Driving Student Success: RARAE’s Strategy for Post-Test Completion
by Nichole Bennett, Regional Program Manager
During the past fiscal year, RARAE (Rappahannock Area Regional Adult Education–Region 16) worked diligently to meet 2025-2026 performance measures by implementing a program-wide structured approach to monitor student attendance, increase student engagement and retention, and increase post-testing. Driven by RARAE’s Leadership Team and strategic goals, this initiative ensured accurate attendance tracking and timely post-testing. Combined efforts in monitoring, engagement, planning, and providing learner incentives proved highly effective in raising post-testing rates and increasing student engagement.
RARAE utilized a coordinated process involving adult education instructors, program leadership, and the data team to track attendance and encourage participation hours towards post-testing. The Regional Specialist led program data management and partnered with instructors to ensure attendance was entered in a timely manner (during or immediately after class) while monitoring several key data points. This allowed the Regional Specialist to track instructional hours in real time, quickly identifying students that needed different class options or to transfer to other classes due to changes in circumstances. The Regional Specialist also encouraged students to return to class before accruing lengthy absences, finding that many students did not realize how many missed classes they had during a semester. Additionally, the ELA and HSE Coordinators managed distance education proxy hour reports, verified the accuracy of LACES integrations, and entered any other distance hours into the LACES system. The Regional Specialist provided instructors with LACES student total hours reports which gave instructors data to encourage their students to achieve the required post-testing hours through regular class attendance and the use of the distance education platforms.
High student persistence and continuation in RARAE’s program stemmed from four key elements: a strong sense of class community and culture, meaningful teacher-student relationships, practical and relevant lesson content, and ongoing curriculum and instructional support from program coordinators.
RARAE established a student retention policy with a proactive approach: 1) instructors check in with students and document communication after two missed classes; 2) additional follow up by the data team occurs if absences continue. This retention policy and process allows us to connect learners with flexible class transfers and virtual options to keep their education on track during any personal challenges such as schedule conflicts, transportation problems, or lack of childcare. Our program communicates that we care about the students’ learning needs while also working with them on ways to overcome challenges to participation.
RARAE diligently trained additional staff members as certified testing assessors to meet growing testing needs. The program established post-testing events before major holiday breaks and the last few weeks of each semester at every class site throughout our 5 counties. This planning provided time for our program to schedule assessors, arrange technology check-out of assessment devices, and notify all class teachers of students eligible to post-test. The teacher in turn encouraged their students to be present on scheduled testing dates. Additionally, to encourage student engagement and retention, RARAE offers post-testing incentives including FREE spring classes or discounted registration fees. These incentive opportunities give instructors a powerful tool to encourage student attendance, promote student use of distance education platforms, and promptly follow up when students have missed class.
This year, RARAE is continuing with our program retention policy, data management, testing procedures and scheduling, while also expanding access to program offerings with additional virtual classes and distance-education options for students unable to attend in-person classes. With a variety of class offerings, student follow up, and new learning options, our program works to meet our students where they are at and to decrease barriers to participation in adult education classes. As RARAE looks towards future programming and planning, we continue to value our students, adult education instructors, and leadership team members as they are essential partners to each individual student’s success and our overall program success.