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Adult Education and Family Literacy Act Distance Education Policy

(Revised 2024)

700 East Fifth Street
Carson City, Nevada
89701-5096
(775) 687-9200

ADMINISTRATION

Nevada Department of Education Administration:

Jhone M. Ebert
Superintendent of Public Instruction

Christy McGill
Deputy Superintendent for Educator Effectiveness and Family Engagement

Craig Statucki
Director, Office of Career Readiness, Adult Learning and Education Options
Interim Deputy Superintendent for Educator Effectiveness and Family Engagement

Nancy Olsen
Adult Education Programs Supervisor, Office of Career Readiness, Adult Learning and Education Options

Arianna Florence
Business Process Analyst II, Office of Career Readiness, Adult Learning and Education Options

The State of Nevada Department of Education is an equal opportunity/affirmative action agency and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, or national origin.

Need for A Distance Education Reporting Policy

This policy defines distance education for Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) programs in Nevada and provides guidelines by which programs can report adult learners' distance education hours to the National Reporting System (NRS) using the state approved student information system.  The goal of this policy is to describe the types of activities approved for distance education and outline the requirements and procedures for reporting distance education activities.

Adult education programs must follow the steps and processes described in this document to report distance education classes and related student attendance into the state approved data management system.

Definition of Distance Education

The federal Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) defines distance education for adult basic education programs as follows.

Formal learning activity where students and instructors are separated by geography, time, or both for the majority of the instructional period. Distance learning materials are delivered through a variety of media, including but not limited to, print, audio recording, videotape, broadcasts, computer software, Web-based programs, and other online technology.

Contact hours for distance learners can be a combination of actual contact and contact through telephone, video, teleconference, or online communication, where participant and program staff can interact and through which participant identity is verifiable. In-person contact time is not required to obtain the initial 12 hours of contact. Teachers support distance learners through communication via mail, telephone, e-mail, or other web-based technologies or software. Completion of instructional activities in a computer lab for traditional classes does not qualify as distance education.

Definition of AEFLA Learners

  • Traditional Learners:  Students who receive the majority of their instruction through traditional face-to-face instruction.
  • Distance Learners:  Students who receive a majority of their instruction through distance education services.
  • Blended Learners: Students who receive a majority of their instruction through traditional face-to-face instruction and also participate in distance education activities.  For NRS reporting purposes, blended learners are classified as traditional learners.

A student is classified as a distance learner if the majority of the student's hours earned in a program year are derived by his or her participation in distance learning activities. However, a student's hours in both distance and classroom activities must be reported into the data management system.

Approved Distance Education Hours

  • Contact Hours: Contact hours are defined as time spent interacting with the learner.  Contact hours for distance education students can be a combination of actual face-to-face contact and contact by telephone, video, teleconference, or other online communication where student and program staff are able to interact and through which learner identity is verifiable. Interactions include student intake, orientation, assessment, goal setting, counseling, and classroom-based skills training.
  • Proxy Hours: Proxy hours are defined as the time distance education students spend engaged in distance education activities, such as using distance education curricula. The hours for each activity are calculated using one of three models:
    1. Clock-time: This model assigns contact hours based on the elapsed time that a learner is connected to and engaged in an online or standalone software program that tracks time. The software must provide a mechanism to time-out or logout students after a preset period of inactivity.
    2. Teacher Verification: This model assigns a fixed number of hours of credit for each assignment based on the teacher's determination of the extent to which a learner engaged in, or completed, the assignment.
    3. Learner Mastery: This model assigns a fixed number of hours of credit based on the participant passing a test on the content of each lesson. Participants work with the curriculum and materials and, when they feel they have mastered the material, take a test. This model requires previous engagement by the student on curriculum and materials related to the test. A minimum of 70% of correct responses on the mastery test earns the credit hours attached to the material.

Assessment of Distance Education Learners

All potential adult basic education distance education students must be assessed in accordance with the Nevada Assessment Policy.

  • All assessments must be administered using a proctored, face-to-face, or remote method.
  • All students must be pretested prior to 12 hours of instruction.
  • Distance education students are subject to the same post-test instructional hour intervals as traditional learners.

Reporting Distance Education Learners

Programs must use the state data system to report distance learner activities by endorsing "Instruction – Distance Learning" for attendance hours. All distance education hours, both contact hours and proxy hours, are to be reported on attendance records associated with the learner's distance education class.

In the case of blended learners (students that have enrollment  and attendance records in both traditional and distance education classes), a determination will be made at the end of the program year. If the majority of their attendance was distance education hours, they will be classified as distance education students.

Approved Distance Education Curricula

Only Nevada Department of Education-Office of Adult Education (NDE-OAE) approved distance education curricula may be used for reportable distance education activities.

See Appendix A for a list of currently approved distance education curricula and their respective, approved proxy-hour models.

Programs may request a curriculum be approved and added to the list. NDE-OAE reserves the right to review and consider the impact of approving it for state use and reporting. See Appendix B for a form that programs may use to request a review of curricula.

APPENDIX A: Approved Distance Education Curricula

Each distance education curricula approved for use by the NDE-OAE must be produced by a reputable educational publisher, be appropriate for specific adult education populations, provide accommodations for learners with disabilities, and have some research-based evidence of both reliability and validity. The following is a brief explanation of each category presented.

  • Curricula name: The full, official name of the curricula
  • Delivery mode: The media format(s) in which the curricula is delivered: Print, online, video, CD-ROM, or DVD
  • Proxy hour model: The method used to assign learner proxy hours (i.e. clock-time, teacher validation, learner mastery
  • Criteria for reporting hours: guidelines for calculating proxy hours
  • Target population: The adult education population for whom the material is most appropriate (e.g. ABE, GED, ESL)
  • Publisher information: The name and contact information of the publisher or producer of the curricula
  • Description: A brief description of the content and features