First Impressions Count: Options for Managed Intake and Enrollment

1
First Impressions CountOptions for Managed
Intake and Enrollment

• Presented by
• Kathi Polis, President
• Strategic Training and Resources, Inc.

2
Are you a good witch or a bad witch?
3
The Sanity Quiz

• Do several of your students enroll but then quit
  after a couple class sessions?
• Do you find yourself constantly juggling between
  teaching existing students and enrolling new
  students?
• Do you never have as much time as you would like
  to talk with your students about their goals?
• Do you find it difficult to plan lessons when you
  never know who is going to show up for class?

4
If so

• You may be suffering from the
• All Things to All People
• Syndrome quite common among adult educators.

5

• Flexibility has been the cornerstone of adult
  education.
• Enroll anytime
• Set your own schedule

6
But even flexibility has its limits!

• Its all about
• BALANCE!

7
Workshop Objectives

• You will
• Assess your current student orientation process,
• Explore options and resources for strengthening
  that process,
• Explore options for managed enrollment, and
• Determine next steps that will get you started.

8
What are you doing now?Activity 1

• Take a few minutes to complete worksheet 1
  Student Orientation Survey.
• Youll refer back to this survey later in the
  workshop.

9
What does the research say? Continuous
enrollment is one of the most serious and
understated problems facing adult literacy
education today. Hal Beder

• The Dangerous Cycle

High learner attrition
Classes with continuous enrollment
Reduced effectiveness of instruction
10
What does the research say?The Critical First
Three Weeks Allen Quigley

• First three weeks are critical to student
  persistence
• Situational barriers
• Institutional barriers
• Attitudinal barriers

11
What does the research say?Toward a New
Pluralism in ABE/ESOL Classrooms Robert Keegan

• Power of the cohort builds
• Student achievement
• Student persistence
• Emotional stability

12
What does the research say?Turbulence and Focus
Tom Sticht

• The turbulence of open entry classes make it
  difficult for students to focus.
• Persistence rates increase in managed enrollment
  classes.

13
What does the research say?The Adult Learner
Persistence Study NCSALL (John Commings)

• To support learner persistence, we need to help
  students
• Manage their negative forces
• Build self efficacy
• Set realistic, meaningful, and achievable goals
• See the progress they are making.

14
What Does Our Experience Tell Us?

• What are the advantages of open entry intake?
• What are the advantages of managed intake?

15
Managed Options
16
Intake and Orientation The First Impression

• Like going on a first date expectations and
  hopes but no real commitment yet
• What will I get in return for my efforts?
• Needs to be long enough and complete enough for
  learners to make an informed decision

17
Managed IntakeYou only have one chance to make
a good first impression.

• What should it include?
• How can it be scheduled?

18
One Managed Intake Model pg. 3
Program Overview class locations class
schedule program services
Roadblocks/Barriers to Success
Welcoming Activity
Preliminary Goal Setting Activities
Follow-up Student Interviews discuss assessment
results (locator, learning styles)
discuss/assist in resolving barriers confirm
student attendance schedule begin standardized
testing

• Registration Process
• student profile form
• screening questions
• release of information
• code of conduct
• internet use policy
• tour of facility

Student Testimony
Strengths Identification self-assessment
academic/locator or appraisal learning styles
NRS Goals and ILPs set NRS student goals
develop individual learning plans
Conducted during 3-4 hour group orientation
Conducted during scheduled follow-up
19
Managed Intake Delivery Options

• Centralized Intake
• All new student intake is conducted at one
  location.
• Student information is forwarded to class sites
  upon completion.
• Onsite Intake
• Student intake is conducted at each class site on
  a scheduled basis.

20
Centralized Intake pg. 4
Appointment
Underage Information Session
Orientation
COMPLETION AND TRANSITION

• 45-Minute Session
• Parent/
• Guardian Present
• Program Information
• Discuss Goals/ Needs
• Decide upon course of action

• 4-hour Session
• Welcome
• Program Overview
• Roadblocks to Success
• Preliminary Goal Setting
• Student Testimony
• Strengths Identification (locator/appraisal,
  learning styles, self-assessment)
• Registration Process

Progress
Enter Selected Class Site
Advisor Appointment
Program of Study

• Personalized
• Flexible
• Grows with the
• student

• Convenient Locations
• Day/Evening Sessions
• Multiple Sites

21
A 12 Hour Model pg. 5

• Day One Orientation to Adult Education
• Day Two Making the Most of Your Learning
  Experience
• Day Three Assessing Your Strengths
• Day Four Getting Started

22
ESOL Intake

• Need to adapt
• Audiotapes and materials in various languages
• Picture-based needs assessments and learning
  style inventories
• Resources
• Center for Adult English Language Acquisition
  http//www.cal.org/CAELA/

23
Stop and Reflect Time

• Which of the components of the managed intake
  model do you find most interesting? Why?

24
But what if

• There is no staff available to conduct managed
  intake?
• Use a part-time instructor as the centralized
  assessor.
• Use volunteer tutors to work with existing
  students while teacher conducts managed intake.
• Make existing students aware that one three-hour
  class session each month will be designated for
  independent computerized study while teacher
  conducts managed intake.

25
But what if

• If I dont enroll students on the spot, theyll
  never come back?
• Committed students will come back! The who
  fail to return is significantly smaller than the
  who dropped out after a few classes.
• Professionalize your program. Give potential
  students an appointment card.

26
But what if

• Students cant/wont wait until the next
  scheduled intake session?
• Employ the on any given Monday routine enroll
  new students on one particular morning or
  afternoon each week.
• Plan for making exceptions for specialized
  circumstances.

27
Managed Enrollment

• Examples
• In Virginia, some classes are set up in nine-week
  cycles.
• Following completion of each cycle, one week is
  designated for new student enrollment and teacher
  sharing/planning time.
• In Michigan, some classes are set up as 100 hour
  courses automatic post-testing at end of class.
• Satellite classes are scheduled to begin on
  staggered dates to maximize class availability.

28
Managed Enrollment

• In West Virginia, full-time centers combine
  continuous enrollment with managed enrollment
  classes.
• One teacher provides open entry instruction to
  address the needs of mandatory students, e.g.,
  TANF students, court-ordered youth.
• The other teacher conducts managed enrollment
  classes for particular levels or content areas.

29
Managed Enrollment in Multi-Level Classes

• 10 week cycle of three day/week, three hours/day
  class
• Example 1
• 600 645
• Levels 1 3 students participate in group
  instruction
• Other levels have independent study/computerized
  instruction/collaborative learning
• 645 730
• Whole group instruction/project-based teaching
• 730 815
• Levels 4 6 students participate in group
  instruction
• Other levels have independent study/volunteer
  tutoring
• 815 900
• Individualized planning for next class

30
Managed Enrollment in Multi-Level Classes

• Use creative scheduling
• Example 2 The Backward PIGI
• Individual Study
• Group Instruction
• Individual Study
• Planning

31
What are your experiences?

• Managed enrollment
• Benefits?
• Challenges?
• Solutions?

32
Planning Next Steps

• Share the information and your ideas with your
  program director and other teachers
• Use the Managed Intake Decision Points as a
  reference tool

33
Managed Intake Decision Points
How will I advertise the intake schedule to
prospective students?
What is the best location/s for centralized
intake?
Talk to program director and staff to gain
support and approval.
Yes
Do I need to get approval to initiate a managed
intake process?
What resources and materials will be needed?
Do I want to conduct centralized intake?
How often would intake need to be conducted?
Yes
Who would conduct the intake?
What options do I have for students requiring
immediate enrollment?
No
No
Begin planning process for onsite managed intake.
Who would conduct the intake?
Who would teach the class during onsite intake?
What criteria will I use to determine the
effectiveness of the managed intake process?
When and how often would the intake be scheduled?

34
Thank You!!

• Always willing to help
• Kathi Polis
• klpolis_at_charter.net