Summer 2008

Welcome to the fifth 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

• NEDP Sites Are Expanding Around the Country
• CASAS National Summer Institute
• NEDPC Conference in October
• NEDP Graduate Driven by Passion to Help Son Receives Student-of-the-Year Award
• Training Held in Virginia and New York
• NEDP Competency Revalidation
• Thank you to Competency Revalidation Committee
• New Diagnostic Procedures Starting July 1, 2008
• Contact Us

NEDP Sites Are Expanding Around the Country

There is a growing need for the National External Diploma Program (NEDP) around the nation. Many states are using creative ways to secure funding to get new NEDP sites started. This year Connecticut has decided to target NEDP for expansion using a federal adult education grant that each state receives yearly and is used for program improvement projects.  There were many areas of Connecticut that were not currently offering NEDP, so Connecticut decided to make NEDP a priority area. Connecticut has received 15 proposals and expects to fund 10 - 15 new sites this year. New York also will be adding more sites since the state received approval from the Board of Regents to continue to offer the NEDP local diploma until at least 2011. The New York State Education Department is encouraging the programs by helping to provide some monetary support for training and start-up costs. In Virginia, one site received grant money to get a new site started. In 2007-2008, there were almost 80 sites in 11 states. CASAS hopes to have more than 100 sites by 2010. If you are interested in becoming an NEDP site, please contact CASAS at 1-800-255-1036 or nedp@casas.org.  

CASAS National Summer Institute

The 2008 CASAS National Summer Institute was held June 17 – 19 at the Town and Country Resort & Convention Center in San Diego. CASAS enjoyed interacting with NEDP professionals during the many NEDP specific sessions. The Institute started with the NEDP symposium, a round table discussion of the many NEDP development projects, including competency revalidation, marketing NEDP, and training. During this session CASAS demonstrated the NEDP portfolio, the newest computer-based record keeping tool for documenting NEDP student progress.

The keynote speaker for the Institute was Ken Kay, from the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. His keynote address included a discussion of a Framework for 21st Century Learning.

21st Century Student Outcomes and Support Systems

The excellent work of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills provided much direction and vital guidance to the NEDP competency revalidation process. We believe that our revised competencies reflect the thinking of the Partnership. For more information on this framework see the Web site http://21stcenturyskills.org/route21/ .

On Wednesday, Andrew Evans reviewed the results from many data collection efforts and discussed how important it is to have accurate data to market the program more effectively to a variety of stakeholders such as boards of education, legislators and policymakers, as well as the community. Ardis Breslauer, Jim Harrison, and Cheryl Parry presented the approved list of NEDP competencies and discussed how the NEDP tasks will be revised to reflect the same rigorous standards presented in the competencies.

On Thursday, Susan Pierson from the Connecticut State Department of Education explored the Individualized Competency Manual and reviewed the options for demonstrating this part of the program. Susan Pierson and Roni Nudelman, the regional coordinator from Maryland, presented common errors assessors make in evaluating a student portfolio and provided tips for improving review skills as an NEDP portfolio reviewer. Jim Harrison and Mary Fox presented an overview of NEDP to programs interested in starting a program. 

Finally, Thursday concluded with an NEDP luncheon, providing a chance for all the NEDP professionals to summarize what was presented and discuss how sites can be involved in the development efforts planned for the coming year.

For those who did not attend the workshop, the presentations from the Summer Institute are posted on the NEDP Web site.

Please mark your calendar and plan in your budget to attend the CASAS Summer Institute next year, June 23 – 25, 2009. This forum will continue to be an excellent professional development opportunity for NEDP professionals. We look forward to seeing you in 2009!

NEDPC Conference in October

The next conference for NEDP professionals is being hosted by NEDPC — National External Diploma Program Council. This year, the conference will be held in Baltimore, Maryland, October 23 - 24, 2008. The location is the Holiday Inn at the Baltimore Washington International Airport (BWI) Conference Center located five minutes from BWI. The site has easy access to I-95, free parking, and complimentary shuttle service from the airport, Amtrak and MARC trains, and Baltimore Light Rail.

A registration form and hotel information are now available.

To submit a proposal for presentation, to help with the conference or for further information, please contact Roni Nudelman via email at rnudelman@aacps.org. You may also visit the NEDPC Web site at http://nedpc.net.

NEDP Graduate Driven by Passion to Help Son Receives Student-of-the-Year Award

Tabatha Bush of Fine, New York, was chosen as a 2007 Outstanding NYACCE — New York Association for Continuing/Community Education Student of the Year — for overcoming great obstacles to achieve her high school diploma. This NEDP graduate’s story is a profound example of how the NEDP program empowers students to pursue their dreams and make a difference in their community.

Bush’s journey has not been an easy one. After struggling in school, Tabatha dropped out of ninth grade just after her sixteenth birthday. She found a job working as a childcare provider and home aide. She was living a happily married life with one son — then the birth of her second son Travis in 2005 set her life on an entirely new course and helped her find her calling.

When Travis was born he was not able to breathe, experienced two major seizures soon after his arrival, and had no working bodily functions. He was diagnosed with eight major birth defects, and doctors told Tabatha he would never run or walk. After months of tests, the doctors diagnosed him with subcutaneous fat necrosis, a condition in which fat deposits form under the skin, swell, and break open causing extreme pain and requiring constant care and limited exposure to the sun. Hypercalacmia deteriorates bones, teeth, and impairs bodily functions. Travis is significantly paralyzed on his right side, has limited function on both sides of his heart, and has extensive brain damage. Doctors suggested that Tabatha put Travis in an institution where he could receive constant care.

Tabatha’s determination and love for her son inspired her to choose another path. She received special training at the hospital so she could bring her son home. She directed his physical and occupational therapy and maintained a schedule of monthly blood work and screenings. She did research and found groups like West Coast Therapy and early Intervention to help support her. After three years, Tabatha is proud to say that, with her constant care, Travis has been able to defy doctors’ predictions. He is running and walking and will soon start a special needs program at a local school and is predicted to continue toward a degree of independence.

Through this struggle with her son, Tabatha found her passion. She realized her skill at researching, collaborating with professionals, implementing medical solutions, and advocating for the needs of her son. She quickly became a parent-to-parent advocate answering question and providing support for other parents. Tabatha set a goal to become a pediatric nurse.

Driven with this new conviction, in April of 2007, Tabatha enrolled at Gouveneur Learning Center. The GED was not an option for her because the preparation required frequent trips to the learning center and the testing would require a day and a half trip to the nearest site. She decided to complete the National External Diploma program because she could work at her own pace and still maintain her son’s care, completing most of the work independently at home. NEDP also gave her the chance to get credit for her recently expanded life skills which she was using with her advocacy and care efforts; such as budgeting, writing communicative letters to business and government, doing a resume and job application, and analyzing the news and information on the Internet. Starting the program in May 2007, she was so focused and organized that she was able to complete most of the requirements by July 2007 and was awarded her diploma in September 2007.

Since receiving her diploma in September 2007, Tabatha has already started giving back to her community. Recognizing her own skills as a mentor, she became a Literacy Volunteer tutor. She will begin her certified nurse aid training program in September 2008. With her passion and determination, it won’t be long before she reaches her goal of becoming a pediatric registered nurse.

Completing her NEDP high school diploma was the first stepping stone toward making Tabatha’s dreams become a reality. The NEDP was the perfect fit because it allowed her to complete the program at her own pace and still maintain the care of her son.

As Tabatha stated: “The NEDP program made it easier for me to achieve my diploma the way that I work best. I am glad that I found this program so I can show my children that you can always do what you set your mind to.”

Tabatha is the perfect example of how the NEDP diploma can help an individual improve life, pursue dreams, and benefit the entire community. Thank you, Tabatha, for being an inspiration to all of us!

Training Held in Virginia and New York

This May, fourteen new NEDP staff members were trained. In Virginia, Paulette Lehrer and  Joyce Hanson conducted a training on three consecutive Saturdays.

May 27 – 31, 2008 Merle Gold and Bonnie Gooley conducted a training session in Albany, New York. Eleven people participated in the training.

Back row, left to right: Robin Delong, Marie Riccio, Anne Frank, Michele Burbank, Joanne Sutton, Ann Wood, Mary Baker
Front Row, left to right: Daphnie McKnight, Diane Dooley, Rita Jensen, Lori Pallone

NEDP Competency Revalidation

Over the past year, one of the most extensive projects for NEDP has been to revalidate the NEDP competencies. The competencies needed to reflect the most comprehensive thinking about essential skills needed for success in the world of further education, work, family, and community. This comprehensive revalidation process was described in the last two issues of the NEDP News.

We are pleased to announce that this NEDP competency revalidation process has been completed. The ad-hoc committee reviewed the competencies during a conference call on March 18, 2008. At the request of committee members, additional final changes were made to the list. Because many of the new competencies have added academic rigor, life skill examples to assist the student understand why some competencies are not only important but relevant have been included with the appropriate competency. The list is available both with and without these life skill examples. A list of the revalidated competencies may be viewed at www.nedp.org.

The competency list consists of 70 competencies in these areas: 

• Communication and Media Literacy
• Applied Math/Numeracy (number sense and operations, algebra, geometry and measurement, and statistics and probability
• Information and Communication Technology
• Cultural Literacy-Interpreting the Arts: Fine Arts, Music, Drama, Film
• Health Literacy
• Civic Literacy and Community Participation
• Geography and History
• Consumer Awareness and Financial Literacy
• Scientific Inquiry
• Twenty-First Century Workplace

A full list of the new NEDP competencies with life skills examples is available on the NEDP Web site. In cases where the relevance of a competency may not be readily apparent to an NEDP student or potential student, we would like to include a few more life skills examples. If you have ideas for additional life skills examples, please send them to abreslauer@casas.org.

A preliminary “blueprint” has been developed that identifies the themes for each task. This blueprint details where competencies will be assessed, how they will be assessed, performance measures for each competency assessed, how they will be scored and other themes. All of the tasks will use Communication and Media Literacy to some extent. Technology competencies will be infused throughout the assessment process. The Applied Math and Numeracy skills will be assessed across tasks as they are appropriate. The preliminary blueprint is described in more detail in the Summer Institute Presentation, D12. The blueprint will be presented to the Competency Revalidation/Task Development Ad Hoc Committee for review and comment this summer.

Thank you to Competency Revalidation Committee

CASAS would like to thank all NEDP professionals who have helped us complete the competency revalidation activities. We would like to thank all agencies who took the time to complete the review surveys for the new competencies. We are especially grateful to the ad-hoc committee members who participated in our on-site and online meetings. Feedback and suggestions from NEDP professionals have been invaluable to the process.

NEDP Ad-hoc Committee Members

Kay Hartley	California	Vallejo Adult School
Susan Pierson	Connecticut	CT State Department of Education, Bureau of Health/Nutrition, Family Services and Adult Education
Sr. Betsy Hartson	Washington D.C.	Living Wages Opportunity Center
Linda Crooks	Illinois	Rock Valley College Adult Education Center
Linda Bell	Kentucky	Carl D. Perkins Vocational Training Center
Roni Nudelman	Maryland	Anne Arundel County Public Schools
Ralph Galvin	Maryland	Maryland State Department of Education
Jay LeMaster	Maryland	Maryland State Department of Education
Wanda Pingitore	Maryland	Charles County EDP
Pat Katz	New York	OCM BOCES
Donna Chambers	Rhode Island	RIRAL
Marti Giese	Virginia	Fairfax County Public Schools
John Chadwick	Washington	Renton Technical College
Virginia Whitstone	Wisconsin	Waukesha County Technical College
Jill Weekley	West Virginia	James Rumsey Technical Institute

We look forward to continuing to work with all of you as we develop a plan for redesigning the NEDP tasks.

New Diagnostic Procedures Starting July 1, 2008

As of July 1, 2008, all NEDP sites are required to use CASAS tests for reading and math diagnostics. This transition is occurring after piloting the CASAS tests with sites over the past year. We collected test data from more than 700 students and qualitative opinions from more than 100 staff members. CASAS was quite pleased with the results of this study, and we are able to make this transition to the new diagnostics with confidence. With more than 700 students using CASAS tests in diagnostics, we found that 92.7 percent of NEDP students received a 236 or above on the CASAS reading test, indicating that they are reading at an adult secondary level. Only 6.1 percent scored below 225 in math (advanced basic skills and below), with 53 percent scoring at 236 or above (adult secondary).  Eighty-six percent of staff members indicate that they are somewhat to very satisfied with CASAS tests as predictors of success in Generalized Assessment. Sites in Virginia and Maryland reported that they are graduating a record number of students this year, and they attribute this to the new diagnostic procedures streamlining the process. Sites are indicating that this success is partly due to having a clear cut-score to use when screening students to enter the program. Sites using CASAS appraisal instruments or other pre-screening tools before beginning Diagnostics report little or no remediation is needed in math and reading. 75 percent of staff members reported that learners generally needed less time in remediation when using CASAS tests. Very few students (fewer than 20 in our study) had to take a diagnostic test more than once. As Roni Nudelman, regional coordinator from Maryland states:

“With advanced screening, the students are able to move through diagnostics quickly. This gives them more confidence to approach the other diagnostic pieces. Since we are using the CASAS instruments [appraisals] for prescreening, the students approach the new diagnostic tests without any hesitation. Also, with the old diagnostics, students would often get stuck with one or two competencies that they had to re-demonstrate. The new diagnostic eliminates this problem and provides a smoother, quicker path through diagnostics helping the students keep their momentum going into Assessment. With confidence in their skills and quicker movement through the process, students are succeeding in the program. We are very pleased.”

Contact Us

We hope you found this newsletter informative. You may also view previous issues of the NEDP News.

We are ready to answer your questions and to assist you with your program needs. Please do not hesitate to contact one of us.

Mary Fox (general assistance)
mfox@casas.org
1-800-255-1036 x 136

Andrew Evans (technical assistance)
aevans@casas.org
1-800-255-1036 x 184

Jim Harrison (policy or assessment assistance)
jharrison@casas.org
1-800-255-1036 x 191

CASAS 5151 Murphy Canyon Road, Suite 220, San Diego, CA 92123-4339 FAX 858-292-2910

Editor: Mary Fox  
Copy Editor: Nancy Taylor  
Web Delivery: Andrea Dolney
Contributors: CASAS: Andrew Evans, Ardis Breslauer, Jim Harrison, and Mary Fox