New Beginnings
Creating and Establishing an Adult Literacy Program

New Student Orientation

Janell Baker

There are a number of reasons to include a new student orientation in your adult education program. After participating in an effective orientation, students tend to come to class more frequently, stay with the program longer, and have a higher level of commitment. Programs that have implemented a new student orientation often see an increase in student contact hours and student progress. This is a plus for adult education programs since most of our funding is tied to these two issues.

You may want to consider conducting a 12-hour orientation and assessment session. This would satisfy one of the performance indicators, which requires that students be baseline-assessed and have 12 hours of instruction.

As with any orientation, a student orientation should include any and all information that will make the student more comfortable and that will help ensure success in the program. The orientation should also provide opportunities for community building so that students feel the classroom is a safe and supportive environment. An orientation may include: program information, any rules or regulations that the students may be expected to follow, learning styles, time management, GED information, testing and placement information, goal setting and self evaluation, test taking skills, and any paperwork required by the program.

Planning

Several questions need to be answered during the planning process:

1. How frequently will orientation be conducted? Should special orientations be conducted for court-mandated or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) students?

2. Who will conduct the initial orientation? Follow up orientations? If this is a teacher, will the orientation be conducted outside the regular class meeting time? If yes, will the teacher be compensated?

3. How long should the orientation be? Should the orientation be the same length across the program?

4. What components should be included for all students? for ESL students? for GED students?

5. Attendance policy - should there be one? Should it be the same across the program?

6. Do you have commitment from the teachers? Are they willing to follow up with activities in the classroom related to the students' goals?

7. What training does the teacher or facilitator need?

Orientation Development

1. Decide which components will be included in the orientation. It is recommended that the following components be included in all orientations: Program information, rules and regulations, learning styles, assessment, GED information (where appropriate), goal setting, registration and paperwork.

2. Decide which instruments to use. Assuming that the components recommended above are included in your orientation, the next step is to decide which learning styles instruments and goal setting forms will best fit your students, and what methods will be used for the students to monitor and evaluate their progress toward their goals. The Texas Center for Adult Literacy and Learning (TCALL) can provide a new student orientation resource guide that has information on all of the components. In this guide there are several learning style instruments and goal setting forms that will allow you to customize the orientation to meet the needs of your particular students.

3. Develop an orientation schedule. If your program is organized into classes, inform all returning students well in advance that they will need to attend an orientation before they can continue classes. Send the schedule to high school counselors, probation officers, case managers, and anyone else who may refer students to your program.

4. Decide who will conduct the orientation. An orientation facilitator might be a classroom teacher, special orientation instructor or team, or someone else who has the time and the skills necessary. All orientation facilitators should be familiar with each component of the orientation. All facilitators should be trained so that they understand how the orientation fits into the overall program goals and so that the students are given consistent information regarding the program's goals, rules, and regulations. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) should be able to provide either the training or recommendations about where the training is available.

Orientation Implementation

1. Begin orientation with an "ice breaker" activity to allow students to get to know one another. Since the first couple of weeks are the most critical in literacy teaching, it is important that each student participate in the process of building a safe and supportive community within the class. This also sets the stage for students to participate in decisions regarding their own learning by being aware of their strongest learning styles and by setting and managing their own goals.

2. Follow with testing and placement. If teachers are conducting the orientation for groups of students, then consider conducting the placement testing first. This will allow you to assign students to their classes before the rest of orientation process. Students and teachers will then have the added benefit of learning about each other and building a supportive classroom environment from the very beginning. This is not an issue in programs offering one-on-one tutoring.

3. Discuss the general rules of the program. The policies on smoking, drinking, drugs, and sexual harassment may need to be covered in all orientations. However, you will also want to cover any rules that are specific to your site. For example, you may have a designated parking area. This is also a good time to cover issues such as classroom behavior, attendance, children in the classroom, dress codes, and drinking and eating in the classroom or computer lab. Be sure you also explain the consequences of violating the rules. Be sure to follow through with these consequences if the rule is violated.

4. GED information should be included in the orientation. All ABE, Pre-GED and GED student orientations should include information on the different subject tests, length of the tests, location of the testing centers, the cost of the test, requirements for registering for the test, and the estimated length of time to get the test results from TEA. Information can be obtained from the GED Testing Service web site at http://www.acenet.edu/AM/Template.cfm?Section=GEDTS

5. Using the learning styles instrument. Before administering the learning styles instrument, explain to the students that this is a tool that will help them know how they learn best. They may have two dominant learning styles and that is okay. There are no right or wrong answers. Discuss how this information can be applied in all areas of their lives. Also, let them know that instructors should be using different modes of teaching. If they learn best in hands-on activities or group discussions and this is not happening in their class, they have a responsibility to ask the instructor to include these activities.

6. Goal setting is the most important component of the orientation. Classroom curriculum should be designed to reflect the goals of the students. Goal setting using the SMART Model is effective and easy to remember.

S - Specific The goal must be precise.
M - Measurable The goal must include dates, times, and amounts so the student knows when the goal has been achieved.

A - Achievable The goal needs to be slightly out of grasp but not too far.
R - Reasonable The goal must be realistic. Goals can be based on the results of the assessments.

T - Timeline The goals should be broken into small steps, each with a time line, so students can see and track their progress.

The goal-setting process and strategies might look like:

Long-Term Goal: Obtain GED
Primary: Improve basic skills, passing the GED Practice Tests in Math and Writing

Short-Term Goal: Solve math word problems using fractions and decimals
Immediate strategies: Review fraction computations and decimal operations; Learn fraction and decimal equivalents.

Be sure to include dates and times: Study fractions and decimal equivalents

Monday from 8 p.m. - 9 p.m. and
Thursday from 7:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Some students may need to start their goal setting with something as basic as getting to class on time. Goal setting needs to start where the student is and take small measurable steps to where the student wants to be.

Follow-Up

1. Classroom activities should be based on the goals of the students. Students should be given an opportunity weekly to review their goals and check the ones they have accomplished. Discuss any goals that they didn't meet. Then, the students need to ask themselves if the goal was too easy or too hard, and if they need to set new goals.

2. Journal writing is one method used to keep students focused on their goals. Set aside a routine time in the class for journal writing. Perhaps have the first 5 minutes of every class dedicated to journal writing.

3. Student portfolios is another tracking method that can show progress toward meeting goals. The Project Forward Curriculum, which can be obtained from TCALL, includes several forms for both students and teachers to use in monitoring goals. Portfolios in Practice by Andrea Leis is another excellent source on the development and use of student portfolios.

References

Baird, B. (1991). Project Forward Curriculum. El Paso, TX: El Paso Community College. [Developed under a special project funded by TEA].

Leis, A. Portfolios in Practice. Stratford, ON: Stratford Campus, Conestoga College.

Texas Center for Adult Literacy & Learning (TCALL), a special project of the Texas Education Agency, has a remarkable library of professional development materials available on loan or for free to educators of adults in Texas. Visit http://www-tcall.tamu.edu/ or call 1-800-441-7323 to request a catalogue.

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