2025-2026 Florida Adult Education Assessment Technical Assistance Paper

Abstract

This technical assistance paper provides policy and guidance to individuals with test administration responsibilities in adult education programs. Rule 6A-6.014, Florida Administrative Code (F.A.C.), General Requirements for Adult General Education Programs, provides a list of assessments that are approved by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) for use in adult education programs in Florida. In order to comply with federal reporting requirements, adult education programs are required to report student measurable educational gains and demographic information to Florida's reporting system, which is then reported to the National Reporting System (NRS). The NRS is the accountability system for the federally funded adult education program, mandated by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). There are four important reasons for creating a data-driven accountability system for adult education programs: (1) WIOA mandates that states develop a data-driven accountability system to establish and utilize performance measures to make funding decisions, monitor programs and provide technical assistance; (2) A high-performing data-driven accountability system supports WIOA-funded adult education providers in assessing the educational progress of all students engaged in 12 hours or more of instructional activities within the state's adult education program; (3) FDOE has enhanced its monitoring processes by instituting a data-driven system for determining program performance. In addition, overall monitoring visits are provided by a dedicated compliance and monitoring team; and (4) By utilizing a data-driven accountability system, local agency directors can focus their attention on establishing program performance targets and program improvements. Florida's data reporting system and the NRS are uniform and compatible for measuring student educational gains established by approved ED and FDOE assessments. The NRS data reporting system measures student progress by Measurable Skills Gains (MSG). Educational Functioning Levels (EFL) are used to determine the academic progress of adult education students. There are twelve levels, each describing the academic skills that an adult should be able to perform: 6 levels for Adult Basic Education (ABE) and 6 levels for English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), with the ESOL EFL levels considered lower than those for ABE EFL.