Finally, the analyst notes that, despite numerous conversations with all those involved, there may be errors in the report, due to misinterpretation of definitions, assumptions or conventions. As such, the data analyst bears some responsibility and will issue addenda, if necessary, to address such possible issues.

1.4

Definitions

The following are the definitions of terms used to describe various aspects of the study. Statistical terms are listed in the Statistical Appendix (§6.2).

ABE/College-Prep: This project encompasses Adult Education from basic literacy through to academic college preparation courses.

Note:

1. The distinction between classes taught by ABE staff and those taught by departmental faculty is not addressed in this project.

Cohort: Students enrolled for the first time in ABE College Prep at their selected public college/ institution and followed up subsequently. To be part of the cohort the student had to fill in a Point of Entry survey

Note:

1. This report deals with the 1995-1996 cohort, described here as the C cohort. The study(19931994) is referred to as project A and the (1994-1995) study is referred to as project B. The labels A, B and C are used to avoid the possible ambiguity of using years.

Survey: Systematic collection of information at a specific point in time, from either the whole population or a sample thereof.

Note:

1. In project C, there were three time points for the collection of information:

   Point of Entry......0 months
   Midpoint.....6 months
   Follow-up............13 months

   In projects A and B, an Early Leavers' survey was included.

2. The Point of Entry surveys in all projects were self administered by the students, whereas the Midpoint and Follow-up surveys in projects B and C were administered by telephone.

Continuer: This term is an artifact of the student still being In the program when the Midpoint survey was carried out, and is a carryover from the A and B projects. The use of this term has been kept to a minimum.

Leaver: Also an artifact of the A and B projects used to define students no longer enrolled in ABE at the Midpoint.

Note:

1. The classification of a student as a Leaver is inappropriate, as there is a negative connotation implying that the student left because he or she did not complete, whereas they may well have completed or intend to reenrol as many did.

Time stayed (0-3, 4-6 months, 7-13+ months): The length of time a student stayed in the program (as recorded in the Midpoint or Follow-up surveys) has been reported in three time spans (0-3, 4-6 and 7-13+ months, where the 13+ allows for those students still attending ABE / College Prep at the end of the survey period. For simplicity these may also be referred to as stay groups.