Adult and Community Learning Services (ACLS)

ACLS Policy Memo 2025-03: LACES Data Entry Update

To:CALC, AECI, and SABES Directors
From:Wyvonne Stevens-Carter, Adult Education State Director
Date:October 17, 2024

As announced during the August State as Equity Partner webinar and in the September monthly newsletter, there is an updated class scheduling feature in LACES. For more information, review the 2024.9.0 Release Notes, watch the Class Scheduling tutorial and the recording of the September 4 training webinar, and review the updated policy related to LACES data entry (State Requirement) bolded below.

All data, including intakes, assessment, student attendance, and other required information must be entered into LACES in a timely manner on a fixed, regular schedule. Grantees must be able to corroborate LACES data with program records in their files. Grantees that routinely lag in data entry will not have an accurate picture of their current performance. Routine lags in data entry may trigger a data and/or fiscal audit. ACLS requires grantees to:

  • Ensure that all LACES users, including teachers, have unique logon credentials.
  • Have written data collection and entry policies and procedures, including identification of the person or persons responsible for data collection, entry, and quality review.
  • Enroll all students in LACES even if they do not attend 12 hours.
  • Enter attendance at the daily level. That is, attendance must be recorded for each day that a student attends.
  • Enter attendance within one week and recommends the best practice of entering attendance every day during class.
  • Enroll students in class in LACES within one week of starting and recommends enrolling students before they start to ensure that teachers have up-to-date rosters and can enter attendance on the first day.
  • Enter NRS assessment scores within four weeks of administration.
  • Maintain supporting documentation for all LACES data, including attendance except when teachers enter attendance during class.
  • Update all staff records prior to August data freeze, including the number of years of teaching experience in Adult Education.
  • Update all approved class schedules to reflect all planned instructional modes by first desk review of the fiscal year.

This policy will be included in the addendum to the FY24-FY28 Massachusetts Policies for Effective Adult Education in Community Adult Learning Centers (CALCs) and Correctional Institutions (AECIs) .

Last Updated: October 18, 2024