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4/18/06
The topic of managed enrollment seems to be coming up in many of the professional development activities CALPRO is conducting. For one example, in the study circles on learner persistence many participants are interested in the notion of turbulence in the classroom. There is some research that finds students to be negatively affected by large turnover in the classroom, and managed enrollment may be one way to address that issue. As another example, as part of the STAR Project pilot, some programs are finding it difficult to conduct in-depth diagnostic assessments with a fluid classroom population. Again, one suggestion to deal with these issues is to introduce managed enrollment into programs. This is something that only a few programs in California do, and many teachers and administrators seem to be reluctant to try it.
What do members of this list think about the issue of managed enrollment? Is there research or professional wisdom that leads you to either support or object to managed enrollment?
Erik Jacobson
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4/18/06
Continuous enrollment is a direct consequence of high attrition rates. As dropouts create empty seats, it's rational to fill them with new students, especially if funding is tied to enrollment. Moreover, after a certain amount of attrition {coupled with abscenteeism} classes cease to be viable. If you want to end continuous enrollment, you first have to first deal with the dropout rate issue. I think it is more realistic to accept continuous enrollment as a given in adult literacy and then figure out the best ways to manage classes in a continuous enrollment context.
Hal Beder
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4/18/06
I would like for us to consider the issue of attrition, rather than accept it as a given. Is it particular teaching styles? Is it particular levels of students? Is it particular cultural groups? Is it the times classes are offered? Is it a problem of transportation? Child care? I am interested in investigating whether there are things we can do to decrease attrition rather than go forward with continuous enrollment.
Kathy Olson
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4/18/06
I think Hal has a point. For years we've been open entry with same ole, same ole. Then we went on a term basis, but sometimes ended up with one or two people in a group by the end of the term. This year we re-instituted the tri-semester approach and our enrollment in April was very extensive. In addition, for the fall and winter term we kept enrollment open for the first month of class.
We try to make each lesson as interesting and invigorating as possible so that people say after each class, "that was worth doing." We work hard on building a supportive and challenging learning environment. We're far from perfect, but we do literacy right-I imagine, more or less as well as anyone even with all our foibles intact. The image of the good school is an apt metaphor for our program. We focus as much as possible on success, "small victories," paying attention to our students and tutors, and developing a solid instructional program.
We also have a 12 station computer lab, which has allowed us additional latitude in working with students. We still have continuous absentee and attrition issues. I think attrition can be modulated to some small degree, but it's the nature of the work. I experienced this in a course at Hartford Seminary where people paid $600 per course. Absenteeism and retention issues were evident there, too.
George Demetrion
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4/18/06
The topic of managed enrollment seems to be coming up in professional development areas here in North Carolina as well. Like your programs in CA, it's not something that's widely done here. We have open enrollment in most of the programs here. Likewise, we've all heard the same concerns regarding assessment and turnover in the classroom. Some schools/programs are moving towards managed enrollment and or some form of it. I actually think it's a good thing for many reasons, one being the ability to better plan and interact with students. As an instructor, I find it very frustrating to have to start and stop and go back and forth because I'm getting new students daily and at times, at all different times of the day. It makes it difficult to introduce any kind of group concept because I don't know if or when I'm getting new students and if I am getting new students I don't want to "throw" them into something they are not ready for nor do I want them to feel excluded etc. I think it's easier to build comraderie and rapport between students if there is a better flow into and out of the class. I don't mind getting new students each week but getting them daily is a bit difficult for the student and for the lesson planning process.
Regards, Katrina Hinson
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4/18/06
It's a combination of things. Some of the ones you mentioned, local organizations cannot do anything about. In the county I work in, Social Services cut child care benefits for a huge majority of students. This meant, they could no longer attend class. They're single moms often with no one else around. It's not even a matter of asking someone to keep their child while they attend class because their family members work. With rising gas prices many students are faced with the problem of not being able to attend because they can't afford to attend a day or night class and don't have access to any other means. Additionally, distance education doesn't always work well with adult education populations which then even limits their ability to pursue that as a option. I think when it comes to attrition or retention of students that there are many things that affect a students ability to stay enrolled.
Regards, Katrina Hinson
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4/18/06
We have implemented a managed enrollment program at one of the continuing educ sites at San Diego Community College. In the morning program 12 classes are managed enrollment and 4 are open entry mixed level classes. New students register for ME every six weeks. If a student misses six days during the six week session, s/he is dropped from the class, either transferred to the mixed level class or sent back to registration to possibly a waiting list. The ME teachers like it because classroom management in easier as is lesson prep. But many students feel differently. When students are dropped for absenteeism they feel demoted. Some students attending the mixed level classes feel that they are in inferior classes. Students who work or have other responsibilities and can't attend every day feel they are getting a lesser education. Signs are posted all over the school, "Be Sucessful", "Learn Faster", "Take Managed Enrollment". Those that aren't able to attend think that the school is not there for them. It goes against the idea of building community.
Colleen Fitzmaurice
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4/19/06
As part of CATESOL 2006, we held an “Adult Level Rap” in which participants broke up into several different focus groups. About 25 people joined together to discuss the issue of learner persistence. I have attached the notes from this group, which contains some suggestions for building community and cutting down on turbulence.
Erik Jacobson
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4/21/06
There is another kind of turbulence in adult education classes. Students cannot always attend the full scheduled session of a class because of work and children's schedules. At our agency, our attitude is that this is the nature of our target population, and we do our best to serve them and to minimize the negative impact of turbulence through classroom management strategies. Adults have lives and commitments beyond the classroom. Also, new immigrant populations are very mobile. Managed enrollment would exclude too many of our learners.
Portia La Ferla
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4/21/06
I agree that there are many factors that adult students have to deal with when they are returning to school. Just because I like the concept of managed enrollment does not mean I think it fits everyone across the board. I definitely agree that no one should feel excluded. At the same time, I think when you have a constant influx of new students into an established mix, both sides suffer to some degree, teacher frustration levels rise as does student frustration because the teacher is distracted dealing with a new student. At one school I worked at, I liked the idea they had - students always started on Monday. I knew to expect new students on Mondays - on time. It wasnt' so bad then because I knew to expect them, could plan around, could get my existing students prepared ahead of time. At another school enrollment of new students was never known. They might show up at 8 am; they might come in till 10 or 12 or 2 or 3. The class ended at 5. Such a unmanaged approach to enrollment is as equally frustrating as too stringent a managed enrollment process. I think the idea would to be find something somewhere in the middle to ensure you reach all the students you need to reach and at the same time, retain and progress the students currently being served so that they are served with the least amount of disruption possible.
Regards Katrina Hinson
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4/24/06
Erik, I have heard the term "managed enrollment"cropping up a lot lately as well. I would really appreciate a definition of the term as it applies to adult ed programs. Could you post one?
Thanks,
Deanna Strand
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4/25/06
Here is one definition of "managed enrollment," taken from the CALPRO module on Managed Enrollment (authored by Sylvia Ramirez).
"A Managed Enrollment policy offers several distinct advantages. According to this policy, a student may enter an instructional program only during specific enrollment periods, attend a specific class for the duration of the class term, continue in the same class for subsequent terms only by re-enrolling, and miss no more than a prescribed number of class sessions within a term."
I have heard programs talk about a "modified managed enrollment", suggesting that there a number of variations on this idea. I think one important variation is the nature of the enrollment period. For some programs it is only in the beginning of the semester, while others have a series of enrollment periods throughout the semester.
I wonder how many modifications can be made to the definition above and still have a program be understood to be using managed enrollment.
Erik
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4/25/06
Here is another resource on managed enrollment (with thanks to Mary Ann Corley for the link).
A short description of how an ESL Program created a pilot study of managed enrollment -
http://www.miracosta.cc.ca.us/Instruction/CommunityEducation/ESL/managedenrollment.htm
Erik Jacobson
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4/26/06
"Managed enrollment" and "open entry" at our school are modifications of both delivery of service options.
There are issues that influence our enrollment process such as program area needs-course requirements, daily student attendance and ADA funding calculations, teacher contracts, CalWORKs and other agency referrals, counseling services, district calendars, classroom size etc.
Currently at our school... ~Enroll daily or at each class session (Career Technical Education, ESL-community sites) ~Enroll on one designated day or two designated days/night per week (ESL, ABE, Adult Secondary Education, Career Technical Education) ~Enroll on "term schedule"- designated start date and end date; three terms scheduled per year (Senior/Older Adults, Adult Secondary Education)
~Teacher instruction and student learning is managed by small/large group instruction or individualized learning classes.
We recognize that "daily open enrollment" is disruptive to the teachers teaching and the students learning. We value the resources shared from the Learner Persistence Study Circles (NCSALL/CALPRO), workshops (CATESOL, CALPRO, Meeting of the Minds Symposium, etc.) as well as discussions at faculty and department meetings to educate our teachers, administrators, data technicians, secretaries, etc. about the importance of focusing on learner persistence.
To improve our learner persistence, our colleagues are focusing on goal setting, student orientation and strategies in the classroom and school to improve communication "customer services" as well as improve our data collection and data interpretation.
Carol Hirota
