1. TOPSpro Special Topics
Data Detective III: Federal Reporting

2. Data Detective III Agenda
Description: Federal Tables
Federal Table 4
Federal Table 4B
Federal Table 5
Description: Corresponding Federal Reports
Federal Tables Exceptions
NRS Level Completion
Level Completion Calculations & Special Considerations
Persister Report
NRS Performance

3. Federal Tables
Federal Tables display accountability information according to standards mandated by the National Reporting System (NRS).
TOPSpro uses the Federal Tables to report statewide aggregation totals to the Federal Government.

4. Federal Tables Guidelines
Learner must have at least one Entry Record
Learner must be in one of five authorized Instructional Programs – 1) ESL, 2) ABE, 3) ESL Cit, 4) HS Diploma, 5) GED/Spanish GED
Learner must have a valid Instructional Level, either from a pretest or from the Entry Record
Must have >12 hours of instruction
Must be > 16 years of age
Cannot be concurrently enrolled in a K-12 program

5. List of Federal Tables Table Title 1
Participants by Entering Educational Functioning Level, Ethnicity and Gender 2
Participants by Age, Ethnicity and Gender 3
Participants by Program Type and Age 4a
Educational Gains and Attendance by Educational Functioning Level
4b/c
5/5a
Core Follow-up Outcome Achievement 6
Participant Status and Program Enrollment 7
Adult Education Personnel by Function and Job Status 8
Outcomes for Adults in Family Literacy Programs (Optional) 9
Outcomes for Adults in Workplace Literacy Programs (Optional) 10
Outcomes for Adults in Correctional Education Programs (Optional) 11
Secondary Outcome Measures (Optional) 12
Work-based Project Learners by Age, Ethnicity and Gender (Optional)

6. Report Series
Use the Report Series tab to select which of the Federal Tables you want to display.

7. Federal Table 4
Federal Table 4 displays Educational Gains by Educational Functioning Level. Specifically, it reports learners who entered program at one Instructional Level and finished the year at a higher level.

8. Federal Table 4 Column A:
Educational Functioning Levels (EFL), are defined by the National Reporting System (NRS) and correlate to CASAS scale score ranges
Column B:
Total Number Enrolled includes all students who meet Fed Table Guidelines. Enrollees are placed into an EFL from a pretest score or Entry Record field 18, Instructional Level

9. Federal Table 4
Does the Instructional Level field #18 on the Entry Record still matter?

10. Federal Table 4
TOPSpro still uses Entry Field #18 as a backup to determine level placement. As always, ensuring you pre- and post-test your students is a much better approach.

11. Federal Table 4
TOPSpro also uses scores from CASAS appraisals to determine level placement.
CASAS appraisals are NEVER used in pre/post pairs.
For level placement on the Fed Tables, TOPS will always look for (in order):
Valid pretests
CASAS Appraisals
Entry Field #18.

12. Federal Table 4
Column D: based on valid paired tests and any gain that results in student achieving the highest possible score in that EFL. Refer to CASAS Relationship to NRS Educational Functioning Level charts for scale score equivalents.
Column C: Total Attendance Hours from tests, Update Records, or attendance system import

13. Federal Table 4
Wait a minute… did I hear you say attendance hours are generated from Updates and tests??

14. Federal Table 4
Yes. The Federal Tables will look at the aggregated hours across all Test Records as well as the aggregated hours across Update Records and use whichever total is larger. It will not, of course, combine hours across Updates and tests together.

15. Federal Table 4 Column E:
shows those who completed a level and advanced to the next level (also based on paired test scores.)
Column F:
students who left program before completion (as indicated on Update Record field 7, Status-Left program)

16. Federal Table 4 Column G:
Those students who did not complete the level or leave prior to completion
Column H:
The percent of students who completed the level in which they began the program year. Comparison of the number who completed the level to total enrollees in that level

17. Federal Table 4
Federal Table 4 tracks the outcomes of all learners who qualify for federal reporting.
Total Enrolled B = Number Completed D + Number Separated F + Number Remaining G.
In this example – = 27

18. Federal Table 4
Column H: calculated from columns D and B. In this example, ABE Beginning Literacy shows 3 students completing the level, out of 27 total enrollees (3/27 = 11.11%).
The percentage completing a level includes students who did not test, resulting in a lower completion rate.
A student cannot demonstrate level completion or advancement without paired tests.

19. Federal Table 4B
Federal Table 4B displays the same level advancement information as Table 4, but it only includes learners who completed a valid pre- and post-test.

20. Federal Table 4B
On Table 4B, column B is limited to students who have valid paired tests.
All columns except Total Number Enrolled (B) are determined in the same manner as Table 4.

21. Federal Table 4B Column H: calculated from columns D and B.
In this example, ABE Beginning Literacy shows 3 students completing the level, out of 13 total pre-and post tested enrollees (3/13 = 23.08%).
If Column B totals are the same on Table 4 and Table 4B, there is no difference in the Percentage Completing Level (H).

22. Federal Table 4C
Federal Table 4C displays the same level advancement information as Table 4, but it only includes learners who are enrolled in Distance Learning. This table is new for

23. Federal Table 5
Federal Table 5 displays core performance achievements.

24. Federal Table 5 Column B: Source is Entry Record, field 12
Column C: Source is Update Record, fields 7 (Status = Left Program), and corresponding achievement from field 9 (Learner Results)
Column D
example:
2/ 5 = 40%

25. Federal Table Exceptions
Federal Tables Exceptions displays student records that are ineligible for inclusion, sorted by Drop Reason. Many of the same Drop Reasons are on the Payment Points reports.

26. NRS Level Completion
NRS Level Completion lists learners by Educational Functioning Level and indicates which learners completed a level.

27. NRS Level Completion vs. Payment Points
How does level completion on the Federal Tables compare to Payment Points?

28. NRS Level Completion vs. Payment Points
NRS Level Completion does not use the same logic as Payment Points. Note that students who progress within a level can make significant learning gains without level completion or advancement.

29. Educational Functional Levels

30. Educational Functional Levels

31. Level Completion Examples
“Completed a Level” Examples for Low Intermediate ESL:
Pretest = Post-test = 208. Completed a level? NO.
Pretest = Post-test = 212. Completed a level? YES.
Pretest = Post-test = 210. Completed a level? YES.

32. NRS Level Completion
So this only explains level completion with test scores. What about Field #8 on the Update Record – that also indicates that a student completed a level… correct?

33. NRS Level Completion
The self reported values on the Update Record Progress field are not used for determining level completion. Instead, only test scores or HS/GED accomplishments are used.

34. What was that about HS/GED accomplishments?
NRS Level Completion
What was that about HS/GED accomplishments?

35. NRS Level Completion
Earning GED and passing High School Diploma is considered as Completing a Level for the ASE High category. Prior to , this applied to ABE Intermediate Low, ABE Int High, as well as ASE Low and High… but now it applies only to ASE High.

36. Federal Table 4
So, back to the Update Record issue. It really has nothing to do with these Fed Tables, then, does it?

37. Federal Table 4
Well, not exactly. Remember columns E & F? We’ll start with column F. Number Separated Before Completed draws its total entirely from Update Field #7, the number of students with Status = “Left Program.”

38. Federal Table 4 Notes on Column E :
From a test score perspective, Advanced One or More Levels is not much harder than completing a level—usually it just requires a post-test score that is one point higher than what is required to complete a level.
The Column E total, however, is often much lower than Column D because to advance a level, the learner must achieve the necessary post-test score AND mark “Retained in Program” on Update Field #8.

39. Report Series Additional Options
Under Report Series there are Additional Options where you can run four different detail reports.

40. Federal Tables Summary Audit
The Federal Tables Summary Audit displays an overview of your agency’s Federal Table information, similar to the “Run Statistics” that appear on the California Payment Points Summary.

41. Federal Tables Detail Audit
The Federal Tables Detail Audit provides a page by page account of the Federal Table logic applied to each individual student in the database.

42. Federal Tables Monitor
The Federal Tables Monitor is structured like the California Payment Points Monitor, and provides additional detail by class and by student.

43. Persister Report
The Persister Report compares the percentage completing a level in Federal Table 4 with the percentage completing a level in Federal Table 4B.

44. Persister Report Fed Table 4B Fed Table 4
D (76.92%) = G (23.08)/ H (30.00)

45. Persister Report
The Persister Report compares the Table 4 completion rate to the Table 4B completion rate.
As the difference between G and H gets smaller, the percentage of persistence rises. Post-testing correlates with student persistence.

46. NRS Performance Report
Table 4, Column H.
Table 4b, Column H.
The NRS Performance Report allows you to compare your own agency’s results to your statewide goals.

47. NRS Performance Report
What if my agency is performing below standards as compared to the statewide goals?

48. NRS Performance Report
One possible explanation may be found by comparing your percentages from FT 4 (middle column) with your percentages from FT 4B (far right column.)

49. NRS Performance Report
If your agency’s Federal Table 4 percentages are significantly lower than the percentages from Federal Table 4B, then the issue is with getting your students pre- and post-tested.
If your agency’s Federal Table 4 percentages are equal to or close to Federal Table 4B, then there’s a possibility the issue is your students’ performance on the pre- and post-tests.
The Persister report is another resource to compare this information.

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Web-based training!!