Title II of WIOA- Adult Education and Family Literacy Activities 463 Guidance This narrative is intended to provide guidance to all parties interested in the Oklahoma AEFLA competition to be held in FY18 and awarded for FY19-FY22. This is not intended to be an all-inclusive document. Eligible applicants should use this document as a guide in attempting to understand the criteria and expectations outlined in Title II of WIOA. Grammar and correct punctuation are necessary when writing your application. Your application should reflect the systems and processes you will use in carrying out adult education and family literacy activities. Your document should not focus on solely on research in carrying out adult education and family literacy activities, rather the application should reflect how you intend to carry out these activities. 463.23 Who is eligible to apply for a grant or contract for adult education and literacy activities? An organization that has demonstrated effectiveness in providing adult education and literacy activities is eligible to apply for a grant or contract. These organizations may include, but are not limited to: (a) A local educational agency; (b) A community-based organization or faith-based organization; (c) A volunteer literacy organization; (d) An institution of higher education; (e) A public or private nonprofit agency; (f) A library; (g) A public housing authority; (h) A nonprofit institution that is not described in any of paragraphs (a) through (g) and has the ability to provide adult education and literacy activities to eligible individuals; (i) A consortium or coalition of the agencies, organizations, institutions, libraries, or authorities described in any of paragraphs (a) through (h); and (j) A partnership between an employer and an entity described in any of paragraphs (a) through (i). Direction from ODCTE: Your organization must have past experience in serving eligible individuals. Eligible individuals means individuals who: a.) Have attained 16 years of age b.) Who is not enrolled or required to be enrolled in secondary school under state law c.) Who is a. Basic skills deficient, b. Does not have a secondary school diploma or it recognized equivalent, and had not achieved an equivalent level of education, or c. Is an English Language Learner An interested entity that has not served eligible individuals is not eligible to apply. However, if an interested party that is not eligible to apply wishes to collaborate with an entity that is currently an eligible provider, the two parties can form a consortium and be eligible to apply. The eligible provider does not have to be currently funded through Title II of WIA. Eligible applicants need to be a current provider of eligible individuals (individuals who are 16 years
of age, who are not enrolled in a secondary school or required to be, and who meet one of the following criteria: are basic skills deficient, do not have a high school diploma or its recognized equivalent, or are English Language Learners). Organizations that are eligible include current adult basic education providers, dropout recovery programs, private non-profit organizations who currently provide adult basic education classes, community colleges that provide credit recovery courses to individuals that have not completed their high school diploma, and other providers of adult basic education and other services to eligible individuals. 463.24 How must an eligible provider establish that it has demonstrated effectiveness? (a) An eligible provider must demonstrate past effectiveness by providing performance data on its record of improving the skills of eligible individuals, particularly eligible individuals who have low levels of literacy, in the content domains of reading, writing, mathematics, English language acquisition, and other subject areas relevant to the services contained in the State s application for funds. An eligible provider must also provide information regarding its outcomes for participants related to employment, attainment of secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent, and transition to postsecondary education and training. (b) There are two ways in which an eligible provider may meet the requirements in paragraph (a) of this section: (1) An eligible provider that has been funded under title II of the Act must provide performance data required under section 116 to demonstrate past effectiveness. Direction from ODCTE: There are no eligible providers in Oklahoma that currently fit under category b(1) since current providers were funded under WIA. (2) An eligible provider that has not been previously funded under title II of the Act must provide performance data to demonstrate its past effectiveness in serving basic skills deficient eligible individuals, including evidence of its success in achieving outcomes listed in paragraph a) of this section. Direction from ODCTE: To be eligible for the Adult Basic Education and Corrections Education funds, you will need to provide performance data on improving the skills of eligible individuals. This includes providing data (quantitative and/or qualitative data) on improving their: Reading Writing Mathematics English language acquisition Information is required for each of the following: Employment Attainment of their secondary school diploma or equivalent, and Postsecondary education and training.
The state will decide, based on the information you provide, whether or not your organization has achieved the level of demonstrated effectiveness in order to apply. You may not have data on all indicators of performance, but you should be able to provide documentation on items related to most of the first six categories (reading, writing, mathematics, employment, attainment of their secondary school diploma or equivalent, and postsecondary education and training.) 463.22 What must be included in the eligible provider s application for a grant or contract? (a) Each eligible provider seeking a grant or contract must submit an application to the eligible agency containing the information and assurances listed below, as well as any additional information required by the eligible agency, including: (1) A description of how funds awarded under this title will be spent consistent with the requirements of title II of AEFLA; You need to describe how you will use the funds, including how many staff (instruction, administration), costs, and services. How many students will you plan to serve annually? Will there be equipment and supplies purchased? How many classes will you offer? Where will classes be held? How many students will you have per class? Will you offer distance education? How much will you spend on professional development for your instructional staff? What will be the total cost for instruction salary and benefits, guidance counseling, support services, administration, rent, facilities, data entry and information services, and other relevant areas? Note: Your administrative cost will be between 5% and 17.5%, however your initial budget should only reflect 5% of administrative cost. Note: Childcare is not an allowable cost under WIOA Title II Adult Education and Family Literacy Act unless you are offering Family Literacy Activities and you are the payer of last resort. If you are offering Family Literacy Activities, you must submit to the ODCTE a proposal on how you will offer these activities prior to receiving funds. (2) A description of any cooperative arrangements the eligible provider has with other agencies, institutions, or organizations for the delivery of adult education and literacy activities; In this section you will need to discuss what agencies you have been working with in the past in the delivery of adult education and literacy activities. This could be through local workforce development boards, department of rehabilitation services, support services, educational organizations, and other entities. We would like to see what partnerships you have developed with appropriate agencies in the area(s) you wish to serve in order to assist eligible individuals. (3) A description of how the eligible provider will provide services in alignment with the local workforce development plan, including how such provider will promote concurrent enrollment in programs and activities under title I, as appropriate; In this section it is recommended you review the local workforce development plan from the workforce investment board. You may discuss how your program will operate in alignment with the local workforce board s plan. You may need to discuss how you will promote concurrent enrollment in programs under Title I. Title I Activities include Workforce Development Activities (Workforce Investment Activities, Youth Workforce Investment Activities, Adult and Dislocated Worker Employment and Training Activities, and General Workforce Investment Provisions (Job Corps and others)).
(4) A description of how the eligible provider will meet the State-adjusted levels of performance for the primary indicators of performance identified in the State s Unified or Combined State Plan, including how such provider will collect data to report on such performance indicators; The Performance Goals for the Core programs are the following: o Employment (Second Quarter after Exit) o Employment (Fourth Quarter after Exit) o Median Earnings (Second Quarter after Exit) o Credential Attainment Rate o Measurable Skill Gains o Effectiveness in Serving Employers- A pilot is currently underway to determining appropriate ways of measuring this category. Measurable Skill Gains includes the following: Measurable Skill Gains can be measured through one or more of the following for eligible individuals i. Secondary Diploma/Equivalent ii. Secondary or Postsecondary transcript iii. Educational Functioning Level Gain (Measured by Pre-Post test, Completion of Carnegie Units, Program Exit- Entry into Postsecondary Education. iv. Progress toward Milestones v. Passing Technical/Occupational Knowledge Based Exam In this section you should discuss how you will collect data on each of the 6 measures above (employment- 2 nd and 4 th quarter, Median Earnings, Credential Attainment Rate, Measureable Skill Gains, and Effectiveness in Serving Employers). Performance goals for adult education in Employment- 2 nd and 4 th quarter, Median Earnings, Credential Attainment Rate, and Effectiveness in Serving Employers are baseline. Measurable Skill gains is proposed and negotiated to be at 43% for FY17 for the entire state. Your focus on this section should be how you will collect data for the six performance measures and how you will attain the 43% goal for measureable skill gains. Your narrative should include how you will collect and enter data. Oklahoma currently utilizes LACES as it s information management platform in adult basic education. This platform will allow you to collect some of the data, in particular measurable skills gains. You may also need to conduct survey data from your students, especially with regard to employment and median earnings, or a data match is also available. (5) A description of how the eligible provider will fulfill, as appropriate, required one-stop partner responsibilities to-- (i) (ii) Provide access through the one-stop delivery system to adult education and literacy activities; use a portion of the funds made available under the Act to maintain the one-stop delivery system, including payment of the infrastructure costs for the one-stop centers, in accordance with the methods agreed upon by the Local Board and described in the memorandum of understanding or the determination of the Governor regarding State one-stop infrastructure funding;
(iii) Enter into a local memorandum of understanding with the Local Board, relating to the operations of the one-stop system; The ODCTE will be delegating its responsibilities to the local providers, therefore local providers will enter into a local MOU with the Local Board. (iv) (v) Participate in the operation of the one-stop system consistent with the terms of the memorandum of understanding, and the requirements of the Act; and Provide representation to the State board; Access through the one-stop delivery system may include a physical presence at the one-stop center, or it may include a virtual presence. It is the expectation by the ODCTE that all adult basic education providers may contribute to the infrastructure cost of at least one one-stop center, however the amount will need to be negotiated between the workforce investment board and the ABE provider (the ODCTE may provide guidance as well). The funds to support the one-stop center from an adult basic education provider will be based on the main location in which the provider resides. There are some programs that cross over two or more WIOA regions, and in this situation funding will need to be determined on a case by case basis. Adult Education providers will be a participant in the one-stop center, however this may be done virtually. Adult Education providers will enter into a local memorandum of understanding with the local board, relating to the operations of the one-stop system, and participate in the operation of the one-stop system. In this section you will need to discuss your contribution (financial or in-kind) to the one-stop center, how you would be co-located, and how you will work with other one-stop partners in serving individuals in need of adult education services. Note: Infrastructure and cost-sharing will come out of your administrative cost. The Administrative percentage can be negotiated with the ODCTE and will depend on the number of students you serve annually. (6) A description of how the eligible provider will provide services in a manner that meets the needs of eligible individuals; In this section you will need to discuss what type of offerings and services you provide to eligible individuals. What type of classes do you offer (ESL, Adult Basic Education, Corrections Education, Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education, Reading, Mathematics, Writing, etc.)? Are guidance counseling services provided to students? What other offerings and programs do you have that students have access to? Are there career training programs available to students who attend your program (if any)? What type of employment services are available to students (if any)? How have you promoted career pathways to students? How have you promoted students finishing your program to move on into postsecondary education and/or employment? Are there childcare and other services available from other one-stop partners that enable parents to attend adult education classes? You will also need to address the GEPA requirements, including equitable access and preventing barriers that can impede equitable access.
(7) Information that addresses the 13 considerations listed in 463.20; In awarding grants or contracts for adult education and literacy activities to eligible providers, the eligible agency must consider the following: a. The degree to which the eligible provider would be responsive to-- (i) (ii) Regional needs as identified in the local workforce development plan; and Serving individuals in the community who were identified in such plan as most in need of adult education and literacy activities, including individuals who (A) Have low levels of literacy skills; or (B) Are English Language Learners Your application needs to address workforce development needs in the region. These needs may include employment needs of businesses, training, workforce demand, and other relevant areas. The narrative in this portion needs to be specific to the local workforce development plan(s) for the workforce investment boards you will partner with. Your application needs to address how you will serve individuals with low levels of literacy in the area(s) you wish to serve. Depending on the part of the state you wish to serve, you may also need to include English Language learners as part of your discussion, particularly when there are a large number of individuals in your area who are English Language learners. Your application needs to address the needs identified from the local workforce development plan. If the area(s) you are requesting fall in multiple areas, then you may need to review all areas. You may need to discuss how the programs and services you plan to offer align with the local plan(s). In this section you may also need to discuss how you will serve eligible individuals in the community. Is there a population that is ESL? Are there individuals in the community that do not read? How will your programs and services provide the individuals identified in the local plan as most in need of adult basic education services? b. The ability of the eligible provider to serve eligible individuals with disabilities, including eligible individuals with learning disabilities; In your application, you should describe how eligible individuals with disabilities are to be served. This includes describing how you will assist those individuals with learning disabilities, such as determining learning accommodations to assist the student. You will also need to discuss how you will serve individuals with physical disabilities and what type of accommodations you make for those individuals. Strategies need to be discussed in serving individuals with physical and learning disabilities. c. The past effectiveness of the eligible provider in improving the literacy of eligible individuals, especially those individuals who have low levels of literacy, and the degree to which those improvements contribute to the eligible agency meeting its State-adjusted levels of performance for the primary indicators of performance described in 677.155; In this section you should discuss how you have improved literacy of eligible individuals in the areas of reading, writing, mathematics, and English Language Acquisition (when applicable). You should discuss how the improvements in the literacy levels of those individuals helps the state, as a whole, in
assisting these individuals to enter employment, increase earnings, attain credentials, attain a secondary diploma or equivalent, and effectively serve employers. See criteria 4 from above for the primary indicators of performance. You will need to provide performance data on how you have improved the literacy of eligible individuals. This can be quantitative or qualitative data. This criteria will need to relate to state-adjusted performance levels. 677.155 refers to the following performance indicators: Employment (Second Quarter after Exit) Employment (Fourth Quarter after Exit) Median Earnings (Second Quarter after Exit) Credential Attainment Rate Measurable Skill Gains Effectiveness in Serving Employers- currently under a pilot d. The extent to which the eligible provider demonstrates alignment between proposed activities and services and the strategy and goals of the local plan under section 108 of the Act, as well as the activities and services of the one-stop partners; The ODCTE recommends that you review the local plans prior to completing this section. You should describe how the proposed services and activities you are wanting to provide aligns with the strategic goals of the local workforce development plan and services provided by other one-stop partners.: Proposed services and Activities include the following: Adult education Literacy Workplace adult education and literacy activities Family literacy activities English language acquisition activities Integrated English literacy and civics education Workplace preparation activities or Integrated education and training that provide adult education concurrently and contextually for the purpose of educational and career advancement e. Whether the eligible provider's program i. Is of sufficient intensity and quality, and based on the most rigorous research available so that participants achieve substantial learning gains; and ii. Uses instructional practices that include the essential components of reading instruction; You should describe your program in this section. What are the classes you provide? How is the curriculum delivered? How do you select curriculum? How do you monitor student progress? What instructional practices are utilized (instructor led, self-directed, peer teaching, etc.)? What are the outcomes of students that have completed your program? How is reading instruction provided? Describe a typical classroom environment and how students will learn in your program. f. Whether the eligible provider's activities, including whether reading, writing, speaking, mathematics, and English language acquisition instruction delivered by the eligible provider, are based on the best practices derived from the most rigorous research available, including scientifically valid research and effective educational practice;
You should discuss how instruction is provided for reading, writing, speaking, mathematics, and English language acquisition. Discuss how your organization determined what method is best in determining the instructional practice(s) and the content for reading, writing, speaking, mathematics, and English language acquisition. Determine where you obtain information on improving your instruction in these areas. How have you determined what are best practices to include in instruction? How have you used contents standards as a foundation for instruction in your program? g. Whether the eligible provider's activities effectively use technology, services and delivery systems, including distance education, in a manner sufficient to increase the amount and quality of learning, and how such technology, services, and systems lead to improved performance; Your application should discuss incorporation of technology into your program. This may include computers, tablets, apps downloaded onto the students cell phones, and blended learning. Describe the type of software and computer programs you utilize in your program. Discuss how all of this technology has improved your program. Are there other services, such as guidance and counseling, that are available to eligible individuals that improves their quality of learning? Is instruction, curriculum, and/or instructional materials available online? h. Whether the eligible provider s activities provide learning in context, including through integrated education and training, so that an individual acquires the skills needed to transition to and complete postsecondary education and training programs, obtain and advance in employment leading to economic self-sufficiency, and to exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship; Your response in this category should describe how your instruction includes postsecondary education and training programs, employment, and civics education. You may also discuss postsecondary education, training programs, and employment services your organization currently offers to eligible individuals. Are adult basic education students able to attend career training in your organization or organizations your partner with? What type of career training opportunities are there? Is postsecondary education offered for adult students in your program by your organization? How does your learning environment ensure they acquire the skills necessary to exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship? Rights of Citizenship are: Freedom to express yourself. Freedom to worship as you wish. Right to a prompt, fair trial by jury. Right to vote in elections for public officials. Right to apply for federal employment requiring U.S. citizenship. Right to run for elected office. Freedom to pursue life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Responsibilities of Citizenship are: Support and defend the Constitution. Stay informed of the issues affecting your community. Participate in the democratic process. Respect and obey federal, state, and local laws. Respect the rights, beliefs, and opinions of others. Participate in your local community.
Pay income and other taxes honestly, and on time, to federal, state, and local authorities. Serve on a jury when called upon. Defend the country if the need should arise. Source: https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/learners/citizenship-rights-and-responsibilities i. Whether the eligible provider's activities are delivered by instructors, counselors, and administrators who meet any minimum qualifications established by the State, where applicable, and who have access to high-quality professional development, including through electronic means; Describe the credentials of your staff- do they meet state certification requirements (i.e. do they hold an Oklahoma standard teaching certificate or a master s degree or higher?). Describe the professional development offered to adult education personnel, how often is it offered, and who offers it? Is the professional development specific to adult education? What type of professional development is provided to administrators? j. Whether the eligible provider coordinates with other available education, training, and social service resources in the community, such as by establishing strong links with elementary schools and secondary schools, postsecondary educational institutions, institutions of higher education, Local WDBs, one-stop centers, job training programs, and social service agencies, business, industry, labor organizations, community-based organizations, nonprofit organizations, and intermediaries, in the development of career pathways; This is a question on the development of career pathways. What are some of the organizations you have collaborated with in the area to develop career pathways? Describe the career pathways you have developed with these organizations. Provide examples of career pathways developed between one or more of the following organizations you have collaborated with: K-12 schools Postsecondary institutions, including technology centers and community colleges Local Workforce Development Boards One-stop centers Job training programs Social Service Agencies Business and Industry Labor Organizations Community-based organization k. Whether the eligible provider's activities offer the flexible schedules and coordination with Federal, State, and local support services (such as child care, transportation, mental health services, and career planning) that are necessary to enable individuals, including individuals with disabilities or other special needs, to attend and complete programs; How do you structure your schedules for your services so that eligible students may participate in your program with relative ease? What types of local support services has your organization worked with so that eligible individuals are able to participate in your program with relative ease? How has child care, transportation, mental health services, career planning, and other services been available to
your students? Are there other services that have been available to individuals with disabilities or other special needs that allows them to participate in your program with relative ease? l. Whether the eligible provider maintains a high-quality information management system that has the capacity to report measurable participant outcomes (consistent with section 666.100) and to monitor program performance; You need to describe the type of information management system you utilize (infrastructure of your computer network, what software is used to track information). This includes the usage of LACES. It also includes any type of data entry for attendance, as well as any other software that assist you in tracking and reporting participant outcomes. m. Whether the local area in which the eligible provider is located has a demonstrated need for additional English language acquisition programs and civics education programs. You will need to describe the need of having English Language Acquisition and Civic Education program in the area you are wanting to serve. Is there a strong need? How do you justify whether there is a need or not? Have you done an environmental scan to look at what the demand is in the counties you are requesting to serve? Note: you are not required to have English language acquisition programs or civic education programs, you must however address this criteria.