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| Date: | March 9, 2012 | | Contact Name: | Susan Closmore | | Contact Phone: | 651-296-5712 | | Contact Email: | susan.closmore@senate.mn | | For Immediate Release | |
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| Governor Dayton Signs Senator Nelson's Bill To Improve Ability to Evaluate Adult Basic Education Programming |
St. Paul—Governor Mark Dayton signed Senate File 1213 into law Thursday making changes to the Adult Basic Education (ABE) performance tracking system to improve ABE. Senate File 1213 improves ABE’s capacity to comply with required federal reporting, improve programming and to conduct longitudinal studies. Senator Carla Nelson (R-Rochester), chief author of the bill, gave the following statement in response to his bill’s passage into law.
“My bill gives Minnesotans, at the state and local levels, an improved ability to evaluate the effectiveness of Adult Basic Education programs. We currently measure the effectiveness by tracking the outcomes of people who have participated in the program: do they have improved literacy skills? Have they pursued higher education opportunities or advanced career options? Do they have a diploma? The modification in my bill adds a new outcome that I believe is equally important: are they independent? My goal with this bill was to ensure that individuals who go through this program are receiving adequate training to live independent of government assistance, thrive in their career and prosper in our community as a whole,” said Senator Nelson. “I am so thrilled that Governor Dayton has signed this important reform into law. We will now have the opportunity to finely tune our programming to meet the needs of participants in their quest to be strong, contributing members of society. ”
