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    Chapter 8: Intake: Registration, Testing, and Orientation

      Getting Students Chapter 8

       

      What is intake?

      ► Intake is all the  things that need to be done to get students placed into a class.   

      Intake: Registration, Testing, and Orientation

      Before you begin class, students need to be registered, tested/assessed, and given an orientation. There are any number of ways to go about each of these three steps, depending upon the size and type of your program.

       
       

      ► 1: Registration

      Why is this important?

      • To enable you to track enrollment numbers.
      • To gain an understanding of who your learners are.
      • To gather data for program planning and/or for reporting to donors.
       

      ​What information should be collected from students?

      At a minimum:

      • name
      • address/zip code of residence (address if necessary, but can change;  zip code can be used to analyze where learners are coming from)
      • phone number
      • email
      • emergency contact person
      • a checklist of goals/reasons students have for taking the class. 
       

      Depending upon what other data the program/organization finds useful  for its program planning, or is required by funders, you could also ask for:

      • employment status(though this could be discouraging for some students)
      • educational background
      • family status(and children in the home or not)
      • ethnicity/national origin
      • gender
      • year/date of birth(some learners may be hesitant to provide full date of birth information, in which case year of birth will still provide you with data on the  age of the learner)
       

      Be mindful of protecting students’ personal data. Do you have a secure means of protecting this data?

       
       

      ► 2: Skills Assessment

      Why is this important?

      ​
       

      ► 3: Orientation

      Why is this important?

      • To let students know the basic policies of the program and what to expect.
      • This is also your opportunity to get them excited  about joining the program to be sure they come back!
       

      What are some best practices for orientation?

      • Be sure you can preemptively answer questions they will likely come with—start with letting them know why they should take your classes. It could be for employment, to go back to school, for other needs such as talking to their child’s teacher.
      • You’ll want to tell them the days/times/dates of the classes and ask them if they are sure they can come during those times.
      • You might include a calendar that has days of class and holidays.
      • You can include your levels and how students are placed into class.
      • If you have an attendance policy, you can inform them.
      • You may have specific rules about cell phones, parking, smoking, etc.
      • Some programs include other expectations: class participation, communication about any changes, mutual respect, tips for getting the most out of class, expectations for what students should do outside  class, textbooks used, disability issues, students’ rights and responsibilities.
      • Provide information about some of the ways they can overcome obstacles to attending class. You might tell them about any services your organization provides.
      • This can also be a good time to tell students to let their friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors know about your classes.
      • Printed material that potential students can leave with that has some of the information covered at the orientation and contact information.
       

      There is a lot of information here. Not all of this would need to be included in the orientation. Some programs have a student handbook. For your orientation, less may be more, and you may want to focus on what you deter-mine are the essentials. You can always inform them about the rest once classes start.

       
       

      ■  What are some options for conducting intake?

      • one date and do all events (registration, testing,  orientation) at once
      • multiple dates to do all events on each date
      • multiple dates to register and have one date to do  orientation and testing
      • online registration form inviting students to come to orientation and testing after they complete it
       

      No matter which option above your program utilizes, you will want to have sufficient program staff or volunteers present to assist learners. This will depend on the number of people expected, the type of assessment taking place and the facility. Many programs require some or all of their instructors to be present at intake to conduct testing. It is a good idea to have extra help on hand, i.e. volunteers. Staggering the intake times can also be done to manage the volume. In addition, if you know that a majority of your learners are speakers of a particular language, you may find it helpful to have a bilingual registration form as well as staff/volunteers who can speak this language on hand for intake.

      Be prepared to respond to phone calls or in person queries in advance of registration. Answer calls promptly. Alert students if they should plan to come early. Have a system for contacting students who don’t get into the class to invite them to the next registration, and/or connect them with other programs if there is no room in yours.  (In Montgomery County, you can also connect any students or teachers with the Gilchrist Immigrant Resource Center, who can help students find other classes, if you are not staffed for referral. This is part of the Center’s mandate.)

       

      Intake: Registration, Testing, and Orientation

      ♦ NOTES FROM THE FIELD

      Laura Irwin, Supervisor of the ESOL program at Catholic Charities’ Spanish Catholic Center in Gaithersburg, discusses their intake process, which includes an innovative online registration system:

      “In order to expedite the registration process, we utilize an online form. We created a form by using a free program called ‘Jotform’. The online form requires learners to enter the required information to satisfy our registration process. The responses are sent directly to the Program Supervisor’s email address. Once received, the information can be directly recorded into Catholic Charities’ database. The use of this form allows us to maintain uniformity in the data collected and ensures all required fields are completed, thus assisting in the compilation of data and the creation of an individual identification for the learners. 

      Interested participants can contact us to receive a text message to their phones with the link to the registration form. This approach makes it easier for learners to receive specific information about upcoming registration periods and it allows them to be immediately connected via cell phone with the program supervisor. This online system helps to better manage the intake process; we encourage and request new participants to preregister for the placement test. All those who preregister are able to take the placement test on a predetermined day. Any remaining spaces are opened to those students who walk in on the day of testing and registration. If there are not enough spaces for participants, they are referred to another registration day. The online intake form is only the first step of the registration process. On the day of the placement test, learners also complete the required forms for release of information, rights and responsibilities, financial commitment, and all other required documents for participation in a program through Catholic Charities.

      Prospective students receive a text, setting up a connection.

      We hold an orientation on the first day of classes (both during the week and Saturdays) for all learners together at each of our sites. During this motivational orientation, students are welcomed and encouraged to persevere through graduation. They also receive information
      on policies and procedures regarding the use of the space and are introduced to all the services provided by the Spanish Catholic Center in Gaithersburg.”

       
       

      Chinese Culture and Community Service Center Statistics

      Chiao-chiao Liu, Education Director at the Chinese Culture and Community Service Center (CCACC), describes the registration process for CCACC’s adult ESOL program: 

       

      “CCACC does not have a set registration day, but interested learners are asked to contact the program in advance to reserve a spot. We use social media to communicate with our students" 

       

       

      For existing/continuing students: 

      1. They usually just pick up from where they were in their previous classes. 
      2. They need to let me know which class they want to take to reserve a spot. I have to make sure we have at least six people to open a class.
      3. For existing students, their names and information are in our ESOL master database. We also give a pretest in the first class to make sure students are placed in the right place. 
       
      For new students: 
      1. I will talk to the potential students first; based on our conversation (I usually ask them if they have learned English before, if so, for how long, and what textbooks have they used, etc.), I can usually tell their English levels, such as ESOL 1/ESOL 2/ESOL 3... If it’s convenient, I will ask them to stop by to fill out the registration form and take a look at our ESOL textbooks. 
      2. As long as students have reserved a spot, they can also choose to register on the first day of class. I will then add their information to my ESOL database.  We use social media to communicate with students. I send out the new class schedule through social media, and remind students about homework assignments, special activities, schedule changes, etc. in this way.”

      Chinese Culture & Community Service Center Worksheet (click to enlarge):