Spring 2011
Welcome to the eleventh issue of NEDP News, an informational newsletter for NEDP directors, coordinators, assessors, and advisors. (Printable version)
In This Issue
- Moving Forward
- NEDP Task Items – Initial Tryouts
- 2011 CASAS National Summer Institute
- Web-Based O*NET Now Available
- NEDP Transcript Redesigned
- WSCS Pilots
- NEDP Success Story
- NEDP Voices From the Field
- NEDP Electronic Order Form
- Contact Us
- NEDP News – Previous Issues
Moving Forward
NEDP redevelopment is moving forward on many fronts. This issue of the NEDP News is devoted to providing the latest information about many areas of program redesign.
Staff are working diligently to complete the Health Literacy task items, so beta testing can begin after July 1. Clinical tryouts of Health Literacy items are underway to gain feedback on the overall design and user-friendliness of the new online format. We are also beginning to write items for Consumer Awareness and Financial Literacy as well as Civic Literacy and Community Participation.
A new Web-based version of the O*NET Interest Profiler, with a one-page user guide, is now available that provides much greater flexibility and access for NEDP clients and staff. A national transcript workgroup has been redesigning the transcript to make it more consistent with traditional high school transcripts. Happily, this new transcript is available, and we welcome any feedback you have as a result of using the new design.
In the near future we are planning to pilot test the CASAS Workforce Skills Certification System (WSCS) in NEDP. We are hopeful that this Individualized Competency option will be attractive to NEDP clients who do not have sufficient employment experience or who are currently under-employed and would benefit from a workforce readiness program.
Voices from the Field is a new CASAS education and outreach initiative in which NEDP is participating. We are collecting videos and stories from local agencies to showcase the effectiveness of NEDP. This is a perfect opportunity to promote the program.
Soon you will receive a communication requesting that NEDP programs follow up on graduates. Because transition to postsecondary education and training is critically important, NEDP must be able to document its effectiveness in transitioning clients to higher education.
Currently, we have very little data to support our successes in this area. When new states or agencies inquire about adopting NEDP, we are always asked about postsecondary transition rates. Your cooperation in collecting reliable transition data will help us strengthen our credibility as a national program.
The CASAS National Summer Institute, June 14-16, is an excellent opportunity for NEDP practitioners to network and share effective practices. The Institute will offer a full strand of NEDP presentations and the annual NEDP symposium. All sessions will provide the most recent NEDP development information. Sessions also will allow practitioners to provide invaluable feedback to NEDP staff to guide program redesign. We are cognizant of the fiscal constraints that state and local agencies are facing in these challenging times, but we encourage you to attend the Summer Institute 2011 if possible.
Author: Jim Harrison
NEDP Task Items – Initial Tryouts
As spring begins, CASAS reports significant progress on Task Item development. Fifteen new Health Literacy items are programmed online and going through clinical tryouts in preparation for the start of official beta testing.
The new items will look familiar to current NEDP Assessors. However, they contain important new and updated features:
- Item resources are all Web-based, replacing the current print-based Appendix. The Internet offers a wealth of information, much of it downloadable, published by the American Red Cross, Mayo Clinic, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Clients will be able to refer to authentic and up-to- date information. CASAS will monitor these resources on a regular basis to screen for changes.
- Longer, multi-part items are divided into separate Activities, displayed with labeled tabs on the screen, to facilitate navigation and minimize long, scrolling pages that can be confusing in an online environment.
- Items better address the broad “ages and stages” of the NEDP population. This may be done by broadening the relevance of a topic for all adults or by providing a choice of topics. For example, the current Family Planning item in Task D will be replaced by a Health Planning item that gives clients a range of choices including family planning, early childhood care, adult screening tests, and elder care. All items go through a formal fairness and sensitivity review to ensure their appropriateness for NEDP clients.
- Math skills will be more broadly covered in Health Literacy, Consumer Awareness and Financial Literacy, Scientific Inquiry, and the Twenty-First Century Workplace.
- Measurement experts to evaluate validity and reliability of each item;
- Technology and Media Literacy skills, although not prominent in Health Literacy, are integrated throughout the assessments, enhancing task relevance. Introductory material and supporting resources will ensure clients are equipped to complete these items.
In addition to Task Item development, CASAS software and test developers are creating a streamlined format for online scoring. Instead of moving back and forth between multiple booklets, NEDP Assessors will be able to evaluate and score a client’s work onscreen, facilitated by “pop-up” screens containing scoring guidelines. Scoring results will be recorded in the NEDP Portfolio. Initial feedback has been positive, and CASAS is refining the system in preparation for beta testing.
Health Literacy items have provided a platform for developing the online item format, client-assessor interactivity, and data management. In the meantime, CASAS item writers are moving ahead with development of the next two competency areas: Consumer Awareness and Financial Literacy, and Civic Literacy and Community Participation.
Clinical tryouts for Health Literacy will be completed shortly and, following any necessary revisions, these items will be ready for beta testing. CASAS will issue a memorandum that provides beta testing details including timelines, technical requirements, data collection procedures, and information about Assessor training. For more information, contact Jim Harrison or Melissa Dayton.
Author: Melissa Dayton
2011 CASAS National Summer Institute
The CASAS Summer Institute is June 14 – 16 in San Diego. This is an ideal networking opportunity for NEDP staff and other adult educators. The Institute includes a specific NEDP strand designed to update NEDP staff on the status of development efforts and upcoming changes to NEDP.
Click here to read a full description of proposed NEDP sessions for this year’s Summer Institute. The sessions include:
- Written Prompt Scorer Training: In 12 to 18 months the CASAS written prompt (emphasis on how well ideas are organized and conveyed) will replace the current NEDP written prompt (focus primarily on the mechanics of writing).
- NEDP Symposium: A half-day symposium that includes updates on NEDP redevelopment efforts and pilot-testing projects as well as the latest 2010-2011 statistics.
- Web-Based NEDP Task Items – An Update on Testing and Implementation Plans: This is a status update of NEDP online beta testing, beginning with Health Literacy task items. The session presents plans for enlisting local agency assistance with further beta testing efforts.
- Redefining NEDP Advisor and Assessor Roles – Moving from a Paper System to a Computer-Delivered Assessment System: This session helps sites identify staff development needs required to implement the new redesigned tasks.
Keynote speakers are Dr. Barbara Endel, Program Director of Jobs for the Future, and Cheryl Keenan, Director of Adult Education and Literacy, Office of Vocational and Adult Education for the U.S. Department of Education. For a more detailed background on the speakers, click here . For more information on Summer Institute and to register, visit www2.casas.org/si.
Web-Based O*NET Now Available
NEDP recently informed agencies of the option to use a new Web-based version of the O*NET Interest Profiler. Until this recent O*NET development, the only option for completing the Interest Profiler was through use of a version that requires installation on a local computer or computer network. The new Web-based Interest Profiler option affords additional flexibility to advisors and clients, as the tool can now be used at any location with Internet connectivity.
While O*NET will continue to support the stand-alone version for the foreseeable future, the online option will ultimately replace the locally installed version as the required resource. This follows the overall development of NEDP Diagnostics and Generalized Assessment toward exclusively online resources. The online Interest Profiler offers several advantages over the locally installed version:
- Software installation is not required.
- It is computer-adaptive, reducing the number of questions by more than 50 percent.
- Internet links to job information are embedded in the Interest Profiler results report, facilitating instant access to detailed occupation information at O*NET Online.
- Leads the user to www.mynextmove.org, a new website by O*NET that provides consolidated at-a-glance summaries of occupations, making it easier to quickly determine which occupations merit more careful examination.
- Promotes a more expedient, deeper examination of occupational information by connecting clients quickly and seamlessly to O*NET Online.
Agencies may immediately begin using the online Interest Profiler. Instructions, a user guide for staff, and a single page guide for clients are available for download on the NEDP Professionals Web page, in the NEDP Software section. Go to www.nedp.org> NEDP Professionals>Operations>NEDP Software>O*NET Career Exploration Tools>NEW: Web-based version.
Mary Gutowski, from Calvert County EDP in Maryland, posted this comment regarding MyNextMove on the NEDP Forum. We hope all NEDP sites have the same success.
"We have begun using the new mynextmove.org site with clients and they really like it. It is shorter than the Profiler and gives them loads of information with just a couple of clicks. Using the CASAS-designed form, they have all the directions at-hand and can easily access the site on their own."
For more information or if you have questions, contact Andrew Evans.
My Next Move is created for the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration, by the National Center for O*NET Development.
NEDP Transcript Redesigned
CASAS is pleased to announce that a redesigned NEDP transcript is now available. CASAS, with feedback and suggestions from the transcript review committee, designed this new transcript to provide more information to the transcript reviewer.
The new NEDP Transcript consists of three pages. The first page is an overview of NEDP. The second page includes specific student and agency information and a new chart of the NEDP competencies illustrating common subject areas. Page three includes a list of the 65 NEDP competencies.
Each version of the transcript is customized with a unique logo and footer for each state or local program. The revised transcript is now posted on the website (www.nedp.org) under NEDP Professionals> Program Completion>April 2011 NEDP Transcript General Format – Unofficial.
The transcript will be made available to sites as a fillable Adobe PDF form so student information can be easily entered and electronic transcripts can be maintained for each client.
For more information, contact Mary Fox.
WSCS Pilots
The NEDP Workforce Skills Certification System (WSCS) pilot project is underway with participating agencies poised to implement WSCS:
- Ballou STAY High School, Washington, D.C.
- Charles County External Diploma Program, Maryland
- Foothills Adult and Continuing Education, Connecticut
- New Haven Adult and Continuing Education, Connecticut
- Rhode Island Regional Adult Learning (RIRAL), Rhode Island
- Vallejo Adult Education, California
The WSCS option will allow NEDP clients to earn stackable credentials that provide the Workforce Skills Certificate in addition to the high school diploma. The list of demonstrated academic and soft skills competencies printed on the back of the certificate allows an employer to match the client’s skills with job openings.
The WSCS option is particularly valuable for those with a limited or sporadic work history and provides an alternative venue to complete the required Individualized Assessment.
Stay tuned for more updates as the pilot sites install the necessary software and begin implementation with clients!
NEDP Success Story
Several months ago Quy Vo, an NEDP graduate, visited us to share his big news. We remembered Quy to be a mature nineteen-year-old, ambitious, hardworking, and dedicated. What we did not know at the time were the extreme conditions under which he sought his high school diploma.
Quy grew up fatherless in a family of five during the post-Vietnam War era. His father was a P.O.W. for thirteen years and his mother single-handedly raised five boys in a village with no running water, no electricity, and no toilet. With the family earning a mere forty cents a day, struggles for food and shelter overshadowed Quy’s academic dreams.
In 1993 Quy’s father was granted asylum to the United States. The family of seven lived in a small, roach-infested two-bedroom apartment in Alexandria, Virginia. Quy often dreamed big about his future. Watching his mother slave at three jobs and his father working the graveyard shift to support him and his four brothers motivated him to be financially independent. He worked odd jobs to alleviate the family’s financial pressures instead of attending classes throughout high school. As a result, his focus shifted away from academia and into the workforce. The tension between school, family and excessive work collided by the middle of his junior year. He dropped out of school and decided to move out of his parents’ house.
Shortly thereafter, Quy came to NEDP, asking for a waiver because of his young age. Once accepted to the program, he worked with enthusiasm and completed the program. Quy did not stop with NEDP. In 2010 he graduated magna cum laude from Northern Virginia Community College, a dream he would have never thought possible. After graduating, his next goal was to attend a university, and he applied to several. His two-page admission letter ended with the following.
“… My unique academic and business experiences have enabled me to see beyond the textbooks and helped me appreciate learning much more than my peers. If you are looking for an intelligent student who is not deterred by failure, highly ambitious and is able to advance beyond conceptual thinking and into practical wisdom, then I look forward to meeting my professors and classmates in the fall.”
Recently Quy visited, this time with his fiancé, a student at the University of Virginia. He excitedly told us he was accepted at the University of Michigan and American University, each awarding him large scholarships to support his academic career. Quy is now studying at the University of Michigan. This nice guy is well on his way. Congratulations, Quy!
To see other NEDP graduate success stories, go to www.nedp.org and select NEDP Success Stories from the menu on the left. If you have a story to share, contact Mary Fox.“No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.” Buddha
Author: Marti Giese, Fairfax County Public Schools NEDP
NEDP Voices From the Field
You have the opportunity to be a part of a new CASAS education and outreach initiative! CASAS is collecting videos and stories to showcase the empowering aspects of NEDP. Please take a moment to capture videos of clients talking about the benefits of NEDP and how the program has affected their lives. You may want to consider interviewing NEDP graduates as they complete the program or ask them to return later to share the successes they’ve had after obtaining their diploma.
You may use any media device, including Flip video cameras or a cell phone to capture the interview. You will need to get permission to shoot and post these videos. Be sure to go to our Web site to get more information on shooting the videos and to get a copy of the release form.
Post your clips on YouTube and share the link or email your clips to Andrea Mullenmeister.
Do you or your agency already have videos and stories to share? Perhaps you have a link on Facebook, or maybe your program has been featured in your local newspaper? “Like” us on Facebook, share the link and spread the word!
Contact Mary Fox if you have questions about this project.
NEDP Electronic Order Form
CASAS has posted a new electronic order form. After you complete the form, you may e-mail or fax it to CASAS. We hope this makes the ordering process even simpler.
For access to the form, you must be logged into NEDP Professionals. Select NEDP Order Form under Operations. Then select NEDP Order Form with Input Fields.
For ordering questions, contact nedp@casas.org.
Contact Us
We are ready to answer your questions and to assist you with your program needs!
NEDP Project Director
Jim Harrison
jharrison@casas.org
1-800-255-1036, x191
Director of Operations
Joan Polster
jpolster@casas.org
1-800-255-1036 x 188
Performance Assessment Redesign
Melissa Dayton
mdayton@casas.org
1-800-255-1036 x 181
Technology Support and Data Collection
Andrew Evans (technical assistance)
aevans@casas.org
1-800-255-1036 x 184
General Operations Questions
Mary Fox
mfox@casas.org
1-800-255-1036 x136
cohara@casas.org
1-800-255-1036 x135
5151 Murphy Canyon Road, Suite 220, San Diego, CA 92123-4339
FAX 858-292-2910
NEDP News – Previous Issues
The NEDP News is our primary vehicle for keeping NEDP practitioners and other stakeholders abreast of the latest NEDP developments, including the redesign. We welcome your feedback and encourage you to share this newsletter with your colleagues.
You may view previous issues at www.nedp.org select NEDP News.
Editor: Mary Fox Copy Editor: Nancy Taylor Web Delivery: Andrea Mullenmeister
Contributors: Marti Giese, Fairfax County Public Schools; Melissa Dayton, Andrew Evans, Jim Harrison, Mary Fox, and Joan Polster, CASAS.