Thanks, Stacey, for your response to the questions about managed
enrollment.  

 

I would like to know more about how your "managed" curriculum is
structured and whether or not you have separate classes for reading,
math, and writing.   How did you determine how much you could cover in
an 8-week period?  How often do your classes meet?  

 

What are your plans for a math class, for instance?  If a low level
group meets to work on basic skills (adding, subtracting, multiplying,
dividing) then what happens at the end of the 8 weeks?  If someone still
needs more work in division, for example, then what happens?  How does
he get more practice with that skill?  He doesn't need more adding and
subtracting.  Is he re-enrolled in that course or moved ahead with the
group and given special attention "on the side?" 

 

How large is your staff?  Do you have an orientation?  

 

Others of you who are working with managed enrollment, could you share
your insights and experiences in these situations, too?

 

Thanks.  I look forward to hearing more about this topic.

 

Donna Elder

Reading Specialist

National Center for Family Literacy

delder at famlit.org

________________________________

From: familyliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:familyliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of WEAVER, Stacey
Sent: Friday, October 12, 2007 10:31 AM
To: The Family Literacy Discussion List
Subject: [FamilyLiteracy 810] Re: Managed Enrollment

 

Hello Everyone,

 

I've inserted my answers into the text below:

 

 

 

I recently read an article by Kate Hyzer and Heidi Haupt in Fieldnotes
for ABLE staff. The article was titled "Getting the most out of a
managed enrollment classroom." It spoke of the value of managed
enrollment for both students and teachers. You can read the article at 

http://www.pde.state.pa.us/able/lib/able/fieldnotes07/fn07managedenrollm
ent.pdf

 

So, I would like to pose the following questions to you:

 

Does your program use managed enrollment?  Does it use open enrollment?
Or perhaps, it uses some combination of the two? 

 We had used open enrollment for years and it just wasn't working.  So,
this summer my administrative staff met many times to totally overhaul
our program's

way of doing things.  We have set goals to improve student performance
and increase transitions to post-secondary education.  In order to
accomplish our goals, not only did we need a managed enrollment system,
but also a "managed" curriculum.  I very much enjoyed the article
because it includes the need for standardizing the curriculum.

 

What do you see as the advantages of managed enrollment? Much less
frustration for teachers and students in that they can complete units of
study without having to back up or catch up new students.   

 

Open enrollment? The advantage is that some students can obtain direct
services almost immediately; however, the students who have been
participating become disadvantaged when new people enter the class. 

 

What do you see as disadvantages of each system?  Managed enrollment
takes planning and a lot of organiation and attention to detail.  It is
very difficult to tell someone you cannot help them until XXX number of
weeks or months later.  But the disadvantages of open enrollment are
even greater (in my program's experience).  The constant influx of new
students makes it very difficult for students to complete units of study
in an effective manner.

 

For those who have worked in both enrollment systems, which do you think
was the most effective? Why do you say so? Locally we are liking the
managed enrollment system.  We talked about in these terms: open
enrollment is a "pull back" system - students who are doing the work and
making progress are "pulled back" when new students enter mid-stream.
Managed enrollment is a "push forward" system because in order to
succeeed and progress to the next level of curriculum instructor the
student must attend and must do the assigned work.  Yes, we are still
losing students before the end of our 8 week "course", but those that
make it are moving forward at a much better rate.  Even though it is
very hard to delay direct services until the beginning of the next
"course" session; in the long term we believe it is a better system for
reaching the goals we have set - completion, improved performance, and
transitions to PSE.

 

Stacey L. Weaver, Director

Victoria College Adult Education

802 E. Crestwood

Victoria, TX 77901

phone:  361-573-7323

fax: 361-582-4348

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