Greetings, The thesis of my presentation at this year s California Adult Education Administrators (CAEAA) Conference was that the imprecise and inconsistent nature of the statute authorizing adult education s ten areas (EC 41976), allowed imprudent (though legal), use of taxpayer dollars; which in-turn resulted in relegation to Tier Three flexibility and the wholesale closure of programs. At a subsequent meeting of the CAEAA Board, I agreed to draft a re-write of 41976 that would align with the recommendations I presented in Long Beach. What follows is a fulfillment of that commitment. Ed Morris Executive Director Division of Adult and Career Education Los Angeles Unified School District
Draft With Edits March 28, 2011 1 8500 Legislative findings and intent The Legislature finds and declares that adult continuing education is essential to the mutual interests of the state and its adult residents seeking to attain or sustain economic self-sufficiency. (a) The legislature further finds and declares that adult residents who are beyond the age of compulsory education, but not academically prepared for success in post-secondary or community college, are entitled to quality publicly supported adult continuing education opportunities focusing on fundamental academics and associated skills necessary for long-term participation in the workforce and for entry into credit bearing college level courses. (b) The Legislature further finds and declares that the specific terminal objective of adult continuing education s academic programs shall be valid twelfth grade, ninth month (12.9) skills in: Reading; Writing; Mathematics; and Digital Literacy. (c) The Legislature further finds and declares that the specific terminal objective of adult continuing education s career technical education programs shall include both: (1) the grade level skills requisite for success in the trade being studied and (2) demonstrated competency in job-specific skills. 41976 Adult Education; authorized classes and courses: apportionment (a) For purposes of this chapter adult academic, workforce preparation civic courses and classes are authorized to be offered by school districts and county superintendents of schools. (b) No state apportionment for courses or classes within sections (d,1; d,2; or d,3) below shall be made to any unified or high school district or county superintendent of schools without approval by their local school board and annually approved by the Department (c) Participants must be determined by a California Department of Education Department-approved assessment to have the prerequisite reading, math and technological skills necessary for successful completion of the specific adult education academic and occupational sequence in which he or she wishes to enroll.
2 (d) Authorized courses and classes include: (1) Adult Basic and Secondary Academics required to required to successfully participate in Community College programs and in the workforce. A) Adult Basic Academics: (1) Courses of instruction in Basic Skills shall be developed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction in compliance with section 52655. B) Adult Secondary Academics (1) Courses of instruction in Secondary Academics may include those courses specified in Section 51225.3 as high school graduation requirements C) Courses of instruction in Basic Skills and Secondary Academics shall: (i) be college and career preparatory in content (ii) assist participants in reaching the academic level of 12.9 in: (a) Language Arts: Reading, Writing. (b) Mathematics: Algebra I, Geometry, Statistics, Data Analysis, Probability. (c) Digital Literacy: Access, analyze synthesize and evaluate, information from a variety of sources; and use technology to identify and solve complex problems in real world contexts. (d) meet or exceed the rigor of the content standards adopted by the State Board of Education
3 (2) English as a Second Language (ESL): required to successfully participate in Adult Academic and job specific training programs. A) Adult Education ESL courses of instruction shall: (i) be developed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction in compliance with section 52655. (ii) consist of Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced levels of instruction which integrate seamlessly into Adult Academics (iii) be college and career preparatory in content (iv) parallel the core curriculum standards for English language arts adopted by the state board of education. (3) Career Technical Education (CTE): required to attain or sustain economic self-sufficiency through participation in the workforce. A) Adult Education career technical courses shall: (i) provide job specific training and requisite academic skills (ii) meet a documented labor market demand. (iii) not represent unnecessary duplication of other job skills training programs in the area. (iv) demonstrate effectiveness as measured by the completion rates of participants. (v) meet or exceed the rigor of the content standards adopted by the State Board of Education. (vi) be reviewed every two years by the governing body to assure compliance with (i) through (v) above.
4 (4) Citizenship and Civic Engagement: including specialized courses focusing on Citizenship, issues of aging; health and financial literacy; transitioning disabled adults into self-reliant and productive and effective community members; parenting and family literacy skills. A) Districts may provide civic engagement and other locally determined community interest classes, courses and programs when such activities are supported by fees levied on participants. (i) Fees generated by locally determined community interest classes, courses and programs shall be deposited in a separate fund of the school district and shall be expended only for locally determined community interest classes. (ii) No locally determined community interest classes, courses or programs shall directly or indirectly encroach upon adult continuing education apportionments generated by participants attending state-funded programs. e) To collect revenue from the adult education fund and to calculate adult continuing education apportionments, the following must take place: (1) The Department s Adult Education Office shall monitor Adult Education program performance statewide using web-enabled computer systems that provide enrollment, attendance and student progress data, and identify opportunities to provide guidance and assistance for program improvement at the local level. (2) Local Education Agencies shall enter CDE-stipulated Adult Education data elements into on-site client terminals of the statewide Adult Student Information System.
5 (3) Eligibility for adult continuing education apportionments shall be dependent upon the LEA generating 15% of its attendance through online instruction. No adult continuing education apportionments shall be earned for on-line instruction. (4) Specified academic skills shall be measured and validated by a disinterested third-party using nationally recognized assessments. Statistical sampling shall not be an appropriate methodology in determining participant or program successes. Each participant shall be individually assessed and reported for apportionment purposes. (5) Each participant may generate a maximum of five adult continuing education apportionments while enrolled in Adult Basic Education. A) The participant generates increments of twenty-five percent of one adult continuing education apportionment for each increase of one grade level of proficiency in reading and one for mathematics. B) The participant generates increments of an additional fifty percent of one adult continuing education apportionment when the participant s reading proficiency and mathematics proficiency is assessed at or above the ninth grade level. (6) Each participant may generate a maximum of five adult continuing education apportionments while enrolled in Adult Secondary Education. A) The participant generates increments of fifty percent of one adult continuing education apportionment for each increase of 1 grade level of proficiency in language arts and one for mathematics. B) The participant generates increments of an additional fifty percent of one adult continuing education apportionment when the participant s language arts proficiency or mathematics proficiency is assessed at or above 12.9 grade level.
6 (7) Each participant may generate a maximum of three adult continuing education apportionments in ESL. A) The participant generates one continuing education apportionment for each increase of one level of proficiency in ESL. (8) The participant shall generate a maximum of three adult continuing education apportionments in Career Technical Education and entry level employment. A) The participant generates adult continuing education apportionments, in twenty-five percent increments, each time the participant demonstrates mastery of twenty-five percent of the criterion objectives contained in each course in the occupational sequence. 99