Promoting College and Career-Ready Standards in Adult Basic Education

To increase the success of the 2.5 million adults who access the nation’s adult basic education system, the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) has conducted several projects to provide Adult Basic Education students with rigorous standards comparable to those found in K-12.

As a subcontractor, AIR staff led the process to revise the educational functioning levels (EFL) for the National Reporting System (NRS) to align with the College and Career Ready Standards. The standards describe the skills that could be taught to adult education students to prepare them for employment and further education. The EFLs are used to define a progression of skills within six adult basic education levels to guide assessment and instruction within the NRS. The NRS is the accountability system for adult education programs.

AIR staff identified a writing panel to develop the EFLs and a review panel, which assessed them and prepared a brief summary report of the process.