TRIO Virtual Center: Training Topics

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS REGARDING THE TALENT SEARCH (TS) AND EOC PROGRAMS ANNUAL PERFORMANCE REPORT (APR) 2007-2008

March 2, 2007
(Based on questions submitted to the U.S. Department of Education at a training session in January, 2007)

QUESTION: Will there be a database requirement for TS and EOC programs in their revised APRs?

RESPONSE: ED will continue to collect TS and EOC APR data in the aggregate using a Web-based form similar to the current form. However, some changes to the APR form will be made in order to collect data consistent with the new “standardized” objectives. For example, there are a couple of categories of students that are different in the standardized objectives than in the current APR (i.e., alternative education students at an academic level equivalent to that of a high school senior).

Most TS and EOC projects have a database from which they extract the information requested on the APR. A project’s database may need to be modified to reflect these new categories of students.

ED does not plan to collect individual participant records for TS and EOC. With the low intensity of services provided by TS and EOC projects, ED cannot justify an increased reporting burden where the cost of the data reporting might be close to or exceed the cost of providing services.

QUESTION: The new TS standard program objective for secondary school graduation uses the terms “high school seniors and their equivalents in alternative education programs.” How does the Department define or determine equivalency between high school seniors and those in alternative education programs?

RESPONSE: Since some alternative education programs will perhaps not use terms such as “equivalent to a high school senior”, a project would need to determine the equivalency status of the students by considering the grade level of the student when he/she left high school and what level of courses he/she is taking in the alternative education program. If the participant is taking junior level courses or needs more than one year of credits to fulfill the graduation requirements, his/her educational status would not be “equivalent to a high school senior.” On the other hand, if the student is in an alternative education program and expected to finish the program in the spring or summer of the reporting year with a diploma or equivalency credentials, the student could enroll in college that fall and thus should be considered “college ready.” Each project will have to determine the equivalency status of alternative education students upon entry into the project. Projects must maintain documentation for the basis of their assessment of the level of the alternative education program.

QUESTION: ED uses the term “continuing education program” in one of the new EOC standard program objectives. Will ED provide a more concise definition of what “continuing education” means for EOCs?

RESPONSE: Yes. In the context of the first standardized objective, "continuing education" should encompass any program, such as a GED program or re-enrollment in high school that allows a student to become prepared for a program of postsecondary education. The term would also include an individual without a high school diploma or equivalency certificate who manages to enroll in postsecondary education without the prior step of a GED program or re-enrollment in high school.

QUESTION: How should EOC programs classify students currently enrolled in continuing education (start status) and who are retained in continuing education (end status)? The first standardized objective for EOC does not allow for this.

RESPONSE: The new APR will allow grantees to report on these individuals and these individuals will be counted in the number of participant served.

With regard to the standardized objectives for EOC, not all individuals served by the EOC project will be counted. For the first standardized objective, a grantee would report only on those not already enrolled in continuing education at the beginning of the reporting year. Those currently enrolled in a continuing education program at beginning of reporting period would not be part of this objective.

QUESTION: When does ED expect to begin the public comment period for the revised TS/EOC ARP?

RESPONSE: ED expects that the official comment period for the revised TS/EOC APR will begin in April 2007. A notice soliciting comments on the draft form will be published in the Federal Register. ED has already received input from grantees beginning with a session in March 2006 at COE's Annual Seminar on Relations with the Department of Education. ED staff also conducted a session at the COE conference in New York City in September 2006. ED is thus aware of the some of the grantees’ questions and issues; most of which will be answered or addressed in the draft form available for public comment this spring.