© Copyright 2004 by the Wyoming Department of Employment, Research & Planning

Adult Basic Education (ABE) Program Educational Functioning Levels

by: Susan Murray, Information Specialist/Desktop Publisher

The feature article in this month’s issue of Wyoming Labor Force Trends compares (by TANF eligibility) employment and enrollment outcomes for participants in Casper College’s Adult Basic Education/General Educational Development (ABE/GED) program. This article describes the process the participants go through when entering Casper College’s ABE program.

The first steps to program participation are registering and completing a test of basic education. The assessment determines the participants’ functioning level in educational subject areas including Reading, Math, and Language. The Educational Functioning Level (EFL) is a measure of adult educational progress, and is not the same as a grade level typically found in public schools.

The functioning level, as defined by the National Reporting System for Adult Education (2001), is comprised of four levels of Adult Basic Education and two levels of Adult Secondary Education (see below). When the feature article refers to progress or progressing “within an educational level” that means a participant is obtaining the skills identified within one of the six EFL levels. 

After discussing the goals of the participant, the ABE staff use the results from the EFL assessment as a guideline to determine which educational subjects participants should concentrate on. The individualized program for a participant whose goal is to earn their GED would be different than a student of a culinary program. A particular GED participant may need to work within several subjects, but a culinary participant may need to concentrate on mathematics. The typical goal of Casper College ABE/GED participants is to earn their GED certificate (Harris, 2004). By the time a participant completes the High Adult Secondary Education level, they should be able to reach their goal of successfully completing their GED.

References

Harris, M.A. (2004, March). Wyoming Labor Force Trends. A comparison of employment and enrollment outcomes for TANF eligible and TANF ineligible participants in Casper College’s Adult Basic Education/General Educational Development (ABE/GED) program. Casper, WY: Wyoming Department of Employment, Research & Planning. 

National Reporting System for Adult Education. (2001). Measures and methods for the national reporting system for adult education: Implementation guidelines. Retrieved February 13, 2004, from http://www.nrsweb.org/reports/implement.pdf

Abbreviated Descriptions of the Lowest and Highest 
Educational Functioning Levels

At the level of Beginning ABE Literacy, an individual: has no or minimal reading and writing skills; has little or no recognition of numbers or simple counting skills, or may have only minimal skills, such as ability to add or subtract single digit numbers; has little or no ability to read basic signs or maps; can handle routine entry level jobs that require little or no basic written communication or computational skills, or no knowledge of computers or other technology.

Among other skills, participants of the final program level, High Adult Secondary Education, can comprehend, explain, and analyze information from a variety of literacy works; use context cues and higher order processes to interpret meaning of written material; write in a cohesive manner while clearly expressing ideas supported by relevant detail; make mathematical estimates of time and space; apply principles of geometry to measure angles, lines, and surfaces; apply trigonometric functions; read technical information and complex manuals; function in most job situations involving higher order thinking; use common software and learn new software applications, or adapt use of software or technology to new situations.

Reference: National Reporting System for Adult Education. (2001). Measures and methods for the national reporting system for adult education: Implementation guidelines. Retrieved February 13, 2004, from http://www.nrsweb.org/reports/implement.pdf 

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