As part of program support, we provide Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s) to the field. This helps facilitate effective communication and improves the understanding of Adult Education policy. This FAQ has been compiled over several months of responses to the field of Adult Education in Illinois.
Q1. How should Spanish GED courses be classified?
Foreign language HSE (Spanish) instruction is designed for an adult who is literate in Spanish and who has sufficient education in that language to achieve a foreign language HSE credential. Native Language or Native Language literacy is not fundable. With the exception of foreign language HSE instruction, all other classes must be taught in English. All foreign language HSE classes must be associated with courses at the ASE level.
Federal funds cannot be used for foreign language HSE (Spanish) instruction. Foreign language ABE services are not an allowable activity.
Q2. Does an individual is 18 years old and his class has graduated need a separation?
No, separation documentation is not required if his class has graduated.
Q3. How does a program go about adding an additional site to its current program offerings?
The program needs to take this request to their Area Planning Council. The additional site must be approved by the APC, and an APC Change Form (located in the Appendices of the Provider Manual) should be sent in to the ICCB (Attn: Associate Director for Program Compliance).
Q4: Where are questions about DAISI located?
You can find updated information and DAIS-i frequently asked questions at https://www.iccb.org/daisi/faqs/.
Q5. How does a program go about changing one of the contact persons from Attachment 1 of the RFP?
Programs are responsible for ensuring that contact information as required in the ICCB application is current. Any personnel, email, phone number or address changes should be reported to the ICCB through a communication on institutional letter-head signed by the President/CEO. This information should be provided to the Associate Director for Program Compliance using the Provider Directory Update Form and should be submitted along with the letter detailing the changes identified.
Q6. What is the limit on units for vocational students?
AEFL funds can provide no more than 12 units (180 enrollment hours) of instruction over the lifetime of a students’ enrollment.
Q7. Does PCS/CIP (course code identifiers) refer only to community colleges?
All courses offered by any provider must be identified with an appropriate PCS and CIP code as detailed in the Provider Manual.
Q8. Does a student between 16 and 18 years of age need to show effort of obtaining high school separation documentation?
A high school separation form or proof of an attempt to obtain verification of separation isn’t required for those students who are seeking ESL services and have not previously been enrolled in a U.S. school. However, any student receiving ABE/ASE services should have either a high school separation form or proof that an attempt to get that information was made. That verification of separation should be done with the school in which they would be currently enrolled if they were attending school. Therefore, you may ask the student to obtain documentation from the local school district or Regional Office of Education in their area of residence that indicates they are (1) not currently enrolled in school and (2) not required to be enrolled in school in the local school district. Sometimes the student doesn’t know what school they would be attending without first going to the school district (case in point, Springfield Public Schools which has three public high schools).
Q9. When post-testing for ABE/GED, are both reading and math testing required?
The NRS Math assessment is only required for students who are in a Math Only class and will only receive Math instruction during the year. However, if a student is enrolled in any classes that are not classified as Math Only, an NRS Reading pre-test is mandatory.
Students must be post-tested in the area in which progress is being measured. If a student receives both a math and reading assessment, progress will be measured based on the assessment reflecting the lowest EFL. Thus, if a student is tested in both math and reading, and their math score reflects a lower EFL, the student must be post-tested in math. If both the reading and math assessments reflect the same EFL, progress will be measured using the assessment with the lowest scale score. If the both the reading and math assessments reflect the same EFL and scale score (which is extremely rare), progress will be measured using the reading assessment.
Local programs may choose to post-test with both NRS Reading and NRS Math for additional documentation to verify student progress, but this is a local decision.
Q10. How long must ICCB adult education files be kept?
All records must be maintained for at least 5 years (Administrative and Student) and be readily accessible. If an audit is in progress at the end of the fifth year, records must be maintained until the audit is complete.