Program Management
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Your
State Adult Education Office:
Committing to Student Success
The Latest News from the Texas Education Agency
by Sheila Rosenberg, Ph.D.
Senior Director, Division of Adult and Community Education
To achieve success,
students must stay in programs long enough to accomplish their goals.
Effective retention strategies encourage student persistence and raise
retention rates. A commitment to student success means being flexible
enough to accommodate students with changing life situations and goals
and assisting them in overcoming obstacles.
A Checklist of Retention Strategies for Programs to Use
Support:
Student Attendance and Persistence Improve when Support Services Meet
Students Affective and Other Nonacademic Needs.
* Let students know
that a support network is available, and help them establish links/rapport
with the staff and other students.
* Provide educational and career planning counseling (transitioning).
During intake, help students clarify realistic expectations; compatibility
between student abilities and expectations and program requirements
and expectations leads to student satisfaction and success.
* Establish caring, trusting relationships. Demonstrating respect
and concern and expressing confidence and encouragement help students
overcome self-doubts and become more confident and motivated.
* Provide an intervention program that teaches problem-solving skills
and coping strategies and helps students manage personal as well as
educational transitions.
* Refer students with other nonacademic needs (transportation, child
care, employability skills, job placement, health care, etc.) to appropriate
agencies/services.
* Encourage or build on family support.
Instruction:
High Quality Instruction is the Foundation of Effective Student Retention.
* Conduct a successful
first class; "reach" every student.
* Build an adult-learner centered, rather than a program centered, program;
apply adult learning principles, which include self-directed learning.
* Practice joint planning; regularly review students learning goals
for possible changes and assess progress' toward meeting these goals.
* Help students convert their gains in self-confidence and higher expectations
of self into expanded learning plans and new educational goals.
* Offer instruction that meets the purposes of students. Ensure that
sessions are meaningful and productive so that students recognize their
value and want to attend regularly.
* Provide clear, thorough explanations of content in a patient manner.
* Offer opportunities for students to apply learning as soon as possible
so that they can perceive benefits.
* Provide feedback as soon as possible after performance. Regular feedback
with checklists or graphs provides tangible evidence of progress and
helps sustain motivation.
* Employ strategies that emphasize cooperation, maximize cooperation
and maximize learner involvement in order to accelerate learning and
foster self-direction.
* Plan strategies for periods when student progress is slow and students
are at a high risk for withdrawal; focus on the importance of the small
steps students make and the effort needed to succeed.
* Obtain student feedback about progress in relation to goals. Student
participation fosters a sense of empowerment.
Consider
Developing a Student Retention Team (SRT). With full staff representation,
strong administrative support, and student-centered efforts, an SRT can
help keep programs on target. The team can:
* coordinate the
programs student-retention efforts;
* solve organizational problems that contribute to dropouts;
* foster the implementation of more effective instructional strategies;
* handle intervention;
* establish criteria and determine measures for student-retention accountability
information; and
* collect, analyze, and report data on whether student's goals have
been identified (in ACES), goals are' being met, and attendance is being
maintained, and student retention rates are at an acceptable level -
data that can help program administrators determine where change is
needed (turning data into performance improvement).
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Texas Education Agency
Division of Adult & Community Education
Staff Roster
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Brown, Meg
(512) 463-9448 |
McLaurin, Darnell
(512) 475-3463
dmclaurin@tea.state.tx.us
(areas of expertise = state, federal rules & regulations, TANF) |
Burger, Phil
(512) 463-9274
pburger@tea.state.tx.us
(area of expertise = learning disabilities) |
Parker, Ursula
(512) 463-9494
uparker@tea.state.tx.us
(areas of expertise = professional development, health literacy) |
Campbell, Jeanette
(512) 463-9641
jcampbell@tea.state.tx.us |
Perez, Juan
(512) 463-9319
jperez@tea.state.tx.us
(areas of expertise = ESL, writing, EFF) |
Curtis, Evelyn
(512) 463-9132
ecurtis@tea.state.tx.us
(areas of expertise = assessment, accountability, ACES) |
Reed, Joe
(512) 463-2954
jreed@tea.state.tx.us
(areas of expertise = corrections adult education, case management,
quality imrovement |
Douglas, James
(512) 463-9336
jdouglas@tea.state.tx.us
(areas of expertise = EL/Civics, immigration & refugee
initiatives) |
Rosenberg, Sheila
(512) 463-9264
srosenbe@tea.state.tx.us
(areas of expertise = professional development, curriculum,
GED) |
Franklin, Effie
(512) 463-9278
efranklin@tea.state.tx.us
(areas of expertise = family literacy, basic literacy) |
Russell, Joyce
(512) 463-9275
jrussell@tea.state.tx.us |
Harris, Margie
(512) 463-9286
mharris@tea.state.tx.us |
Saucedo-Schwarz, Myrna
(512) 475-3492
mschwarz@tea.state.tx.us
(areas of expertise = ESL, writing, professional development,
and GED) |
Kean, Nona
(512) 475-3534
nkean@tea.state.tx.us
(areas of expertise = quality improvement, ESL, family literacy) |
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Team Areas of Responsibility
Group 1:
Phil Burger & Evelyn Curtis
Region 16 - Amarillo
Region 17 - Lubbock
Region 18 - Midland
Region 14 - Abilene
Region 15 - San Angelo
Region 19 - El Paso
Group II:
Nona Kena, Myrna Saucedo-Schwarz & Joe Reed
Region 11 - Ft. Worth
Region 12 - Waco
Region 13 - Austin
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Group III:
Effie Franklin & Ursula Parker
Region 7 - Kilgore
Region 8 - Mt. Pleasant
Region 9 - Wichita Falls
Region 10 - Dallas
Group IV:
Darnell McLaurin & James Douglas
Region 3 - Victoria
Region 4 - Houston
Region 5 - Beaumont
Region 6 - Huntsville
Group V:
Juan Perez
Region 1 - Edinburg
Region 2 - Corpus Christi
Region 20 - San Antonio
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