Introduction
The NRSWeb is a comprehensive collection of resources created by the NRS Support Project over the course of its 23-year history to help state staff administer adult education programming and meet accountability requirements. This NRS Foundations Toolkit highlights select current resources about WIOA to give you quick access to key materials that will help you do your job whether you are:
- a new state director
- starting a new position in your state office
- taking on a professional development role
- in need of a refresher on the purpose principles and requirement of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act
The resources are organized by the following content areas with question prompts that will lead you to specific guides, tips, tools, webinars, activities, and online courses.
1. OCTAE Policy
The Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE), Division of Adult Education and Literacy, oversees the state-administered adult education programming funded through the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act, Title II, of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). OCTAE issues policy guidance on how the states should provide services and collect data. To help states with the data compliance and program improvement, the NRS Support Project provides to states technical assistance, training, and data management and analysis. Under this section, you will find resources related to OCTAE guidance and program memorandum for the NRS.
2. Nuts and Bolts of the NRS
In this section, you will find a few key resources to help you understand the basics of the NRS and how to navigate the data collection and reporting processes. These materials will help you master the terminology and the concepts underlying how to track student participation and performance to show that program services are meeting WIOA goals.
3. Data Collection Strategies to Improve Data Quality
Collecting and using data to help determine whether instruction and services are producing positive outcomes for students is critical for program improvement efforts. Data collection and maintenance can be challenging, so states and the NRS Support Project staff are continually devising and compiling innovative strategies to improve the process. You will find materials in this section to help you with intake procedures, posttesting protocols, postexit tracking, and more.
4. Data Systems
To collect and report quality data effectively, programs and states need infrastructure, technology, and procedures in place. The resources in this section outline how to build systems and move data from student intake to reporting.
5. Presenting Data Effectively
The extensive data that states collect helps them and local programs understand which services and procedures are working well, and which areas need improvement. This section includes resources to help you examine your data and to translate and illustrate to local programs and other stakeholders what those data reveal about the adult education services and participants.
6. Using Data for Program Improvement
The NRS focuses on collecting quality data for the purpose of using it for decision making and program improvement. This section includes resources to analyze data for program planning, management, monitoring, and evaluation.