Spring 2008

Welcome to the fourth issue of NEDP News, an informational newsletter for NEDP directors, coordinators, assessors, and advisors. For a printable version of this newsletter, click here.

In This Issue

• Message from Jim Harrison
• CASAS National Summer Institute
• Helping NEDP Students Transition to College or Career
• New NEDP Materials
• Training News
• Washington Training a Success
• Contact Us

Message from Jim Harrison

Dear NEDP Colleague,

We do hope that you find these newsletters informative. Our goal in publishing them is to help keep you updated with the latest information about our efforts to redesign the NEDP. Since our last newsletter, the NEDP team has been very busy working on a number of different fronts. This newsletter highlights some of our current activities.  We will continue to present others in future newsletters.

The national process for revalidating the NEDP competencies has been one of the most expansive activities CASAS has undertaken since assuming responsibility for the program. A national ad hoc advisory committee has been of enormous assistance in the competency revalidation process. After receiving committee feedback in December and January, we have made extensive revisions. We have consulted with specialists in literacy and numeracy as well as reviewed national standards to ensure that the competencies to be demonstrated are both comprehensive and rigorous. We are putting final touches on the competencies and will share them with the committee in mid-March. We are currently working on a blueprint that will map how we propose to assess these competencies, and we will begin task development in the next few weeks.

As many of you know, we are considering using the U.S. Department of Labor’s O*NET  Career Interest Inventory as a possible replacement for the current Occupational Profile or other career interest inventory NEDP programs may be using. We recently began a pilot study of the O*NET Work Importance Locator and the Interest Profiler career exploration tools at six sites, across five states and the District of Columbia. Analyses will include survey results from student and staff perspectives using the O*NET tools. Training sessions for participating agencies were held on February 6 and 12. Both tools are computer-based interest inventories: Using the results from each tool, participants can refine occupation searches on O*NET Online. The pilot will continue until May 1, 2008, (and perhaps longer if we need to collect additional information).

Initial design of the NEDP Portfolio is nearing completion. This electronic portfolio has four main screens that provide data entry, editing, and monitoring capabilities: Diagnostic Phase, Assessment Phase, Portfolio Review, and Program Completion. The portfolio is designed to replace much of the paper-and-pencil recordkeeping currently necessary. We expect to release a beta version for testing in the coming weeks. The program has three levels of access: administrator, staff member, and student. Students can access and enter their demographic information; staff can access data elements according to their assigned role. At present, reporting capabilities are limited, but we anticipate enhancing the reporting and data exporting features.

It is still possible for additional sites to participate in the O*NET pilot and to help us as we beta test NEDP Portfolio. For more information, please contact Andrew Evans (aevans@casas.org).

We have been working on numerous other fronts, but we want to highlight in some detail these three major efforts. We look forward to sharing other NEDP initiatives with you in future editions of our newsletter.

Sincerely,
Jim Harrison
CASAS
NEDP Project Director

CASAS National Summer Institute

NEDP professionals are invited to attend the CASAS National Summer Institute June 17–19, 2008. The Institute is a great opportunity to participate in more than 100 workshops, training sessions, and panel discussions focusing on key issues in adult education and training. For NEDP professionals there will be a symposium, special sessions, and an NEDP luncheon.

NEDP session topics include information on the following:

• Introduction/Overview of NEDP
• Creating a new NEDP Transcript
• O*Net Pilot Study
• Marketing NEDP
• Panel discussion on ICDI
• Results of Extended Pilot Study
• Competency Revalidation
• New Task Development
• NEDP portfolio – our new NEDP computerized management tool
  

Please let us know if you have additional topics of interest. We will finalize the NEDP sessions soon, so please send us your ideas before April 8, 2008.

Registration is in process. The earlier you register the more you save! Contact mfox@casas.org for a registration form. We hope to see you there!

Helping NEDP Students Transition to College or Career

For many NEDP applicants, the goal of achieving their diploma is to enter a post-secondary institution, receive a promotion, or find a new career. Many NEDP agencies are creating innovative programs to provide additional support to students to make this transition.

Academy of Hope in Washington D.C. is proud to announce the kick-off of its newest program, Pathways to Success. Pathways to Success supports advanced students in transitioning to college or career. NEDP students at Academy of Hope can take advantage of this program.
Pathways to Success is tailored for each individual student. Every student is assigned a personal advisor who, together with the student, crafts a personalized Professional Development Plan that tracks goals and ensures all Pathways programming fits student needs. Program participants enhance their college and career awareness, sharpen their college readiness or career planning skills, and work on setting and meeting personal academic or career goals. In college-oriented Friday seminars, students participate in lively discussions and debates, challenge themselves to use college-level vocabulary, and conduct research as a basis for written papers and class presentations, all while using study skills and strategies. The program also places equal weight on the importance of career planning and technology. Students meet regularly with the Academy of Hope career counselor to determine what career fields may be of interest to them. Students are also required to attend technology classes to help improve their comfort level with Microsoft Office® programs and keyboarding skills. As part of the program, participants create a college or career portfolio to aid them in their job search or college application process.

Good luck to Academy of Hope with this new program! CASAS would like to hear what other agencies are doing to help support NEDP students with the transition to college and career! Send your program information to mfox@casas.org.

(Article adapted from Academy of Hope Unveils Its Newest Path to Success, by Jessica Stadd, Literacy Coach, Literacy Connection. Winter 2007-08.)

New NEDP Materials

All agencies should have received a new order form from CASAS. As of March 1, 2008, all orders must be submitted using this form. The newest items on the order form are shown here.

NEDP Trainer Set

The NEDP Trainer Set includes a trainer and trainee binder, pre-training manual and supplemental materials, and a CD with a PowerPoint® presentation and transparencies.

 

 

 

 

Training Workshop Trainee Package

This package includes the training binder, pre-training manual, and supplemental materials.
In addition, the package includes four program manuals that each new staff member needs for administering the program.

 

 

 

 

Assessor Toolkit
The Assessor Toolkit is now available with a new sturdy black box for storing the items. Each site should have one toolkit available for staff members.

 

 

 

New Site Materials Bundle
In addition, CASAS has put together a New Site Materials Bundle that provides everything a new site needs to support the first ten NEDP students.

In response to requests from the field, CASAS added TOPSpro forms to the order form for separate purchase. The order form is available on the Web site.

Training News

Thirty-One New NEDP Advisors/Assessors

In January and February, NEDP trainers in Connecticut, Washington, and Virginia trained thirty-one new NEDP advisors/assessors. CASAS welcomes all of you and we wish you success in your first year in NEDP.

CASAS would like to thank these NEDP trainers for delivering successful NEDP training workshops.

• Sue Pierson
• Bette Huckabee
• Laurie Tishler
• Michele Lesmeister
• Maggie Lemenager
• Paulette Lehrer

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