HARRISON, N.Y. -- The Southern Westchester BOCES Adult Education Program, which offers classes in adult literacy preparation for the high school equivalency exam, as well as citizenship and English as a Second Language classes, was rated “highly proficient” by the New York State Education Department in its 2014-15 Report Card of adult education programs around the state.
The report card scores are based on a reporting system developed by the U.S. Education Department that provide federal money for adult education programs throughout the nation.
The state’s evaluation is based on four performance measures -- educational gain, the frequency of student post testing, follow-up outcomes and responses to a survey students are given after leaving adult education programs.
Adult Education Supervisor Maria Guerrero said BOCES has surpassed the state’s benchmark requirements. While the state’s benchmark for satisfying educational gain is 51 percent, BOCES students exceeded that number last year with 64.7 of them making the successful transition to a higher education level.
The state’s benchmark for post testing is 70 percent, but for BOCES students it was 93.5 percent. Follow-up outcomes are based on the number of students who enter or regain employment, earn HSE credentials and enter a post-secondary education program. The state requires 69 percent of adult education students reach such goals. Guerrero said 93 percent of BOCES students achieved similar outcomes.
Guerrero said the annual report card evaluation is helpful in understanding how the program is doing when compared with other adult education initiatives in New York. The scores also are used for accountability and improvement purposes and to close any service delivery gaps.
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