Narrative Report | National Reporting System

State Leadership Funds (Adult education and family literacy act Section 223 (AEFLA))

Describe how the State has used funds made available under section 223 (State Leadership activities) for each the following:

AEFLA Section 223(1)(a)

Alignment of adult education and literacy activities with other one-stop required partners to implement the strategies in the Unified or Combined State Plan as described in section 223(1)(a)

NC, Title ll State Director is a member of the NC Workforce Commission, NC’s state workforce board. We meet quarterly and monthly in our respective committees. Title ll is on the Skills and Education Attainment Committee and is co-leading a subcommittee to review and assess NC Workforce Board’s, NC Certified Career Pathways. The goal is to align the NC Certified Career Pathways programs to work effectively across workforce partners. Work to date includes a review of outcomes and meetings with local workforce boards to gain an understanding of how the career pathways are accessed by job seekers and core partner participants. In addition, the committee worked to secure a NC Evaluation grant to analyze data, outcomes and gaps.

AEFLA Section 223(1)(b)

Establishment or operation of a high-quality professional development programs as described in section 223(1)(b)

Since 2012, one of the main activities of the NC College & Career Readiness Professional Development Team has been to offer a credentialing system designed to instruct adult education teachers across the state in the latest research-based best practices. During the 2021 -2022 program year, we offered three certifications, the Core Credential, ASE Language Arts, and ASE Mathematics. All three credentials were offered 100% at a distance in the CCR Moodle portal which is offered through a collaborative relationship with the NCCC System Virtual Learning Community. The Core Credential introduces students to the essential components of reading and up-to-date research-based methods for teaching literacy to adult students.

During the program year 2020-2021, the professional development team focused on digital equity, improving instruction in ABE, ESL, and IELCE programs, training on ADVANSYS, NC’s new data management system, and IELCE program management. For the first time, NC was able to purchase state software licenses for 231 and 243 providers. NorthStar Digital Literacy was purchased for all Title II providers and BurlingtonEnglish was purchased for all IELCE providers. Nine webinars were offered for each software program to ensure that all instructors understood the ins and outs of the software.

We emphasized the benefits to all students of earning NorthStar credentials, while we strongly encouraged all 243 providers to use BurlingtonEnglish for two or three of the required IELCE activities to ease one of the major barriers for students of participating in an IELCE program – the sheer amount of time required each week. We also offered regional training on building an IELCE program by utilizing distance education in a training entitled, Distance Learning and IELCE: A Paradigm Shift.

In August 2020, we sent a cohort of nine instructors to the national OCTAE-funded training institute, Standards-In-Action Virtual Institute on Implementing Standards-Based Instruction for English Language Learners. To encourage standards-based instruction, we replicated the virtual institute during March of 2021 for a cohort of twenty-four NC instructors. Three of the instructors who attended the national training served as State Coaches. Matthew Brown served as the lead on this intensive project, which was well-attended and well-received. We intend to continue to offer the Standards-In-Action Virtual Institute during future program years.

In early June, regional training focused on rethinking workflows as we transitioned from one data management system to ADVANSYS. Realizing programs would need revised data workflow, we offered training, Colleague to ADVANSYS: Reworking the Flow. Later in June, we also offered seventeen how-to topical workshops on utilizing ADVANSYS.

Below are the credentials awarded by NC and the number of credentials earned during the 2021-2022 program year:

NC Credentials	Credentials Awarded
CORE	79
Adult Secondary Education: Math	16
Adult Secondary Education: Language Arts	10
TOTAL	105

In the fall of 2020, to disseminate local best practices and information about models and promising practices in adult ed programs, we began producing a monthly newsletter sent to all Title II providers in North Carolina. The publication of the monthly newsletter has become a major activity of the CCR Professional Development team and has become the preferred platform for the state team to communicate important information to the field.

Each issue contains a letter from the State Director, student success stories from North Carolina Title II programs, upcoming professional development opportunities, updates from each office in the Title II unit, and, most importantly, each issue highlights a research-based best practice for adult education instructors, frequently submitted by local Title II providers.

In addition to the credentials awarded through the NC College & Career Readiness Professional Development Office, and the creation of the monthly Title II newsletter, state leadership has provided many trainings and PD opportunities that were offered via webinar. A summary of those webinars is provided below:

In July of 2021:
- On July 15, we offered our fifth installment in the EBRI webinars: Evidence Based Reading Instruction: Guided Reading and Fluency.
In August of 2021:
- On August 3, in order to offer continued support for digital literacy instruction for adult ed students, we offered, Building Digital Literacy for Learners in CCR. This webinar highlighted innovative best practices from several NC Title II providers.
- On August 25, we virtually held our annual Title II Program Year Kickoff. This was an all-day event. Because it was the start of a new four-year 231 grant period, we focused on in-depth interpretations of the Thirteen Considerations and the practical application of them in local programs.
In October of 2021:
- On October 14 we virtually held our annual IELCE Program Year Kickoff. This was also an all-day event. During the event the freshly written IELCE Manual was taught by the IELCE subject matter experts from Reading Connections, Inc. Reading Connections Inc, was contracted by State Leadership to create the IELCE Manual, provide training on the manual, and offer targeted and individualized technical assistance to all thirty-one IELCE providers.
In November of 2021:
- On November 4, we presented Collaborating with Your Workforce Development Board Roundtable Discussion Webinar. The webinar was led by Dalanda Bond, state leadership team SME on LWDBs. Several Title II program directors joined her to share their best practices on working with LWDBs.
- On November 4, in order to support and offer guidance to approximately twenty new Title II directors, we held the first of five virtual sessions of our New Title II Directors’ Orientation Series. This was the second year that we offered the New Directors’ Orientation virtually.
- On November 18, we offered the second webinar in the series of New Title II Directors’ Orientation webinars.
- Between November 8 - 29, we offered seven sessions on best practices on utilizing NorthStar Digital Literacy software in Title II programs in North Carolina. These webinars were provided by Theresa Sladek, Northstar National Professional Development Facilitator. The state leadership team purchased NorthStar licenses for all Title II providers in NC. This training was rolled out with the new licenses in combination with an additional allocation for all Title II providers to identify a Digital Literacy Navigator at every Title II location in North Carolina. Network
In December of 2021:
- On December 1 & 2, we offered two more webinars on NorthStar Digital Literacy, concluding our nine-webinar NorthStar series.
- On December 2, we offered the third webinar in the series of New Title II Directors’ Orientation webinars.
- On December 6, we offered a webinar focused on improving distance learning entitled, Using Intelliboard to Count Time in Moodle. This webinar was led by Lane Freeman, PhD, NCCCS Director of Online Learning and showcased distance learning best practices utilized by Ivana Hansen, the Title II director at Nash Community College.
In January of 2022:
- On January 13, we offered the fourth webinar in the series of New Title II Directors’ Orientation webinars.
- On January 27, we offered the fifth and final webinar in the series of New Title II Directors’ Orientation webinars.
- On January 31, we offered the Digital Navigator Network Training Webinar in order to onboard and orient the recently hired Digital Navigators across the state.

In February of 2022:
- On February 8, in preparation for rolling out our New Director Mentoring Program, we offered Mentoring Training, an invitation-only training for those seasoned directors who had been identified and agreed to serve as mentors for new Title II directors.
In March of 2022:
- From 2:00 – 4:00 on every Tuesday and Thursday in March (ten sessions), we offered the Standards-In-Action Virtual Institute on Implementing Standards-Based Instruction for English Language Learners to a cohort of twenty-four NC ELL instructors. This initiative was led by Matthew Brown and three state coaches from local programs.
- On March 28 we offered three regional sessions of IELCE and Distance Learning: A Paradigm Shift. This training was designed to encourage IELCE providers to rethink how they offer IELCE programming and to consider offering some of the required activities via distance learning. This webinar was designed and presented by Daniel Loges.
- On March 30, we offered the first of nine webinars on utilizing BurlingtonEnglish in IELCE programs. These webinars were provided by Lori Wedner, Sheryl Jett, and Heyward Gignilliat, BurlingtonEnglish trainers. The state leadership team purchased BurlingtonEnglish licenses for all 243 programs in NC.

In April of 2022:
- Throughout April we offered the remaining eight webinars on utilizing BurlingtonEnglish in IELCE programs.
In May of 2022:
- On May 16, we offered the IELCE End-of-Year Data Double Check to offer guidance to IELCE programs on accurately entering their IELCE data into our data management system in order to receive credit for every MSG. This session was presented by Jessica Rieger.

- On May 23, Michael Tilley presented the annual Assessment Manual Update Webinar.

- On May 26, Michael Tilley along with members of the Adult High School Advisory Committee presented the Adult High School Manual Overview Webinar.
- On May 31, Jessica Rieger presented three small-group webinars on Colleague to ADVANSYS: Reworking the Flow. These webinars were designed to help providers think through how processes currently done in Colleague will now be done in our new data management system, ADVANSYS.
In June of 2022:
- On June 1, Jessica Rieger presented three more small-group webinars on Colleague to ADVANSYS: Reworking the Flow.
- On June 7 – 9, we offered seventeen how-to topical training webinars on ADVANSYS. These webinars were taught by ADVANSYS staff. Topics included PoPs & MSGs, Entering Students, Orientation, Class Sections, Managing Users, and Running Reports, etc.During program year 2021-2022, we released one new on-demand professional development training. The IELCE Certification Training was developed by contract with the Center of Excellence for ELL Workforce Development at Reading Connections, Inc. and hosted in the Title II Moodle Portal at the NCCC Virtual Learning Community. Below are the certificates awarded to NC Title II instructors and directors for completing our on-demand trainings during the 2021-2022 program year:

On-Demand Training	Completers
Introduction to Title II Performance	112
Conquering Your Data Challenges	5
Post-Exit Primary Performance Indicators	37
The LEIS Form Training	126
The IELCE Certification Training	77
TOTAL	357

Also during program year 2021-2022 North Carolina sent cohorts of participants to attend three intensive national training initiatives funded by OCTAE.

In August of 2021, nine North Carolina Instructors participated in the Standards-In-Action Virtual Institute on Implementing Standards-Based Instruction for English Language Learners.
September 2021 – June 2022, six North Carolina instructors participated in the Teaching Skills that Matter cohort.
January 2022 – May 2022, forty North Carolina instructors participated in the LINCS Targeted Technical Assistance: Serving All Students webinar series.

AEFLA Section 223(1)(c)

Provision of technical assistance to funded eligible providers as described in section 223(1)(c)

The North Carolina Community College’s College and Career Readiness department uses Federal state leadership funding to support technical assistance and professional development activities for sixty-six WIOA Title II-funded providers.

Grant Representatives – Each of the providers is assigned a regional grant representative who conducts monthly meetings with providers. The regions are aligned with North Carolina’s Prosperity Zones that facilitate economic development planning and respond to economic growth opportunities for communities. Monthly, thematic grant representative meetings provide leadership a venue for disseminating information, sharing best practices, and responding to providers in a Q&A session.
Career Pathways – A full-time Director of Career Pathways provides technical assistance and guidance as providers identify, develop, and implement career pathways and IETs in their service areas and schedule and facilitate IET networking meetings among providers and partners.
College and Career Readiness Newsletter - A thematic, electronic newsletter is published each month and includes best instructional practices, provider/student success stories, and professional development opportunities. This also provides leadership with an opportunity to disseminate programmatic information.

Professional development opportunities that increase the capacity of instructors and programs to provide quality instruction in reading, writing, speaking, mathematics, English language acquisition, and distance education through Standards in Action, Teaching Skills that Matter, CORE credential, ASE Language Arts, and ASE Math.
Integration of Technology – Statewide access for NorthStar Digital Literacy allowing providers to integrate digital literacy instruction and assessment into the program(s) of study.
On-demand courses related to non-instructional topics such as Title II Performance and Accountability and Conquering Your Data Challenges, may be found on the website at: https://www.nccommunitycolleges.edu/college-and-career-readiness.
Systemwide Data Management training – Providing resources and training for programs to use data and technology for greater accountability and program improvement.
Developed and disseminated resources – North Carolina Assessment Manual, Adult High School Implementation Guide, Title II Provider’s Guide and College and career Readiness Manual, Career Ready Implementation Guide, NC Distance Learning Manual

AEFLA Section 223(1)(d)

Monitoring and evaluation of the quality and improvement of adult education activities as described in section 223(1)(d)

During the 2021-22 program year, the North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS), Office of Adult Education conducted a combination of virtual comprehensive monitoring and virtual continuous fiscal and programmatic monitoring. All Title II funded programs were monitored via the Learning Management System, Moodle. A total of 11 programs engaged in the virtual comprehensive monitoring sessions. Additionally, a total of 69 providers engaged in the monthly continuous fiscal and programmatic monitoring.

Risk Assessment Information

Prior to setting the schedule for monitoring, each year the NCCCS, Office of Adult Education conducts a comprehensive Title II Risk Assessment on providers. The risk assessment is used as an instrument to determine each provider’s level of risk regarding non-compliance with Title II funds. To ensure an equitable and objective selection process, providers were selected to participate in the virtual comprehensive monitoring based upon the results derived from their program’s risk assessment. If the program scored at least a total of 20 on their risk assessment, the provider was selected to engage in virtual comprehensive monitoring. Providers were assessed on the following criteria:

New Director (3 years or less)

MSG percentage

Time since last monitoring

New WIOA grantee

Budget Expenditures

NCCCS Virtual Monitoring

All comprehensive monitoring session dates were announced via email August 2022. This period allowed providers at least 90 business days to prepare and submit the required documentation for their impending monitoring session. Selected providers engaged in two-day virtual monitoring sessions from March-April 2022. Furthermore, due to COVID-19 protocols and restrictions, providers were required to participate in comprehensive monitoring completely at a distance. Facilitating monitoring completely at a distance was a new protocol introduced to providers, hence, the NCCCS, Office of Adult Education set the monitoring dates to allow time to provide ample technical assistance to providers.

To provide holistic fiscal and programmatic support, selected providers participated in a multitude of pre-monitoring activities. Providers were required to attend a two-hour statewide monitoring webinar and engage in pre-monitoring meetings. During the statewide monitoring webinar, programs were provided with information about the purpose of the Title II Virtual Comprehensive Monitoring. Also, members of the NCCCS, Office of Adult Education team reviewed the expectations and requirements of the upcoming comprehensive monitoring sessions. Per the monitoring webinar, providers were monitored and reviewed based upon the following criteria:

Ensure local providers meet the WIOA, Title II, Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) requirements,

Improve the quality of Federally funded activities,

Provide programs with assistance in identifying and resolving Title II accountability problems,

Ensure the accuracy, validity, and reliability of data collection and data reporting as well as policies and procedures for program accountability.

Furthermore, providers that were selected for comprehensive virtual monitoring were provided with a detailed Title II Monitoring Procedures Manual. During the statewide monitoring webinar, members of the Office of Adult Education provided an in-depth overview of the contents of manual. Please see the link for the Title II Monitoring Procedures Manual: Monitoring Procedures Manual. Also, during the statewide webinar programs were provided an in-depth tutorial regarding how to use the Title II Monitoring Checklist document.

Upon completion of the statewide monitoring webinar, providers that were selected for virtual comprehensive monitoring were responsible for submitting both fiscal and programmatic evidence for one grant. Per the Title II Monitoring Procedures Manual, providers were required to upload all monitoring documents via Moodle 10 days prior to their agency’s selected monitoring date. For example, if a provider had all three grants (231, 225, and 243), the provider was only selected to engage in comprehensive monitoring for one of the three grants. To ensure validity and fidelity, the providers were monitored using a comprehensive checklist. Please see below the checklist utilized to monitoring the providers: Title II Monitoring Checklist(s) 231, 243 and 225.

Providers that engaged in comprehensive monitoring for the 231 Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA), were reviewed based upon the 13 Considerations.

To ensure accurate review of fiscal and programmatic evidence, the 13 Considerations were divided into five modules.

Please see module breakdown below:

Module 1-Instruction

Module 2-Program Practices

Module 3-Data and Performance Accountability

Module 4- Partnerships

Module 5-Financial Management

Additionally, providers that engaged in comprehensive monitoring for the 243 Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education (IELCE) grant, were reviewed based upon the 13 Considerations and the IELCE program requirements. To ensure accurate review of programmatic evidence, the IELCE module was divided into six modules. Please see module breakdown below:

Program Participants and Services

Instructional Programs

Integrated Education and Training

IELCE Civics Education

Workforce Prep Activities

Professional Development

Moreover, providers that engaged in comprehensive monitoring for the 225 Corrections Education grant, were reviewed based upon the 13 Considerations and the Corrections Education program requirements. To ensure accurate review of programmatic evidence, the Corrections Education module was divided into four modules. Please see module breakdown below:

Adult Education and Literacy Services

Post-Release and Transition Services

Integrated Education and Training

Instructor Professional Development

Upon completion of the virtual comprehensive monitoring sessions, providers were required to engage in a one-hour post monitoring meeting. During the post-monitoring meeting, members of the Office of Adult Education discussed commendations, recommendations, and findings. Local programs were encouraged to allow pertinent members of their Title II team to participate in the post-monitoring meeting. Additionally, local providers were encouraged to invite their leadership team to participate in the post-monitoring meeting. By allowing a diverse audience to participate in the post-monitoring meetings, this cultivated broad programmatic conversations.

Upon review of the submitted evidence for all three grant(s), members of the NCCCS adult education team were required to document findings, recommendations, and the exact type of evidence submitted for evaluation. All Title II monitoring reports were developed based upon a team consensus. Each monitoring team consisted of a Subject Matter Expert (SME) for instruction, performance accountability, compliance, and management. Upon completion of the reports, all documents were reviewed and approved by the NCCCS, Title II Assistant State Director. All providers that engaged in virtual comprehensive monitoring received their official monitoring memorandum, monitoring report, and Corrective Action Plan within 60 business days of their agency’s official monitoring session.

Corrective Action Plan(s)

Of the 11 providers that engaged in comprehensive virtual monitoring, approximately eight of the providers were placed on Corrective Action Plans. A total of five programs were placed on Corrective Action Plans for the 231 AEFLA grant award. A total of two programs were placed on a Corrective Action Plan for the 225 Corrections Education Federal award. Moreover, only one provider was placed on a Corrective Action Plan for the 243 IELCE grant award.

Providers that were placed on Corrective Action Plans were required to submit written responses via Moodle within 30 business days of receipt of their agency’s final monitoring report. Additionally, upon receipt of the written responses’ members of the NCCCS, Office of Adult Education reviewed the proposed timelines for remedying the issues. Furthermore, providers that were placed on Corrective Action Plans were required to engage in monthly meetings with members of the NCCCS, Office of Adult Education Compliance Team. The monthly Corrective Action Plan meetings were set to last up to 180 days from the initial Corrective Action Plan communication. The purpose of the monthly meetings was to ensure that providers understood the requirements of their agency’s Corrective Action Plans. Additionally, the Corrective Action Plan meetings served as an apparatus to provide in-depth technical assistance and analysis of the program materials. For example, team members from the NCCCS, Office of Adult Education dedicated countless hours to providing holistic technical assistance around content standard aligned lesson plans. Per the requirements of the Corrective Action Plan, providers that received a required action regarding lesson planning were required to submit new lesson plans that met the requirements of the state office. This activity required a great amount of coaching and scaffolding as needed to ensure that students were receiving adequate instruction. Currently, 75% of the Corrective Action Plans have been remedied and officially closed by the NCCCS, Office of Adult Education. Both the local program director and the Title II Assistant State Director signed all closed Corrective Action Plans. At this time, 25% of the programs that were placed on Corrective Action Plans are working to remedy the identified issues by January 2023.

Continuous Fiscal and Programmatic Monitoring

To ensure that providers remain compliant with Title II fiscal and programmatic regulations, each provider is required to submit documentation monthly. Programs engaged in programmatic monitoring from July 1, 2021- June 30, 2022. During the 2021-22 program year, community colleges were required to submit an XDBR (Monthly Department Budget Report) for each grant and Time and Effort Reports. Community-Based Organizations were required to submit their agency’s Request for Reimbursement (ROR) and Time and Effort Reports. For the Continuous Fiscal and Programmatic Monitoring, all documents were submitted by the 15^th of the month.

Upon receipt of the documents from the Title II funded providers, members of the NCCCS, Office of Adult Education Compliance Team hand reviewed each document. Specifically, the XDBR and RORs were hand calculated and reviewed for accuracy. If there were any questions, and or discrepancies with the submitted information, a member of the NCCCS, Compliance Team would reach out to providers to remedy the issue. Furthermore, on an as needed basis, NCCCS, Office of Adult Education Compliance Team members provided one-to-one technical assistance sessions regarding providers’ fiscal and programmatic documents. The one-to-one meetings allowed space for providers to ask questions that were specific about their program.

Furthermore, the one-to-one meetings provided more context regarding additional professional development that may be required to support programs. For example, during the 2021-22 program year, many of the Community-Based Organizations had questions about completing Requests for Reimbursement. Subsequently, a fiscal training was established to support the CBOs and answer any questions related to submitting an accurate Request for Reimbursement.

Time and Effort reports were hand calculated and reviewed by members of the NCCCS, Office of Adult Education. Again, if discrepancies were found with the Time and Effort documentation, a member of the state would reach out to remedy the issue. Furthermore, because there were various questions about Time and Effort reporting, a statewide online webinar was facilitated to support programs. During the statewide online webinar, providers were allowed the opportunity to ask specific scenario-based questions that applied to exclusively to their programs.

Please note, a shared list of providers that are identified for comprehensive monitoring are maintained on a secure drive only accessible by NCCCS, Office of Adult Education staff members. Upon completion of both the comprehensive and continuous monitoring sessions all information is stored via the Moodle site for five program years. Additionally, a shared list is maintained regarding programs that did not comply with the requirements of the Continuous Fiscal and Programmatic Monitoring.

AEFLA Section 223(a)(2)

As applicable, describe how the State has used funds for additional permissible activities described in section 223(a)(2)

Digital Equity

During the 2021-22 program year, the NCCCS Title II office continued its ongoing work to provide the opportunity for adult learners to increase their access to digital tools and skills. The office’s ongoing Digital Literacy Project entered its third phase with the introduction of the Digital Navigator Network (DNN). The DNN provided participating Title II programs with grant monies that allowed them to hire or appoint a digital navigator. The digital navigator would be available to provide adult learners with the three vital components of full participation in a digital society: access to affordable devices, access to affordable Broadband connectivity, and access to digital skills. Participant programs were also required to offer at least one of the two digital skills classes that had been developed for North Carolina’s Title II programs: Transition Digital Skills and Transition Digital Applications. Including these classes in the DNN program ensured that adult learners had a place to learn necessary skills for the 21^st century workplace and classroom. Additionally, adult learners who took these courses had the opportunity to earn micro-credentials from Northstar Digital Literacy to demonstrate that they had truly gained the relevant knowledge and skills for each unit of the class. 43 of North Carolina’s 69 Title II providers participated in the DNN project; these 43 providers served adult learners in 77 out of 100 counties across the state, 73 of these being underserved rural counties. Throughout the duration of the project, 1,132 adult learners were served in classes and in digital navigation case work. Aside from the quantitative effects of the project, positive outcomes included the creation of a document that identified national, state, and local-level resources for addressing digital needs and a statewide license for Northstar Digital Literacy that allowed all Title II programs in North Carolina to offer the digital skills classes and assess adult learners’ digital literacy. NCCCS’s Title II office is continuing its work to promote digital equity across the state.

North Carolina became the first state whose governor established an Office of Digital Equity and Literacy, and the Title II office has begun working with that office as part of a team of stakeholders to plan for digital equity activities across the state. The Title II office looks forward to future opportunities, such as collaborating on the application for BEAD funding for North Carolina.

Performance Data Analysis

Describe how the adult education program performed in the overall assessment of core programs based on the core indicators of performance. Discuss how the assessment was used to improve quality and effectiveness of the funded eligible providers and any plans to further increase performance in future reporting years.

For PY 2021-22, the COVID pandemic continued to have an adverse impact on North Carolina's MSG rates and negatively impacted the enrollment numbers of participants throughout the state. Pre-COVID, the State of North Carolina’s participant enrollment was 41,261 (PY 2019-20). During PY 2021-22, participant enrollment was 37,742. However, this is a significant increase over PY 2020-21 where the state had only 31,309 participants. Participant enrollment increased 21% for PY 2021-22 which is most encouraging for our state, providers, and students.

Pre-COVID, the State of North Carolina saw continuous improvement with measurable skill gains (MSGs): PY 2016-17: 35.48%; PY 2017-18: 39.89%; PY 2018-19: 44.88%. During the pandemic the state’s MSG rates dropped significantly: PY 2019-20: 33.9% and PY 2020-21: 36.8%. North Carolina’s MSG target for PY 2021-22 was 43.6% and the state reached a final MSG of 43% which exceeds PY 2021-22 and builds confidence that the state will exceed the current PY 2022-23 MSG target of 43.6% by June 30, 2023.

ABE/ASE

Our aggregate Adult Basic Education (ABE) and Adult Secondary Education (ASE) levels overall fell below the 43.6% target for PY 2021-22 with a performance of 38% and 42% respectively. All ABE levels except for ABE Level 6 (50.3%) fell below their targets of 43.6%. Most MSGs were achieved by pre and post-tests, followed by high school equivalency diplomas and post-secondary enrollment.

ESL

Our aggregate English as a Second Language (ESL) levels well exceeded the state’s target of 43.6% for PY 2021-22 with a performance of 49.5%. ESL levels 1 through 5 surpassed the 43.6% target rate (51.7%, 57.9%, 55%, 48.2%, 47.8% respectively). Our only shortfall occurred at ESL level 6 with a performance rate of 38.8%. Most MSGs were achieved by pre and post-test EFL gains, followed by enrollment into post-secondary education after exit.

Combined Program Performance

Factoring in periods of participation (POP) for PY 2021-22, our overall MSGs were 43% which was a 5% point increase over the prior program year’s 38% performance but fell just shy of our 43.6% target. The state’s participant population for ABE/ASE was approximately 61% and ESL accounted for 39% of our participants. The number of participants in all ABE/ASE levels increased from the prior program year by 1,716 participants. Across all ESL levels, participants increased by 4,717 over PY 2020-21.

Over the past several program years, North Carolina has worked to customize and enhance our student information system database to include views of all NRS tables and to make data more easily accessible for programs. Part of this programming included the creation of additional tools and reports to aid providers in proactively monitoring and understanding their data and performance. The state provides monthly feedback, routine training sessions and open office hours throughout the year with a focus on data quality and performance improvement. The state has developed Power BI data dashboards, which allow providers to pull data to create specific data reports for programs to analyze to help identify potential problems and or to resolve problem. The Power BI data dashboards were developed to extend the functionality of the North Carolina Community College System’s (NCCCS) Performance Dashboards presented through Tableau. Within the Power BI dashboards providers can use the detailed student-level views of data that are submitted monthly to the NCCCS Data Warehouse to monitor their programs performance and outcome measures. Moreover, the State Office utilizes their statewide view of the Power BI dashboards to monitor (monthly) state performance, as well as monitoring individual providers for potential technical assistance needs throughout the program year.

We are currently in the implementation phase for the new Adult Education and Literacy state MIS, ADVANSYS by Benchmark. For PY 2021-22 the state’s 58 community colleges were in the beginning stages of transitioning to the new MIS system. (The state’s 10 community-based organization, Title II providers successfully transitioned to ADVANSYS in December of 2020. The new MIS system will incorporate NRS measures using common definitions and categories. NRS tables will calculate accurately to include error checks and prevent double counting with the new state MIS. For PY 2021-22, the State Office provided biweekly ADVANSYS sprints through the Agile method of project development and management. Weekly cohort meetings for colleges first identified to convert to ADVANSYS were held for the second half of the program year and will continue through PY 2022-23 as more cohorts are onboarded. Moreover, the State Office ADVANSYS team, comprised of state staff representatives from Adult Education & Literacy, Business Systems Analysts, Research and Performance Management and Information Technology meet daily with the vendor to ensure accuracy in reporting and data management as the product is customized and finalized to meet the needs to North Carolina.

During PY 2021-22, to address areas of weak performance, state staff members conducted webinars and training sessions focused on data, performance, and instruction. Specific technical assistance was offered to individual programs who were not meeting data reporting deadlines and or performance outcomes. The State Office also continued the services of the Center of Excellence for Adult Education (CEAEP) to provide professional development and technical assistance projects to providers on improving their performance. Some of the professional development and technical assistance provided focused on performance and accountability, post-exit indicators, conquering their data challenges, and tools and strategies to increase their overall MSG rates. During the 2021-22 program year, state staff provided monthly virtual statewide meetings with providers to provide important guidance/policy updates and resources for programs regarding the development of data performance dashboards and Power BI data views.

Integration with One-stop Partners

Describe how the State eligible agency, as the entity responsible for meeting one-stop requirements under 34 CFR part 463, subpart J, carries out or delegates its required one-stop roles to eligible providers. Describe the applicable career services that are provided in the one-stop system. Describe how infrastructure costs are supported through State and local options.

Title II works with the NC Council of Workforce Development Board Directors to promote better integration of services at NC Works centers. In previous program years, training was offered to Title II providers on ways to coordinate services with local NC Works. The NC Community College system office retains its emphasis on the integration of services through webinars and trainings. The NC Community College System office continues to offer access to webinars on demand that define ways for Title II providers to utilize local one-stop partners to increase enrollment such as “Reaching Hard to Reach Students” and “Enrollment Support Roundtable”. The “Memorandum of Understanding” (MOU) Training was created to aid providers in understanding the agreement between NC Works One-Stop partners and Title II providers, identifying required partners, and working with partners in the MOU negotiation process. Roughly 90% of Title II programs have participated in this training.

Title II providers also continue to have access to NC Works Training Center’s webinars “Integrated Service Delivery”, “WIOA and the One Stop Center”, and “WIOA Partner Agencies & Organizations” via the NC Works Training Center site. Additionally, providers can attend the Labor Market Information (LMI) webinars sponsored by North Carolina Department of Commerce (Title III) every first and third Tuesday of the month. These webinars connect workforce, economic development, and education system partners.

To aid in fostering relationships and ensure continuous interactions, Gilda Rubio-Festa, State Director of Title II, delegated authority to local providers to negotiate and sign the MOU between (American Job Centers) NC Works One-Stop partners and local Title ll providers. This practice allows for greater coordination among Title II, workforce development boards, WIOA required partners, and area partners essential in the success of the local one-stop centers. Furthermore, workforce development board directors have been added to Title II’s College & Career Readiness newsletter mailing list. This two-way effort allows workforce development board directors to stay informed of Title II programs with an option of submitting relevant material for inclusion in the bi-monthly newsletter. Title II maintains a working relationship with one-stop partners concerning infrastructure cost allocation. An infrastructure cost allocation formula is utilized that reflects proportionate cost to benefits received. The infrastructure costs for local NC Works were negotiated by NC Department of Commerce, Division of Workforce Solutions and NC Community College System Office, Title II State Director. The IFA allocation is based on allocation per participant who received staff assisted services. IFAs are reviewed and signed by the Title II State Director annually.

Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education

Describe how the state is using funds under Section 243 to support the following activities under the IELCE program:

IELCE Funds and grants

Describe when your State held a competition [the latest competition] for IELCE program funds and the number of grants awarded by your State to support IELCE programs.

For program year (PY) 2021-22, North Carolina held an open competition for the IELCE award of $1,444,875. Through the RFP process, IELCE federal award sub-grantees were awarded funding for a four-year grant period (2021-25). A total of 31 programs were approved by the North Carolina State Board of Community Colleges. All programs were required to submit a narrative, which included information regarding how they reach out to the target population as specified in the IELCE federal award. Additionally, to ensure that the target population are receiving equitable and fair services, providers were required to engage in professional development opportunities that would strengthen their abilities to provide comprehensive outreach services to target populations as outlined in the IELCE federal award. In PY 2021-22, as reported in Table 9 of the NRS report, 1,219 participants were served using 243 funds with 53% achieving an outcome.

Training activity

Describe your State efforts in meeting the requirement to provide IELCE services in combination with integrated education and training activities;

During the 2021-22 program year, all IELCE providers were required to attend several training sessions with state staff as well as a two-day, in-person IELCE professional development event. In addition, state staff conducted small group and one-on-one meetings with providers throughout the program year to provide high-quality technical assistance, professional development, and curriculum development opportunities to support the full implementation of IETs. Providers were trained on IELCE student and curriculum requirements, curriculum content and creation, as well as developing pre-IET on-ramps for beginning level students. The state has developed a comprehensive career pathway/IET process for the submittal of proposals to the state for approval, as well as an online repository of approved pathways for other providers to pull down and adapt to their local student needs. The state also purchased Burlington English seats for all IELCE providers and offered comprehensive training sessions on how to use the software effectively for English, Civics, and workplace preparation activities across all career clusters. For PY 2021-22 all IELCE providers were required to have an active IET, with a goal of three, or more, by the end of the program year.

We have two pre-IET access points for lower-level students. For proficiency levels 1-2 we could build a career cluster exploration course, based on IET opportunities available to students at our institution. We still have a single learning objective with ELA, civics and workplace preparation activities contextualized to career pathways and IETs, but students are not in the actual IET component yet. This on-ramp boosts specialized English proficiency or other workplace preparation courses that, while not requiring enrollment in IET activities, put students on a path to participating in a workforce training program. Students may spend several semesters in a pre-IET as they increase their vocabulary and gain confidence. For the second access point, we are targeting higher proficiency level students, but these students are still not quite ready to enter the IET component. Here, we can create a specific career cluster course, for example, Intro to Health Sciences, and we may have several IET offerings related to health sciences when students are ready to enter the third access point – the full IELCE IET project.

Moreover, all IET programs developed and offered are based upon rigorous evidence-based research regarding the regional employment needs in their service areas. Providers are required to develop a scope and sequence for lessons that would be used in their IET programs. All providers are required to develop curriculum that is customized for each occupation that providers identified as a high-demand industry. Since PY 2019-20, the North Carolina Adult Education and Literacy Program has developed a Center of Excellence for English Language Learners Workforce Development. The Center of Excellence served as a training and professional development mechanism for programs implementing and facilitating IELCE programs. The overall management of the Center of Excellence was conducted by a state staff member and one of the Title II funded providers. Programs were required to attend monthly calls to discuss their plans and initiatives as it relates to the IELCE program.

IELCE Section 243(c)(1)

Describe how the State is progressing towards program goals of preparing and placing IELCE program participants in unsubsidized employment in in-demand industries and occupations that lead to economic self-sufficiency as described in section 243(c)(1) and discuss any performance results, challenges, and lessons learned from implementing those program goals; and

For PY 2021-22, 17% of IELCE students were employed in the second quarter after exit and 24% were employed in the fourth quarter after exit.

IELCE providers are required to work with their local One-Stop partners to assess regional employment needs and create career pathway and IET opportunities for students based on this assessment. Additionally, programs are required to work with local employers in their area to develop pipelines for employment. All curriculum developed this program year required the use data and information derived from local employers to create content. For example, one of the major regional in-demand careers in the western part of our state is industrial sewing. One of our IELCE providers worked closely with the company’s human resource department to ensure that upon completion of the academic and IET courses, students could be placed in unsubsidized employment. Additionally, many programs offered work-based learning opportunities at employer locations to increase access to programming and recruit students that were already engaged in the high-demand career. North Carolina’s 43 programs conducted a two-prong approach by working with the employers to place new employees in unsubsidized employment and help enhance the skills of employees working at certain employers that would in turn help lead to a promotion and/or wage increase.

Programs, students would be placed into jobs. As previously stated, many funded programs facilitated classes at employer locations to ensure that adult learners had access to programming and hands-on learning. As indicated by providers, the major challenge was getting the employer to support the IELCE program. However, once employers determined that they would receive high-quality future employees, most of the employers supported the program. For example, one of our programs provides courses and IET programming at the local furniture making factory. Furniture making in the western part of the state is a very high-demand career. However, the employer did not have enough skilled workers to fill all the vacant positions. The students engage in the academic content two days per week, and the remainder of the week work on the IET and workforce preparation portion of the program. The program has developed a strong relationship with the furniture making factory, therefore, when students complete the IELCE program they are offered employment.

IELCE Section 243(c)(2)

Describe how the State is progressing towards program goals of ensuring that IELCE program activities are integrated with the local workforce development system and its functions as described in section 243(c)(2) and discuss any performance results, challenges, and lessons learned from implementing those program goals.

In addition to working with local employers, funded providers were required to work with other stakeholders such as their Local Workforce Development Board to determine the need in the area. Programs were required to determine if their role on the Local Workforce Development Board was making a meaningful impact as it pertained to the IELCE program. Additionally, programs worked with local transportation agencies to ensure that students had safe and reliable transportation to class, or the location where the classes were to be facilitated. According to many of the funded providers, most of the IELCE curriculum and IET courses were developed around the appointment requirements of the students enrolled in the program. Many programs worked closely with their local Health and Human Services agencies to ensure that students received adequate wrap around services such as nutrition, childcare, and other subsidies. Programs indicated that by providing holistic services to the student, this helped to ensure that the student would remain engaged in the program.

Adult Education Standards

If your State has adopted new challenging K-12 standards under title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended, describe how your Adult Education content standards are aligned with those K-12 standards.

North Carolina has not adopted any K-12 standards. In 2010, the North Carolina Community College System College and Career Readiness Adult Education Standards were adopted and implemented by all Title II providers in the state. In April 2013, The College and Career Readiness Standards for Adult Education by the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) were introduced. The NCCCS College and Career Readiness Adult Education Standards were aligned to reflect the new OCTAE standards in 2014.

Programs for Corrections Education (AEFLA Section 225)

What was the relative rate of recidivism for criminal offenders served? Please describe the methods and factors used in calculating the rate for this reporting period.

In North Carolina, the recidivism rate is calculated by the Commission and for the fiscal year that allows for the utilization of the Commission’s established fixed two-year lookback period. It is important to note that by statute, recidivism is only calculated every other year, and that rates are presently only calculated for adult offenders released in odd fiscal years.

Below is information regarding the recidivism rate in North Carolina from the Commission’s most recent report in April 2022.

The Correctional Program Evaluation released by the North Carolina Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission, in conjunction with the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice of the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, examined recidivism for Structured Sentencing Act (SSA) offenders who were placed on supervised probation or released from prison in FY 2017 (N=46,090). Recidivism was defined broadly as arrests, convictions, or incarcerations during a fixed two-year follow-up period. The North Carolina General Assembly directed the Sentencing Commission to measure the rates of recidivism of criminal offenders involved in state-supported correctional programs. The legislation calling for these measurements made it clear that recidivism meant repeat criminal behavior, and implied that measuring recidivism was to be a way of evaluating correctional programs and sanctions.

There is no official definition of recidivism. Researchers have used a variety of definitions and measurements, including recidivist arrests, convictions, and incarcerations, depending on their interests and the availability of data. Official records from police, courts, and correctional agencies are the source of most research on adult recidivism. For offenders involved in a recidivism study, different types of records will indicate different rates of recidivism. In its studies of recidivism, the Sentencing Commission uses arrests as the primary measure of recidivism, supplemented by information on convictions and incarcerations, to assess the extent of an offender’s repeat involvement in the criminal justice system. Arrests, as used in this research, consider not only the frequency of repeat offending but also its seriousness and the nature of the victimization (for example, crimes against the person, crimes involving theft or property damage, or crimes involving illegal drugs). The volume of repeat offending is handled by recording the number of arrests for crimes of various types.

The sample selected for the current study included all offenders released from state prison or placed on supervised probation during FY 2019 with some exceptions; offenders with a most serious conviction for Driving While Impaired (DWI), offenders with a most serious conviction for a misdemeanor traffic offense, and offenders released from prison with a misdemeanor conviction were excluded from the study. The final study sample includes 46,094 offenders sentenced under the SSA.

Two automated sources were used to provide comprehensive data on a sample of offenders. The North Carolina Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) Offender Population Unified System (OPUS) was used to identify offenders in the FY 2019 sample and to obtain information on demographic characteristics, offender RNA data, current convicted offense and sentence, 11 correctional sanction and treatment programs, and prior and recidivist probation and incarceration measures. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation’s (SBI) Computerized Criminal History (CCH) system was used to provide fingerprinted arrest records for prior and recidivist arrests, as well as recidivist convictions. The study excluded arrests for impaired driving or other traffic offenses, as well as noncriminal arrests (e.g., arrests for technical violations of probation). Each offender in the FY 2019 sample was followed for a period of two years to determine whether repeat criminal behavior occurred, with one-year and two-year recidivism rates reported. The two-year follow-up period was calculated on an individual basis using the prison release date plus two years for prison releases and using the probation entry date plus two years for probation entries. Of the 47,094 offenders in the FY 2019 sample, 41% had a recidivist arrest during the follow-up two-year period. The pandemic, in March 2020 had an immediate effect on the criminal justice system. The pandemic was not a factor for sample entry (FY2019), it affected the follow-up period.

In 2021-22, we served 1,632 in corrections (65 in jails and 1,567 in prisons). This was 4.3% of the total number of NRS participants (37, 42). In the previous year NC served a total of 1,081 in corrections (152 in jails and 929 in prisons) which was 3.5% of NRS participants (31,309). CCR programs continued to have limited access to correctional facilities in 2021. Title II personnel were prevented from entering the prisons to provide instruction and testing. The System Office allowed providers to continue using approved paper-based Alternative Learning Packet Courses. This was only allowed for instruction in correctional settings.

The NC Community Colleges System Office is continuing to host a section 225 advisory committee to provide guidance on program models.

Narrative Report for North Carolina 2021