring that materials and training will incorporate the research-based components of phonemic awareness, system phonics, fluency, and reading comprehension.

In order to promote continuous improvement of professional development activities and the impact on student learning outcomes, The Department of Career Education, Adult Education Division through the AALRC will include ongoing and systematic needs assessment and evaluation processes to not only provide information about the impact of professional development, but to provide data for refining and adjusting professional development activities.

1. Participant evaluations/surveys will be collected for all professional development activities. These evaluations will reflect the response of participants to the objectives, material, presentation and the trainer providers. 2. Evaluations/surveys will be aggregated and evaluated to determine quality of training and adjustments will be made according to the results. These results will be analyzed for areas in need of improvement and changes will be made accordingly.

To support local programs and instructors, a combination of methods will be used to assess the effectiveness of professional development training. Classroom observations, student educational gains of teacher participants, focus groups, and overall self-reporting tools will be utilized to determine professional development effectiveness. Data from the adult education management information system will be utilized to evaluate and determine if the professional development activities impact student learning outcomes.

In order to assess the quality of its professional development programs, the AALRC will use Guskey’s model for the Five Critical Levels of Professional Development Evaluation. The main evaluation levels include Participants’ Reactions, Participants Learning, Organization support and change, Participants’ use of new knowledge or skills, and Student Learning Outcomes. The data from the evaluations will be used to analyze the effectiveness of the professional development program and the impact on student learning outcomes.