Dear Colleague Letter

Page 2

Date

4550 Montgomery Avenue  Suite 800N  Bethesda, Maryland USA  20814-5341

301-634-1800 telephone  301-634-1801 facsimile

Date

Name of Program Director

Program Address

Dear (Program Director):

We are delighted that (insert program name) adult basic education program has agreed to participate in the study on Strengthening Adult Reading Instructional Practices (SARIP) that is being conducting by JBL Associates, Inc. and Abt Associates Inc. This study is supported by a contract from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Vocational and Adult Education. The SARIP study will examine the outcomes achieved by learners who have been taught by ABE instructors that participated in the STAR training. Your program’s decision to participate in SARIP will greatly contribute to the study.

The purpose of this letter is to describe the activities that the (insert name of program) agrees to participate in during the study. These activities are the following:

• Data Collection Schedule and Procedures: JBL Associates, Inc. and Abt Associates Inc. will gather information from the adult learners participating in the ABE class conducted by (insert name of targeted teacher for SARIP study. Data collection will be conducted within three weeks of the beginning of the fall term in 2008 and three weeks before the close of the spring term in 2009. Individual learner data collection conducted by our data collectors at both the pre-test and the post-test sessions will take approximately two hours of time per learner for each session. The group administration of the Nelson Reading Test will take approximately 45 minutes for each of the pre-test and post-test sessions. All data are confidential, and learners will be asked to complete a Learner Consent Form prior to participating in data collection. The data collector will be responsible for submitting all forms and data to JBL Associates, Inc.

• Site Visits and Class Observations. A staff member from Abt Associates will visit your program during fall 2008 to: a) conduct interviews with administrative and instructional staff about the operations of the program, and b) observe the instructor participating in the study during her/his classroom instruction and conduct an interview with the instructor after the class.

• Learner Attendance and Enrollment Information. The (insert name of program) will provide to Abt Associates at the end of the fall term 2008 and winter term 2009 the daily attendance for each learner participating in the SARIP study.

• Report on Study Findings. Abt Associates Inc. will prepare a final report from this study and provide a copy of this report to (insert name of program) when the report is approved for distribution.

Thank you again, (insert name of program director), for your willingness to assist with our study. Enclosed is a copy of the Learner Consent Form that we will have each learner sign to participate in the study. If you have any questions or comments about the study, please call or email me at (301) 634-1830, [email protected], or Gina Shkodriani at (301) 654-5154, [email protected]. We look forward to working with you and your staff.

Sincerely,

Judith A. Alamprese

Principal Investigator

Abt Associates Inc.

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