February 2011

Welcome to the February 2011 NRS eNotes!

NRS eNotes highlights additions to the NRSWeb site and informs you of upcoming events. Forward this email to other adult education staff in your state and encourage others to sign up by emailing nrs@air.org.

Annual TWG Meeting held on Ground Hog’s Day 

The NRS Technical Working Group (TWG) meeting was held on February 2, 2010.  In attendance were two members of the Department of Education and seven of the 10 TWG members, who discussed this year’s planned  project activities.  TWG members provided guidance to us on our plans for this year’s regional training on financial management, as well as our plans to develop evaluation learning communities, conduct data analysis, and maintain NRSWeb.  

NRS Basics Course to Begin

The third NRS Basics online course will begin on February 15th with 23 participants from 16 states. This seven week course is designed for state staff who are new to the NRS or need to review basic NRS requirements. The topics include:

·         Accountability and the history of the NRS

·         Measures in the NRS

·         Assessment and goal setting

·         Data collection and reporting

·         Data quality

Past participants have found the NRS Basics to be helpful and immediately useful to their work.

NRS at a Glance added to NRSWeb

Do you need a quick review of the NRS and the products and services available from the NRS support project? A new NRS at a Glance document presents the big picture of the NRS, summarizing activities at the federal, state, and local level.  NRS at a Glance is especially helpful to those who are new to the NRS.

Did you know… 

NRS project staff tracks use of NRSWeb. 

We look at usage patterns, like the number of times users click on links and use online courses. This data helps us get a better understanding of the activities, interests, and needs of our community.   For instance, we track which of our NRS courses attract the most viewers.

Just for fun

Pop quiz: Which do you think it is?

1)    What is the NRS

2)    Learning to be a Data Detective

3)    Data Quality

4)    Desk Monitoring for Dummies

(Answer:  By far the most popular online course, with 3.5 times more interest than its closest competitor, was the NRS Data Quality Course. If you answered #3, you were correct.)

Coming Soon: NRS Regional Training on Financial Management

This year’s NRS training regional training will be in June on financial management of the state adult education basic grant.  We will send further information on location, dates and topics in March.