Policy Chapters and Sections

Measurable Skill Gains

Chapter: 3 Section: 1.5
Effective Date: 11/3/2021
Expiration Date: Continuing
Published Date: 11/3/2021 3:07:32 PM
Status: Current
Version: 2

Tags: Performance, Reporting, Adult, Dislocated Worker, Youth

  1. Measurable Skill Gains (MSG)
    1. Defined as the percentage of participants who, during a program year, are in education or training programs that lead to a recognized postsecondary credential or employment and who are achieving measurable skill gains, defined as documented academic, technical, occupational, or other forms of progress, towards such a credential or employment.
    2. The measurable skill gains indicator is used to measure interim progress of participants who are enrolled in education or training services for a specified reporting period. It is not an exit-based measure. Instead, it is intended to capture important progressions through educational or skill pathways that offer different services based on program purposes and participant needs. It can also help fulfill the vision for a workforce system that serves a diverse set of individuals with a range of services tailored to individual needs and goals. Depending upon the type of education or training program in which a participant is enrolled, documented progress is defined as one of the following:
      1. Educational Functioning Level (EFL): Documented achievement of at least one educational functioning (EFL) level of a participant who is receiving instruction below the postsecondary education level (includes three types of EFL measurements);
      2. Secondary School Diploma or Equivalent:  Documented attainment of a secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent;
      3. Secondary/Postsecondary Transcripts or Report Card: Secondary or postsecondary transcript or report card for a sufficient number of credit hours that shows a participant is meeting the state unit’s academic standards;
      4. Training Milestone(s): Satisfactory or better progress report, towards established milestones or steps to successfully complete a training program such as completion of On-the-Job Training (OJT) or completion of one year of an apprenticeship program or similar milestones, from an employer or training provider who is providing training; or
      5. Skills Progression: Diploma/Certificate/Degree: Successful passage of an exam that is required for a particular occupation or progress in attaining technical or occupational skills as evidenced by trade-related benchmarks, such as knowledge-based exams.
    3. Documenting Progress for Types of Measurable Skill Gains occurs in the following ways:
      1. Educational Functioning Level (EFL)
        1. Documented achievement of at least one educational functioning level (EFL) of a participant who is receiving instruction below the postsecondary level.  Programs may measure educational functioning level gain in one of three ways:
          1. states may compare the participant’s initial educational functioning level, as measured by a pre-test, with the participant’s educational functioning level, as measured by a post-test following the requirements of the Basic Skills Deficiency Assessment Requirements section of the policy manual;
          2. states that offer adult high school programs that lead to a secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent may measure and report educational gain through the awarding of credits or Carnegie units; or
          3. states may report an educational functioning level gain for participants who exit a program below the postsecondary level and enroll in postsecondary education and training during the program year. A program below the postsecondary level applies to participants enrolled in a basic education program.
      2. Secondary School Diploma or Equivalent
        1. Programs may document attainment of a secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent if the participant obtains certification of attaining passing scores on all parts of a state-recognized high school equivalency test, or the participant obtains a diploma or state-recognized equivalent documenting satisfactory completion of secondary studies or an alternative diploma, including a high school or adult secondary school diploma.
          1. Secondary school diploma refers to a regular high school diploma, as defined in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
          2. Alternative diploma must meet the requirements under ESSA.
      3. Secondary/Postsecondary Transcript or Report Card
        1. For secondary education, this gain may be documented through receipt of a secondary transcript or report card for one semester showing that the participant is achieving the state unit’s policies for academic standards. This applies only to youth attending High School.
        2. For postsecondary education, this gain must demonstrate a sufficient number of credit hours—which is at least twelve (12) hours per semester (or equivalent) or, for part-time students, a total of at least twelve (12) hours over the course of two (2) completed semesters (or equivalent) during a twelve (12) month period—that shows a participant is achieving the state unit’s academic standards (or the equivalent for other than credit hour programs).
          1. For example, if a postsecondary student completed four (4) hours in the spring semester and eight (8) more hours in the fall semester and those semesters crossed two (2) program years, this type of skill gain would not be reported in the first (1st) program year but it should be reported and will count as a skill gain in the second (2nd) program year, when the sufficient number of credit hours to meet the criteria is met.
          2. Secondary transcript is specific to youth attending high school.
        3. For gain type three, the Departments recommend that States and local areas develop policies suitable for the applicable academic system in use by the secondary or postsecondary institution in which the participant is enrolled including, but not limited to, semesters, trimesters, quarters, and clock hours for the calculation of credit hours (or their equivalent) when documenting progress towards Measurable Skill Gains.
      4. Training Milestone(s)
        1. Documentation for this gain may vary, as grantees should identify appropriate methodologies based upon the nature of services being provided.
        2. The gain may be documented by a satisfactory or better progress report from an employer or training provider.  Progress reports may include training reports on milestones completed as the individual masters the required job skills or takes steps to complete a training program. Documented increases in pay resulting from newly acquired skills or increased performance also can be used to demonstrate successful progress.
      5. Skills Progression - Diploma/Certificate/Credential/Degree
        1. Documentation for this gain may include passage of a component exam in a Registered Apprenticeship program, employer-required knowledge-based exam, satisfactory attainment of an element on an industry or occupational competency-based assessment, or other completion test necessary to obtain a credential.
    4. Methodology for calculating the outcomes includes all participants enrolled in an education or training program that leads to a recognized postsecondary credential or employment.
      1. The number of program participants during the reporting period who are in an education or training program that leads to a recognized postsecondary credential or employment and are achieving measurable skill gains based on attainment of at least one type of gain (the Numerator) DIVIDED by the number of program participants, who, during the reporting period are in an education or training program that leads to a recognized postsecondary credential or employment (the Denominator).
    5. Operational parameters for calculating levels of performance for this indicator, States must include all participants who, during a program year, are in an education or training program that leads to a recognized postsecondary credential or employment are counted in the calculation of this indicator except States must not include (in either the numerator or denominator) those participants who exit during the reporting period for any of the reasons listed in the Exclusions from Performance section of this policy.
      1. For the Title IB Adult and Dislocated Worker program and the Title IB Youth program, a description of who is considered to be enrolled in an “education or training program”, and thus included in the measurable skill gains indicator, is provided below:
        1. Title IB Adult and Dislocated Worker
          1. All participants who are in a Title IB Adult or Dislocated Worker funded training program are included in the measurable skill gains indicator (which includes funding a training program for a secondary school program equivalent). This includes all participants in work-based training.
        2. Title IB Youth
          1. In-School Youth (ISY) - All In-School-Youth are included in the measurable skill gains indicator since they are attending secondary or postsecondary school. 
          2. Out-of-School Youth (OSY) - Only (Out-of-School Youth) OSY who are in one of the following are included in the indicator:
            1. the program element occupational skills training;
            2. secondary education during participation in the Title IB Youth program;
            3. postsecondary education during participation in the Title IB Youth program;
            4. Title II-funded adult education at or above the ninth (9th) grade level during participation in the Title IB Youth program;
            5. YouthBuild program during participation in the Title IB Youth program; or
            6. Job Corps during participation in the Title IB Youth program.
      2. Unlike Credential Attainment, this includes all participants in OJT and customized training. There are no specific measurable skill gain types required for specific participants in each of these three Title IB core programs, except that for participants in the Title IB youth program, the type of skill gain must be based on the youth’s individual service strategy.