Adult Basic and Literacy Education Ohio Performance Accountability System

New Information (updated 8/24/2006) O-PAS Site Index I Have a Question ABLELink Help Site ODE ABLE CTAE National Reporting System

The National Reporting System for Adult Education (NRS) is an outcome-based reporting system for the state-administered, Federally funded adult education program. Developed with the support of the U.S. Department of Education's Division of Adult Education and Literacy (DAEL), the NRS continues a cooperative process by state and education directors and DAEL to identify appropriate learner outcomes for adult education. The project is being conducted by the American Institutes for Research's Pelavin Research Center in Washington, D.C. The goals of the NRS were to establish a national accountability system system for adult education programs by identifying measures for national reporting and their definitions, establishing methods for data collection, developing software standards for reporting to the U.S. Department of Education and developing training materials and activities on NRS requirements and procedures.

Using a common set of outcome measures and a uniform data collection system, the NRS will measure and document learner outcomes resulting from adult education instruction. Local programs will collect and aggregate data from students at each instructional site, using an individual student record system. These data will be submitted to the state for statewide aggregation and submission to DAEL. DAEL will combine state data into a national database describing outcomes of adult education.

The National Reporting System will improve the public accountability of the adult education program by documenting its ability to meet Federal policy and programmatic goals. The collection of state outcome data will enable states to correlate effective practices and programs with successful outcomes, and will also assist states in assessing progress in meeting their adult education goals. For local providers, the NRS will help instructors and administrators plan instructional activities and services to enhance student outcomes and to correlate effective practices and programs with successful outcomes.