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)

Nebraska Adult Education as the State Eligible Agency (SEA) for Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA), Title II of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) provided State Leadership activities in accordance with WIOA Section 223 to eight subrecipients during the 2021-2022 program year. Program Year 2021-2022 marked the first year of services year for the current funding cycle.

Each program year, Nebraska Adult Education reevaluates the needs of provider staff and instructors to ensure state leadership funding is effective in improving all areas of service to adult learners. Student populations have changed dramatically with the influx of migrant populations, many of whom have presented as illiterate in their native languages, therefore training opportunities continue to evolve and adapt.

Nebraska Adult Education has ensured representation on the State Workforce Board by the Adult Education State Director; however, a lack of virtual attendance options made it difficult to actively participate given the ongoing risk of COVID exposure during the program year. During the 2021-2022 program year, Nebraska Adult Education successfully petitioned to have a local program director appointed to two of the three regional workforce boards. This representation provided a seat at the table for inclusive partnering statewide. Greater Nebraska Workforce area has always had adult education representation since WIA was launched. Lincoln and Omaha workforce areas were restrictive and presented reasons why Title II was not allowed to have direct board representation.

Coordination of services and promoting partnerships to better serve adult learners remained a continued focus of Nebraska Adult Education. The State Office staff, as well as local programs continued to collaborate with WIOA partners when feasible to ensure optimal services were being offered to Nebraskans to successfully meet objectives identified in the Combined State Plan.

Referrals to and from WIOA partners were designed to eliminate barriers to student progress and encouraged successful career pathways and transition. Collaboration and cross training enhanced services and minimized duplication. Partnering has expanded integrated education and training opportunities across the state. Remote opportunities enhanced offerings of career services to some areas in which distance had created barriers to accessing services. Partner representation during orientation or adult education classes in select areas ensured that collaborative partnering was felt at the individual student level with wrap around services.

AEFLA Section 223(1)(b)

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

Program Year 2021-2022 was the first year of the new AEFLA funding cycle. Although the eight subrecipients were returning providers, there were additional requirements in the application which necessitated targeted professional development and technical assistance. The Program Year 2021-2022 State Leadership Training Plan outlined the wide selection of professional development opportunities and requirements throughout the program year. Additionally, each local program was required to add a Performance Improvement and Transitions Coordinator to facilitate targeted improvements in all aspects of service delivery. Both the training plan and this key position proved helpful in exceeding our performance goals for the program year.

Supporting adult education instructors with excellent research-based professional development was necessary to aid in the retention of quality instructors, whose work with adult learners directly impacts student retention and performance. Finding the balance of the multiple modalities of providing instruction and empowering instructors to understand and own each method was the focus of many of the offered trainings. Selective training based on participant evaluations as well as programmatic needs identified in monitoring supported optimal outcomes.

Nebraska Adult Education embraced the virtual format for professional development as it most effectively and efficiently met the needs of our large numbers of part-time instructors and staff across a large, mostly rural state. State Leadership funding supported attendance at the many high-quality professional development activities, either directly from the Nebraska Adult Education State Office or through one of the various national organizations offering research-based professional development opportunities. The establishment of the Nebraska Adult Education training website allowed these opportunities to also be available asynchronously to reach the maximum number of participants, allowing our part-time instructors the opportunity to learn at any time.

Nebraska Adult Education Virtual Conference: Nebraska’s Adult Education Conference’s theme was Reaching New Heights and was offered synchronously in a virtual format. Sessions were also recorded and available for review on Nebraska Adult Education’s training website. The virtual format was beneficial in allowing maximum access as well as reaching national subject matter experts to present at conference without additional travel expense. Josh Davies, CEO of the Center for Work Ethic Development, provided the keynote address, 2020: Foresight, Not Hindsight.

Training topics offered at the 2021 Nebraska Adult Education Virtual Conference:

A Career for Every Student
Accommodations and the GED® Tests
Alignment to CASAS Content Standards
Beginner LACES
Building Work Ethic in a Post-Pandemic World
CASAS- eTests and TOPSpro Enterprise (TE) Demonstration
CASAS - Interpreting Test Results and Reports to Improve Performance
CASAS – What’s New? Training, Help Documentations, Videos and More
Engaging With Purpose: Adding Family Literacy to Your Program
Evidence-Based Principles and Practices for Writing Instruction
Family Literacy
How New Readers Press Can Help with Your CASAS Needs
Innovation in Adult Education
Integrating Digital Literacy and Problem-Solving into Instruction
LACES – NRS Tables
LACES Q & A
LINCS 101: Community, Courses and Resources for Adult Education
Nebraska GEDTS® Program Updates and Online Proctoring
Nuts and Bolts of Giving Students Agency in a Remote Environment
Soaring to New Heights with Burlington Core
Trauma Informed Practices in Adult Education
Using an ESL Application to Drive CASAS and GED® Growth
What’s New and Working in Corrections Education Focus on Curriculum and Instruction
What’s Developing in Corrections Education Focus on College and Career Readiness

LINCS Intensive Technical Assistance – Trauma Informed Practices: The conference had the kick-off session to this intensive webinar series that was available virtually both synchronously and asynchronously. There were seven webinars presented by the subject matter expert, Lucille Rosario, who also facilitated the Community of Practice discussion forum on the LINCS website. The webinars were offered monthly and made available on the training website:

Trauma Informed Practices in Adult Education
Considerations for Staff Well-Being, Agency Climate, and Secondary Trauma Amongst Staff
Programmatic Basics for Trauma-Informed Adult Education Agencies
Trauma-Informed Considerations for Intake and Orientation
Trauma-Informed Practices for Adult Education Instruction
Trauma-Informed Practices for Adult Educators in the Corrections Setting
Wrap-Up Webinar for Trauma-Informed Practices

Performance Improvement and Transitions Coordinator Meetings: The required job duties of this new position include performance monitoring and improvement, professional development planning, and student transition performance improvement. Monthly virtual meetings with the State Office have provided the collaboration and technical assistance to successfully exceed our goals in these areas. The State Office led these meetings with a focus on total performance improvement, walking providers through process improvement strategies that began with initial contact with student, through successful transition of students to postsecondary education, training and employment.

Program Director Meetings: Regular virtual meetings hosted by the state director and office staff with the local administrative staff of adult education programs statewide provided opportunities for technical assistance, stakeholder engagement, ongoing collaboration and targeted process improvement. Topics focused on WIOA, NRS reporting, MSG performance, Nebraska Assessment Policy, budget management, high school equivalency and best practices for program improvement and accountability.

CASAS Training: CASAS provided monthly webinars as well as self-paced online training opportunities. Proctors and Coordinators became certified utilizing their online trainings to become knowledgeable and proficient at providing assessments in an accurate and standardized manner. Certification must be acquired prior to authorizing access to the TOPSpro system and the administration of any assessments. Additionally, CASAS provided a variety of training resources on their website including training videos and downloadable manuals along with an archive of webinars. Continued use of eTests as well as remote testing has provided equitable access to quality progress measurement. Specific training focused on utilizing CASAS content standards and score reports to inform instruction has been useful in improving outcomes.

LACES Training: Management Information System trainings were conducted throughout the program year to ensure accurate and timely data entry and NRS reporting. The LACES trainer provided multiple sessions at our virtual conference as well as regular webinars throughout the program year which were recorded and available on the website. Emphasis was placed on NRS requirements for all types of programming and the necessary reporting and documentation. Specific trainings highlighting the additional MSG opportunities on NRS Tables 4 and 11 were particularly beneficial.

State of the State Monthly Zoom Meetings: Technical assistance regarding NRS reporting and performance was offered on a monthly basis to the local adult education administrative teams for all AEFLA programs statewide. These meetings provided a regular opportunity to view the collective performance at the State level, to measure the progress being made, and to model the necessary data analysis to be completed by each local program. NRS definitions of participants, Periods of Participation, Measurable Skill Gain, as well as the requirements of the various NRS tables were common focuses of these Zoom meetings. Program spotlights allowed the sharing of best practices among the programs. One objective of these meetings was to foster collaboration and the sense of value of the unique individual programs as well as the teamwork necessary to reach State goals.

Coalition of Adult Basic Education, COABE: Nebraska Adult Education provided membership to COABE for all adult education staff statewide. Adult educators accessed the many webinars offered by COABE. Many local program staff as well as State staff also attended the COABE conference either virtually or in person.

NASDAE: The State Director is a member of the National Association of State Directors of Adult Education which provides training activities and networking opportunities to members and partner organizations to strengthen the service delivery of adult education activities. State Office staff participate in various meetings and trainings.

Teacher Effectiveness Training through Literacy Information and Communication System, LINCS: Nebraska Adult Education encouraged adult educators to utilize the many resources available through LINCS. The PY22 State Leadership Training Plan required all adult education instructors to attend the self-paced Teacher Effectiveness course:

Introduction to Teacher Effectiveness and Induction
Principles of Learning for Instructional Design
Motivating Adult Learners to Persist

State Wage Interchange System, SWIS: The State Director and Program Consultant who oversee NRS data reporting regularly attended the SWIS trainings and quarterly SWIS Advisory Group meetings.

Distance Education: The Nebraska Assessment Policy lists the approved distance education curricula. All approved curricula must be aligned to the State’s Adult Education content standards: College and Career Readiness Standards for Adult Education, English Language Proficiency Standards for Adult Education and Nebraska Content Standards. The vendors of the distance education curricula offered training specific to the use of their curriculum. Nebraska Adult Education has prioritized distance education opportunities for many years to reduce transportation barriers in a large, sparsely populated state both prior to and especially during the pandemic.

National Reporting System: State staff attended the NRS Regional Training as well as utilized the professional development opportunities available on the NRS website and the additional webinars. The content was shared with local program staff through various meetings and trainings throughout the program year.

New Director’s Training: Two subrecipient providers hired new program directors within the first quarter of the year. The State Office developed a training series of weekly sessions covering eight modules: WIOA/AEFLA, Assessment and NRS Reporting, Grants and Budgets, IELCE, IET, Family Literacy, GED//HSE/Withdrawal and Program Reporting.

AEFLA Section 223(1)(c)

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

Technical assistance was an integral part of State Office’s focus to ensure providers reached maximum effectiveness. Targeted professional development opportunities were promoted to inform instruction with research-based best practices in all content areas. Since 2016, career pathways have been an integral part of ensuring student success through individualized onboarding and goal setting allowing students to create their own, individualized learning plan. With the long-standing emphasis on digital literacy in Nebraska, digital access has continued to be an integral part of student access, support and success, with providers offering remote access to quality education and assessment.

With continued monitoring, ongoing technical assistance was provided to address potential issues via various methods of communication, to include emails, phone calls and Zoom calls. Technical assistance was also offered consistently through the monthly State-of-the-State Zoom Meetings, Performance Improvement meetings and the Program Director Meetings. Targeted technical assistance was provided to the IELCE and IET providers through a scheduled monthly Zoom meeting. Enhanced technical assistance on fiscal and budget related matters were provided. The State Office also sends out quarterly, detailed Budget Status Update reports. Individualized meetings are scheduled on an as-needed basis. The State Director also hosted individual quarterly calls with program directors to provide personal technical assistance and to offer guidance in a wide range of topic areas.

The monthly Performance Improvement and Transition Coordinator meetings provided an opportunity for some in-depth technical assistance. A close review of each program’s onboarding processes identified areas needing improvement. Collaboration, training, and the sharing of best practices enhanced the quality of the onboarding process statewide. The importance of providing clear expectations in a trauma-informed environment to welcome students committed to reaching their educational goals positioned both the students and Nebraska Adult Education for successful performance.

AEFLA Section 223(1)(d)

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

The State Office Monitoring Team regularly monitored AEFLA programs throughout the program year in multiple ways to assess compliance with WIOA requirements, address non-compliance issues and identify best practices and programmatic progress.

Quarterly desktop monitoring of all programs proved to be beneficial to identify the needs of providers and offer assistance in correcting issues. Assessing risk established priorities for both full and targeted monitoring during the program year. With the continuation of issues related to the pandemic, additional targeted monitors proved to be beneficial in communicating ongoing discoveries of non-compliance. Local programs conducted self-assessments which proved invaluable for identifying potential issues. Continuous evaluation of data quality and program progress through both informal and formal means identified issues and ultimately laid the framework for successful performance.

AEFLA Section 223(a)(2)

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

Nebraska continued to prioritize digital literacy and distance education to address the needs of a geographically large and sparsely populated state with an adult learner population challenged with transportation barriers as well as the isolation demands of the pandemic. Strengthening remote testing opportunities provided the opportunity to overcome these barriers. Programs were encouraged to establish innovative means of remotely onboarding and serving adult learners. Integrated Education and Training opportunities were expanded across the state with the support and guidance of the State Office.

Establishing a Nebraska Adult Education training website and offering virtual professional development opportunities both synchronously and asynchronously encouraged maximum access for our staff spread statewide and with limited and diverse schedules. Utilizing Zoom for the majority of our professional development, technical assistance meetings, and partnering activities has also been invaluable in reaching all programs and partners.

Nebraska Adult Education utilizes LiteracyPro’s LACES as our Management Information System. Offering this robust system to our local programs provided them with the necessary tools for data analysis and data-driven programmatic decision making. LACES has continually improved by developing new tools to analyze data at the student, class, overall program, and state level. Intensive training was provided to optimize efficient and effective data analysis which ultimately improved performance.

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.

In Program Year 2021-2022, Nebraska continued to shine through the latter part of the pandemic. Despite ongoing challenges early on with student attendance and the availability of in-person classes, Nebraska Adult Education achieved an MSG performance of 46.32%, which once again represented the highest MSG performance ever achieved by Nebraska Adult Education. Title II was also able to exceed the negotiated performance benchmark for measurable skills gains, which is an ever-present goal.

Nebraska Adult Education performed at a high level on all exit-based indicators, making fourth quartile performance in all four measures. Statewide job availability and a low unemployment rate continued during Program Year 2021-2022, which again aided positive outcomes for adult learners. Industries common in the state tend to continue operations, even during pandemic circumstances. With industries such as transportation and logistics, advanced manufacturing, meat processing and agriculture, job availability continued to be a positive. Additional industries like retail and entry-level tech allow for additional job availability.

To support the goal of placing adults in long-term, sustainable employment and postsecondary education, Nebraska Adult Education continued to prioritize student learning through a robust goal setting and career pathways process, ensuring student’s needs were being met academically, while providing information and data to support positive placement post-exit. As students identified postsecondary education as their goal, it was important to understand that post-exit employment outcomes were delayed for many adult learners achieving HSE goals. These adult learners tended to obtain lower paying jobs while focusing their time on achieving additional educational credentials, with the overall goal of securing higher paying employment after earning their HSE credential.

Nebraska’s providers continued to increase post-exit performance through improved surveying of exited participants. Since Nebraska has a high percentage of students without social security numbers, surveys were necessary to show the positive outcomes of students enrolled in Title II programs.

As previously stated, Nebraska Adult Education continued to prioritize the individual learning goals of adults entering programs across the State. Assessment was an important and vital tool used to measure the progress of adults in the academic classroom. With the ability to delivery both instruction and assessment in-person and virtually, students were able to succeed at a higher level. With the continued negativity towards the use of assessments in adult education by employers and non-adult education critics, it was more important than ever to prioritize language learning and high school equivalency credential preparation over short-term employment placements to demonstrate the benefits of academic assessment in adult education and better support the students seeking long-term, higher paying employment.

When looking at the goal of earning a HSE credential by most adult learners, it is vital to the economy and the future of the state that educated and literate adults are transitioned into the workforce. Short-term workforce agendas with the goal of placing adults in the workforce was a short-term solution. The benefits of integrated education and training although certainly justified and successful for certain demographics, intensive support through individualized career pathways and educationally focused instruction that includes the goals of earn a high school equivalency credential and matriculation into community college was most necessary to achieving the end-goal of long-term sustainable employment for most adults and positive exit-based outcomes for adult education.

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.

As Nebraska Adult Education continued to improve as a statewide team of AEFLA providers with a strong focus on high-quality instruction, Nebraska Adult Education still faced challenges in WIOA partnerships. With Title II serving as the only dedicated education partner focused on ESL, ABE and ASE, providers encountered barriers to partnerships with other WIOA programs due to the length of time adult education programs work with participants. With assessment of academic ability and measurement of education functioning levels being the forefront of our service to adult learners, students can often be enrolled in adult education for months and even years. Many WIOA partner programs expected quick turnaround as a contingency for co-enrollment or partnerships. This box-checking approach is understandable when considering employers, especially large-scale national employers, criticized adult education and the use, value and benefit of assessment in the classroom. Nebraska Adult Education was aware that most assessment criticism was due to an absence of instructional experience by employers, a lack of understanding in how academic assessment benefits the adult leaner and an underappreciation for the prioritization of educational development and advancement over short-term job placement. This sentiment has transcended the employer, job training and employment service focused partners. It became a priority in Program Year 2021-2022 to make available information and resources outlining the benefits of adult education to providers while ensuring our adult education providers fully supported the learning needs and goals of students. Regardless, Nebraska Adult Education remained committed to providing quality adult education services to the people of Nebraska and were open to working with WIOA partners who valued adult education and what it brings to the workforce and economy of the state.

It was discovered that both the Greater Lincoln and Greater Omaha workforce areas had established strong partnerships with non-AEFLA funded, non-Title II adult education programs, creating customized training partnerships that included ESL classes for non-native English speakers. Given the federal requirement for Title II to pay infrastructure funding to the comprehensive one-stops in these areas, these partnerships are perceived a concerning conflict of interest. In Greater Lincoln, the workforce administrator is a member of the board for the local literacy agency, which is not a subrecipient of AEFLA funding, again adding to the apparent conflict of interest under WIOA. To date, this workforce area has not been successful in establishing viable partnerships with their Title II provider. Our local Title II provider has offered, on numerous occasions, to provide classes at the one-stops as needed by adult learners, however these classes are now provided on site by the non-Title II literacy programs.

These actions greatly emphasized the deficiencies of the forced partnerships identified in the Statute and illustrated that despite joint federal regulations and guidance, local workforce areas shy away from partnering with Title II in Nebraska, opting for more quick turn around partners who do not have comprehensive assessment requirements in place. Nebraska Adult Education fully supports the use of assessment as a measurement of progress for adult learners and will continue to do so.

As Nebraska Adult Education focused on high-quality and high-level service of adults entering our classrooms, performance outcomes and student success continued to rise. Adult education’s positive performance truly equaled student success. The State Office of Nebraska Adult Education continued to encourage partnerships with WIOA programs when feasible and beneficial to the students served, however the realization that focusing more and more attention on improving direct services under Title II for adult learners and preparing them for the workforce was the real priority. As more adults earned their high school equivalency in our State, more adults were ready for postsecondary education and higher paying jobs in their respective local communities.

Responsibilities to meet one-stop requirements under the federal regulations were overseen by the State Office but delegated to the local providers to ensure maximum outcomes, whenever possible. Nebraska Title II was finally successful in placing local Title II provider representatives on the workforce development boards in Greater Lincoln and Greater Omaha towards the end of the program year. Both local areas attempted to thwart these efforts citing various reasons Title II could not be directly represented on the local board. Information was received that Greater Omaha even contacted Nebraska Department of Labor to inquire as to what authority they had to deny the appointment request form the Title II State Office. Fortunately, the placement of Title II in all three local workforce areas in Nebraska towards the end of the program year revealed some additional challenges and concerns with the delivery of one-stop services. These issues can now be addressed directly at the local level and our expectation in PY22-23 is that many of these will be remedied.

All subrecipient providers receiving AEFLA funding received training and directives on required career services. Auditing outreach and onboarding efforts was a priority during the 2020-2021 program year. Providers were asked to improve processes in these areas to ensure services were focused on understanding the needs of adult learners and prioritized outreach to those most in need of adult education. All students completed an enrollment form which provided preliminary information to help inform on eligibility. All adults entering Nebraska Adult Education were assessed with an NRS approved assessment to determine educational functioning level. The onboarding process also helped providers determine if WIOA partner services would benefit the individual with appropriate referrals made at that time. Nebraska Adult Education also required local programs to conduct a career pathways interview with each adult learner to better understand the students’ goal(s). This process helped ensure that educational activities were focusing on the transitional needs and long-term goals identified by the student. In select locations, youth provider staff conducted information sessions in adult education classes. The work conducted through partnerships during onboarding was key to improving referrals between partners as the adult learner progresses through education.

Nebraska Adult Education at the State level has retained all negotiating authority for Title II infrastructure costs and MOUs to ensure full compliance and best practices. Nebraska Adult Education is committed to policies and practices that best serve adult learners first, prioritizing those most in need across the State. Improving partnerships with other programs and agencies, while maximizing the use of tax dollars allocated to serve adult learners was also a priority.

Local providers of adult education were delegated the authority to partner within their respective local workforce areas to develop and nurture partnerships through board meeting attendance and one stop partner meetings and regional workforce meetings.

Two of the three workforce areas moved to utilizing FTE as the method to determine IFA allocations to each partner. Although this appears less confusing that using referral numbers (or use of the one-stop), it was necessary to determine the amount of time adult education spent on one-stop related referrals. In continuing to track and document partner referrals and more specifically one-stop referrals to Title II as well as use of the one-stop by Title II participants, it was revealed that the method used to determine costs was irrelevant as the number of direct referrals to adult education and use of the one-stop by Title II and participants was consistently minimal. Title II remained committed to paying a fair share of IFA costs based on proportionate use of the one-stop and relative benefit received, as identified in the law. A State option has not been triggered in Nebraska, and with continued information sharing and communication, the process of determining costs for each partner has improved overall.

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.

Nebraska Adult Education hosted a request for applications (RFA) competition for AEFLA funding in early 2021 for the 2021-2022 program year, which began on July 1, 2021. A total of three subrecipients were awarded funding. This number represents half of the number of IELCE providers when compared with the previous funding cycle. Three providers cited complexities of service delivery and overly complicated regulatory requirements under Section 243 as reasons not to apply for IELCE funding.

Training activity

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

The State Office of Nebraska Adult Education continued to work with the three returning IELCE providers to support the efforts of implementing IELCE programs and services in combination with IET activities. Beginning in Program Year 2021-2022, monthly workgroups were established to provide targeted technical assistance and to build a community of support and collaboration between providers. The meetings also allowed the State Office an opportunity to learn of current and newly formed IELCE/IET opportunities occurring at the local program level and provide guidance and support for these activities.

To ensure full compliance with WIOA requirements, providers were required to submit an IET Monitoring Compliance form and attain approval of all IET programs before implementation. State Office oversight also included regular desktop monitoring of IELCE/IET data in the MIS to ensure accurate and timely data entry, which proved to be beneficial in identifying areas of improvement and offering required guidance.

With the improvement in technical assistance and monitoring of IELCE and IETs, it was discovered that one national employer partner directly interfered with the delivery of services under IELCE and was a catalyst for non-compliance with regard to the employer led IET. With intervention from the State Office, direct technical assistance and corrective action to the provider, the partnership with the employer was terminated. This experience brought to light the importance of persistent oversight at the state level to ensure local providers can differentiate between employer / adult education partnerships and employer demand for customized training requirements at the expense of AEFLA. The latter often requiring activities not in compliance with Title II funding and requiring additional funding sources, other than AEFLA.

As IET partnerships expanded and grew the realization that offering IETs to non-native English speakers enrolled in IELCE created unique challenges for local providers and their IET partners. As the influx of migrants continued to grow, our providers adapted to the number of individuals who were low functioning and often illiterate in their own native languages, therefore extra instructional time was required to bring these populations to an academic functioning level required and necessary to be successful in IET programming. The State Office conducted ongoing technical assistance to ensure full support of the providers and their students. Access to professional development and best practices were also vital to success under this funding source.

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

As previously stated, the demographics of non-native English speakers changed during he pandemic and therefore newly formed strategies to improve and increase the level of ESL and basic skills was necessary to prepare participants for successful transition. Fortunately, the work ethic and motivation of these populations made placement in classrooms and post-exit employment relatively straightforward.

IELCE providers were required to utilize planning tools in the creation of all IET programs and submit to the State Office for review and approval. The tools guided their program design, which created a strong foundation with targeted focus on aligning with a career pathway and identifying how they would place participants in unsubsidized employment in in-demand industries which lead to economic self-sufficiency.

It was vital Nebraska IELCE programs partnered with local employers and training partners in the development of their programming, as they provided pertinent information on the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to be successful in the chosen industries and workforce overall. These invested partnerships have also proven essential as they have provided opportunities for students to connect with employers. CNA IET students were invited to a recruiting event at a local healthcare facility, where they were given tours and given opportunities to discuss the application process to better prepare participants once their training and licensure requirements were completed.

As providers continued to recycle IET programming, improvements and enhancements were made as needed to better ensure student success in the program and better serve employer needs. This included adjusting the prerequisites and requirements for placement in an IET program, increasing instructional hours and improving contextualized curriculum. In so doing, transitional outcomes also improved.

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.

To ensure IELCE providers were aligning and integrating their IET activities with the local workforce development system, they were required to utilize the Integrated Education and Training (IET) Guide in the development of their IET program. Local labor market information, alignment to the workforce plan and partnerships with their local workforce were analyzed and identified in this report. Providers were required to submit the IET Guide to the State office for review and approval prior to implementation of the IET program to ensure full compliance.

Nebraska’s local IELCE programs collaborated with the workforce development system to ensure they were addressing local workforce needs and were in alignment with the local plan. IELCE providers met with local workforce partners to provide information on program offerings available to adult learners and discuss potential collaboration efforts. Workforce partners were also invited to share their information with IELCE/IET students during program intake and orientation

Successes in Program Year 2021-2022 included a provider collaborating with a Title I partner to provide training component support for several students. Another provider utilized career coaches to help students with career training and placement in employment in the local workforce system. By the end of the program year, Title II was successful in placing our final two representatives on the workforce development boards in Lincoln and Omaha, both of which are IELCE program providers. This achievement, which arrived seven years after the signing of WIOA into law is a major win for adult education and will certain allow for more collaboration with employers in the coming program year.

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.

Nebraska Adult Education officially adopted the following standards, aligning with or exceeding adopted K12 standards in the State:

College and Career Readiness Standards for Adult Education

https://lincs.ed.gov/publications/pdf/CCRStandardsAdultEd.pdf

English Language Proficiency Standards for Adult Education

https://lincs.ed.gov/publications/pdf/elp-standards-adult-ed.pdf

Nebraska Revised Statute 79-760.01 requires the Nebraska State Board of Education to “adopt measurable academic content standards for at least the grade levels required for statewide assessment.” Those standards shall cover the subject areas of reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social studies, and the State Board of Education shall develop a plan to review and update standards for those subject areas every seven years.

A Content Area Standards Revision Timeline has been developed and includes a tentative timeline for the review and revision of all content area standards:

All Nebraska Content Standards and a table of the revision timeline may be found at:

https://www.education.ne.gov/contentareastandards/

Nebraska English Language Arts Standards

https://www.education.ne.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/ELA-Standards-2021-8-25-22.pdf

Nebraska Mathematics Standards

https://www.education.ne.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Nebraskas-College-and-Career-Ready-Standards-for-Mathematics-Final-10.20.22.pdf

Nebraska College and Career Ready Standards for Science

https://cdn.education.ne.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Nebraska_Science_Standards_Final_10_23.pdf

Nebraska Social Studies Standards

https://cdn.education.ne.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Nebraska-Social-Studies-Standards-Final-11-2019.pdf

Nebraska English Language Proficiency Standards

https://www.education.ne.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Nebr-English-Langauge-Proficency-Standards-April-2014.pdf

Optional – Describe implementation efforts, challenges, and any lessons learned

Nebraska Adult Education continued to grow and improve in the delivery of adult education activities across the State. COVID-19 created opportunities to analyze this delivery of service and forced our providers to overcome and adapt difficult and challenging situations regularly. In so doing Nebraska Adult Education continued to improve in performance. The lesson learned from this experience was that despite our role in WIOA, adult education must remain focused on our area of expertise, which is education. Helping our immigrant populations learn the language, customs and American value system is paramount to their integration and success in the United States. Their positivity and willingness to learn is refreshing and inspiring. Our ESL classes are full and the need for teachers continues to grow. Unfortunately, our providers often work above capacity, yet despite these challenges, students were continuously welcomed in the adult education classroom in Nebraska and additional resources were continuously sought to improve access.

In addition, more and more 16- & 17-year-olds dropped out of public schools due to financial difficulties and this was cause for concern. It was important to analyze and understand the needs of these younger adult learners and focus onboarding efforts to best understand their learning needs and future employment goals. The need for statewide support of adult education was more important that ever in Nebraska. Traditional high school presents unique challenges for students and families, especially for those facing financial crisis and it became apparent that adult education can play a vital role in continuing the education pathways of younger adults.

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.

Overall, the recidivism rate in Nebraska was 29.8% in state corrections with recidivism being defined by the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services as those individuals who return to incarceration within three years of release and in a given fiscal year. An individual’s earliest release within the year is the only one considered when calculating recidivism rates. The cited 29.8% is for FY2019 (July 1, 2018 – June 30, 2019). Information for this reporting period is not yet available.

Narrative Report for Nebraska 2021