National Reporting System
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Achieved of Realized Sampling
The number of entities or people who actually
provided information to a survey or study.
Achievement
Student performance measured against learning goals or standards.
Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP)
Under the No Child Left Behind Act, states and school districts must achieve a minimum level of improvement. AYP represents a state’s individual progress toward achieving state academic standards.
Advancement
Learner advanced from one educational functioning level to the next,
based on the learner’s performance.
Aggregation, or data aggregation
The process of combining reports from one level of analysis into a
single measure at the next level (e.g., combining local program reports
into one statewide report).
Alternate Test Forms
Two or more versions of a test that are considered interchangeable, in that they measure the same constructs in the same ways, are intended for the same purposes, and are administered using the same directions.
Assessment
Methods of measuring student progress, including standardized testing,
other testing, teacher judgment, and student reports.
Back to TopBaseline Data
A set of data that serves as a reference point for a second set of data collected at a later time. It is useful for interpreting changes over time.
Benchmark
Levels of academic performance used as checkpoints to monitor progress toward performance goals and/or academic standards; a standard against which progress can be measured.
Class level
The educational functioning level in which students are placed.
Confidence Interval
A numeric interval in which the true number obtained for
a population from a sample falls. The interval is stated with a degree
of probability, typically 95 percent. For example, if a survey using a
sample of 300 found a 25 percent effect, the confidence interval is 20
percent - 30 percent (25 plus or minus 5), meaning that there is a 95
percent certainty that the true percentage in the overall population falls
within that inclusive range.
Contact hours
Hours of instruction or instructional activity the learner receives
from the program. Instructional activity includes any program-sponsored
activity designed to promote student learning in the program curriculum
such as classroom instruction, assessment, tutoring, or participation
in a learning lab.
Content Standards
Expectations about what students should know and be able to do in different subjects and program levels; defines expected student knowledge and skills and what education programs should teach.
Continuous Improvement
The process of planning, implementing, evaluating, and refining systems and programs over time.
Continuous Improvement Plan
An action plan, based on data, to create and manage positive change.
Correlation
A statistical analysis that indicates the relationship of scores in one distribution to scores in another distribution. Correlation coefficients range from -1.0 to +1.0, with 0 indicating no relationship. A correlation of .8 and higher indicates a strong relationship.
Data-driven Decision Making
Making programmatic decisions based on data, such as student demographics, student outcomes, and data and program processes.
Data forms
A written or electronic document for collecting student information.
Data Mining
The process of extracting useful and previously unknown information from large databases; techniques for finding trends and patterns in large data sets.
Demographics
Characteristics of a given population, such as average age, gender, percentages of racial groups or ethnicities, etc. Disaggregated demographic data provides information about variations among subgroups of the population.
Data items
Individual questions or pieces of information contained on data forms.
Descriptive measures
For the purposes of the NRS, descriptive measures may include student
demographics, status, and goals.
Desk Monitoring
A structured approach to reviewing, tracking and evaluating local program performance using quantitative data from the NRS data system.
Disaggregated Data
Data that is separated by subgroups of the population, e.g., learning gains sorted by gender, race, age, program level, etc.
Earn a high school diploma or achieve a GED certificate
Obtaining a state accredited secondary diploma or passing the General
Education Development (GED) tests.
Educational gain (Core Outcome Measure)
Learner completes or advances one or more educational functioning levels
from starting level measured on entry into the programs.
Effect Size
The size of the difference or effect being studied, such
as the percentage achieving a goal or a mean number.
Employed
Learners who work as paid employees, work in their own business or
farm, or who work 15 hours or more per week as unpaid workers on a farm
or in a business operated by a member of the family. Also included are
learners who are not currently working, but who have jobs or businesses
from which they are temporarily absent.
Entered Employment (Core Outcome Measure)
Learner obtains a job before the end of the first quarter
after the program exit quarter.
English-as-a-Second Language programs
ESL Programs for limited English proficient students have a focus on
improving English communication skills such as speaking, reading, writing,
and listening.
Enter employment
The learner obtains full- or part-time paid employment before the end
of the first quarter after the program exit quarter.
Enters other education or training program
The learner enters another education or training program, such as community
college, trade school, a four-year college or university, etc.
ESL
English as a Second Language
Evaluation
The study of the impact and effectiveness of a program or process.
Family literacy programs
A program with a literacy component for parents and children or other
inter-generational literacy components.
Frequency
The number of times a given score occurs in a distribution.
Gain Score
The difference (can be either positive or negative) of scores obtained on the first and second administration of the same test, or alternative forms of the same test.
GED
Certificate given to learners who attain passing scores on the General
Education Development (GED) tests.
Goals
Information collected at intake about the main reasons that a student
enrolled in the adult education program.
Improve employment
The learner maintains his or her current employment but receives an
increase in pay, responsibility, or improved job-related skills.
Level benchmarks
Guidelines for placing students in educational functioning levels,
based on performance on standardized tests.
Mandatory program
A local, state, or federal program that requires a student to attend
adult education classes, for example welfare, NAFTA, or probation.
Mandatory students
Students who are required to attend adult education classes because
of their participation in some other local, state, or federal program,
including welfare, NAFTA, job training, or probation. Mandatory students
do not include students required to attend classes by their employer.
Mean
The average score in a set of scores; sum of individual scores divided by the total number of scores.
Median
The middle score in a distribution or set of ranked scores; the point (score) that divides a distribution in half so that 50 percent of the scores lie above and 50 percent lie below the median.
Mode
The score or value that occurs most frequently in a distribution.
NAFTA program
A federal program to assist workers displaced by the North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Needs Assessment
Surveying staff to understand and to develop a plan for addressing their professional development needs.
Normal Curve
The bell-shaped curve of the normal distribution.
Normal Distribution
A distribution of scores used to scale a test. A normal distribution curve is a bell-shaped curve with most scores in the middle and a small number of scores at the low and high ends distributed symmetrically about the mean.
Outcome measures
For the purposes of the NRS, core and secondary outcomes
of adult education include learning gains, advancement to further education
and training, credentials obtained, employment, family, and community
measures.
Participation measures
For the purposes of the NRS, possible participation measures
include contact hours and program enrollment type.
Percentile or Percentile Rank
Percentage of scores that fall below a point on a score distribution; for example, a score at the 75th percentile indicates that 75% of students obtained that score or lower.
Performance standards
Numeric levels established for outcome measures in the state
plan indicating what proportion of students at each level will achieve
each outcome.
Placement in Postsecondary Education or Training
(Core Outcome Measure)
Learner enrolls in a postsecondary educational or occupational
skills training program that does not duplicate other services or training
received, regardless of whether the prior services or training were completed.
Population
The larger group to which the survey results are to be inferred
and which a sample represents. For example, a population can be all adult
education students, all students who had a goal of employment who attended
an adult education program or all residents of the US.
Post-test
A test administered to a student at regular intervals during
a program. It is usually used to measure advancement in the program.
Pre-test
A test administered to a student upon entry into a program.
It is usually used for initial placement.
Probation
A situation in which a student is under the supervision
of a court and may be required to attend classes.
Program (or program area)
The main emphasis of instruction for a set of classes.
Examples of program areas are ABE, GED, workplace literacy, ESL and family
literacy).
Quality
A standard for excellence.
Random Sampling
A sample drawn using a method whereby every member has an
equal probability of being selected.
Range
The spread between the lowest and highest scores in a distribution, calculated by subtracting the lowest score from the highest score.
Raw Score
The number of questions answered correctly on a test or subtest. For example, if a test has 59 items and the student gets 23 items correct, the raw score would be 23. Raw scores are converted to percentile ranks, standard scores, and grade equivalent scores.
Receipt of a Secondary School Diploma or GED
(Core Outcome Measure)
Learner obtains certification of attaining passing scores
on the General Education Development (GED) tests, or who obtains a diploma,
or state recognized equivalent, documenting satisfactory completion of
secondary studies (high school or adult high school diploma).
Reliability
The consistency with which a test measures what it is designed and intended to measure; describes the extent to which a test is dependable, stable, and consistent when administered to the same individuals on different occasions.
Response Rate
Proportion of the sample that actually responded to the
survey or study, usually reported as a percent (total responded divided
by total in the sample).
Retained employment (Core Outcome Measure)
The learner remains employed in the third quarter after
the exit quarter.
Rubric
A scheme for classifying products or behaviors into categories that vary along a continuum; a set of scoring guidelines or criteria for evaluating performance or a product; a vehicle for describing varying levels of quality, from excellent to poor, or from exceeds expectations to does not meet expectations.
Sample
A group drawn systematically from the population
or universe of interest.
Specific academic goal
A student goal in which the student desires to learn
a specific academic skill not covered by any of the other goal categories
(e.g., multiplication, fractions, grammar, etc.).
Standard (as in procedures, guidelines, and definitions)
All states and programs use the same definitions and coding
categories for every data element in the NRS. States and programs follow
the same step-by- step instructions on how and when to collect each data
element.
Standard Deviation
A measure of the dispersion or variability of a distribution of scores. The more the scores cluster around the mean, the smaller the standard deviation. In a normal distribution, 68 percent of the scores fall within one standard deviation above and one standard deviation below the mean.
Standard Error
A measure of the degree of uncertainty for inferring to
a population from a sample. This number is used to compute the confidence
interval.
Standardized Tests
Tests that are uniformly developed, administered, and scored.
Stratified Sampling
A sample that is grouped according to a dimension believed
to be important, such as race, sex or age. The sample is then drawn separately
for each group.
Student performance
Student attainment formally measured by an approved method.
Student record system
A computerized or paper-based system for keeping track of
student attendance, intake information, achievement, and outcomes.
Student retention
Student attendance is long enough to show learning gains.
TANF
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. A federal welfare
program.
Uniform system for collecting measures
All states and programs use the same methodology for collecting
data on the measures.
Universe
All members of a group, such as all students who students
enrolled in an adult education program who want to pass the GED tests.
Validity
The extent to which a test measures the skills it sets out to measure and the extent to which inferences and actions made on the basis of test scores are appropriate and accurate.
Voluntary students
Students who attend adult education classes of their own
free will; they are not required to attend by any state agency.
Work-based project learner activity
A short-term course (at least 12 hours and no more than
30 hours) in which instruction is designed to teach work-based skills
and in which the educational outcomes and standards for achievement are
specified.
Workplace literacy programs
A program designed to improve the literacy skills needed
to perform a job and it is at least partly under the auspices of an employer.
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