In the fall of 2002, the Leadership Team of the East Side Adult Education Program (ESAEP) considered how to begin the WASC Focus on Learning (FOL) Self-study. Upon review and discussion of the FOL procedures, the team recognized the importance of meeting the five parameters of the self-study. Developing the Expected Schoolwide Learning Results (ESLRs) proved to be an extremely large task since East Side has many programs, schedules, major locations and different outreach sites. Some of the teachers work part-time in other districts, besides East Side; others work full-time elsewhere during the day and only in the evenings with adult education.

In a dedicated effort to meet the parameters of the FOL Manual, the Leadership Team decided to start the process in the classroom with the students. The Principals, Coordinators, and Department Chairs, working with their Home Groups, started informing the teaching staff of the WASC procedures and defining the meaning of ESLRs. They directed teachers to discuss with students what their learning goals or purposes were in attending adult education.

In some lower level ESL classrooms, teachers worked with the entire class while in other ESL levels, students worked in small groups. Other higher level students were able to work individually in Adult Basic Education (ABE), General Education Development (GED), High School Diploma (HSD), and Vocational Education (Voc Ed). They wrote of their learning goals and what they expected by attending the adult education program from the student point of view. For Adults with Disabilities (AwD) and Lifelong Learning (LL), the Home Groups met in various grouping of students, teachers, and department chairs.

Teachers were also asked to give their learning objectives for students. Again, the focus was on student success and "what each student should know, understand and be able to do upon exit from the school or by the time the student completes the program." All of the student and staff responses were turned in and tabulated by the Home Groups. Each Home Group developed and summarized the learning goals into statements encompassing all of the answers that were submitted. The Classified and Community Advisory Home Groups also took part by reviewing and discussing the developing learning results. Representative members of the Community Education Program (Comm Ed) participated in this discussion until the official Home Group was established in late spring.

The Home Group statements were next given to the WASC Leadership Team. By then, the Focus Groups had been formed, and the chairs had been appointed so were part of the team. During several meetings, the Leadership Team met, analyzed, and discussed the list of ESLRs that had been developed. Along with much compromise and wordsmithing, the common topics or themes were clustered together and stated as schoolwide learning results. After this lengthy and thorough process, the Expected Schoolwide Learning Results - the ESLRs -were finally decided.

A programwide memo reporting the progress on the newly formed ESLRs was distributed to all adult education staff. As the Focus Groups started reviewing the program, gathering information, and eventually writing their responses to the criteria questions, the ESLRs were always included in the process. The Home Groups have had follow-up meetings emphasizing the ESLRs: discussing ways to raise student awareness of them and highlighting their use in lesson planning. East Side Adult Education continues to give importance to the Expected Schoolwide Learning Results for students and in their roles at school, home, work, and in the community.