Adult and Community Learning Services (ACLS)

LACES Student Data Management System Information

Massachusetts adopted the online LACES (Literacy, Adult and Community Education System), developed by LiteracyPro Systems, to collect and report performance data from adult education providers. The application was designed specifically to report to the National Reporting System for Adult Education (NRS), as required by all states receiving WIOA Title II funding. LACES is currently utilized by approximately one-third of the states to report to NRS. In addition to meeting the requirements for federal reporting, LACES offers adult education providers a tool to manage student demographic, assessment, and progress data.

Sign In to Your LACES Account
MA LACES Users Manual
LACES Video Resources Update
ACLS is working to bring these videos into full compliance with accessibility standards of the Department and the Commonwealth. Work is underway to incorporate closed captioning into each of the videos. Please contact Toby Maguire if you have any concerns, or If a LACES user has an immediate need for a specific video and ACLS will prioritize getting the video closed captioned quickly.
Monthly Mailing Updates
Release of Information
WIOA requires that programs identify those adults who, in addition to being eligible for services, face one or more barriers to employment. This requirement is intended to shed light on how well students with barriers are being served by the workforce system.

Programs may use whatever intake forms they wish as long as the forms solicit and collect all the information needed to do data entry in LACES. (Note: Programs enrolling students in HSE preparation classes (i.e., pre-ASE and ASE levels) must enter student information in LACES (i.e., student name and DOB) as it appears on the government issued picture ID the student will be using to register for the HiSET^® and/or GED^® exam. This policy is to ensure proper data matching with HiSET^® and GED^® records. Programs may wish to keep a photocopy of the ID on file or scanned into LACES.)

At the beginning of each fiscal year, programs are expected to complete new intakes for all students, including those who are continuing from the previous year.

Please note that DESE updated the Release of Information form to meet FERPA. For additional information see the June 24, 2021 FY2022 ROI memo . ACLS requires that programs ask students to provide their social security numbers (SSN)¹ and sign an ROI form. Declining to provide an SSN and/or sign an ROI will not impact students' eligibility for services. Please present the new form to all students and ask that they sign. Then indicate in LACES whether they signed.
FY2025 Student Intake Form
Desk Review Resources
LACES Hot Topics
Are you learning about ACLS and LACES updates only after someone else tells you? Have you missed student referrals because the contact information and description in the ACLS program directory is old or inaccurate? You can remedy this in just a few minutes by following these four steps detailed in the attachment titled — Updating Program Information in LACES .
- FY24 LACES Data Collection/Entry and Other Updates
- LACES Enrollment Report Steps
Updating Staff Records

¹ The program must do follow-up when the student does not provide an SSN.

Last Updated: September 4, 2024