State Leadership Funds (Adult education and family literacy act Section 223 (AEFLA))
AEFLA Section 223(1)(a)
Training has continued for grantees struggling to implement Integrated Education and Training (IET) under Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education (IELCE), which includes developing career pathways leading to high demand jobs as defined by the Nevada Department of Employment Training and Rehabilitation. Nevada participated in the IET Design Camp training provided at the federal level with the professional development contractor leading the Nevada team.
The Nevada Adult Education State Director has served on the Governor’s Workforce Development Board (GWDB) since November 1, 2018 and was appointed as Chair to a Strategic Planning Subcommittee. Her work on the subcommittee will help to better align the adult education program with the One-Stop required partners through the development of a more collaborative Combined State Plan. The subcommittee will start the 2024 revisions.
As specified in the Unified State Plan, Title II programs in Nevada make referrals to the American Job Centers (AJC), and most receive referral clients from these agencies. four of the seven local providers are co-located with Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) core partners, either in the AJC or through workforce satellite sites. The Workforce satellite sites are supported through the Las Vegas Clark County Library District (LVCCLD) and the College of Southern Nevada. The partnership between the southern local workforce area and the library district has been in place for more than five years and has helped to build necessary collaboration. The two programs are located right across the hall in some locations which facilitates meaningful access for Title II students to workforce services. As a result of this co-location, students were provided transportation passes, employment assistance, and access to Title I training funds. At least two of the local Title II programs participate in bi-monthly meetings with the Local Workforce Development Board (LWDB). The State Director has also regularly participated in training for both the north and the south LWDBs and delivered cross-training on Title II to core partners.
In the northern local area, the Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC) program director attended monthly partner meetings at the American Job Center (AJC), where the seated partners discussed client services, processes, and procedures. Also, TMCC staffed the Title II office at the AJC.
The Program Director of the Western Nevada College serves on the northern (LWDB). The Las Vegas Clark County Library District has a representative on the board of Workforce Connections, the southern LWDB.
AEFLA Section 223(1)(b)
Leadership funds were used at the state level to contract with American Institute for Research (A.I.R.) to assist in building an effective professional development system. The focus of this system is implementation of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and program improvement, including sustainability of standards-based education, career pathways, transitions to postsecondary education, English language instruction, and support for High School Equivalency preparation.
During the 2021-2022 program year State Leadership funds were used to support participation in multiple federal training opportunities. Leadership funds have been used to scale and sustain the work by using the teachers in the cohort to deliver training to the rest of the state for the Teaching Skills that Matter (TSTM) project. Nevada also participated in the Student Achievement in Reading (STAR) training and leadership funds have been used for planning to expand the use of STAR.
We also participated in the Standards in Action (SIA) 2.0 during June 2021 and leadership funds were used to bring the training to the rest of the programs. There has also been an online training module developed for the Standards in Action training for curriculum review in which Nevada participated last year.
Several training sessions were held that delivered best or promising practices. These included a three-part statewide training for TSTM that was at attended by all local programs, training led by A.I.R. on leadership, and Measurable Skill Gain (MSG) improvement. The virtual delivery of training was very successful and allowed a greater level of participation for local staff and instructors. In addition, multiple trainings were held on data entry and use for program development.
AEFLA Section 223(1)(c)
Dissemination of best practices takes place through tailored high-touch Technical Assistance (TA) provided to individual programs on an ongoing basis. Each local program works with the Professional Development (PD) contractor to develop a TA plan for the program year. TA has been delivered through a virtual approach. Individual TA was delivered on organizing and scaffolding materials, distance learning, student retention, building Integrated Education and Training (IET), and working with multilevel classrooms. A.I.R. staff either delivered training or brought in subject matter experts.
AEFLA Section 223(1)(d)
State Leadership planned and offered Nevada Adult Education directors’ meetings, designed to provide opportunities to share best practices, policies, and tools to support program improvement. During the 2021-2022 program year meetings were more frequent but shorter to accommodate the virtual nature. A risk-based monitoring system and process for placing programs under corrective action is used with local program directors and staff to drive program improvement and the PD contractor provided targeted technical assistance based on areas in need of improvement. The work with local programs included reviewing and analyzing the National Reporting System (NRS) data. Program director meetings included information on leadership and program management.
During PY21 Nevada achieved the highest level of Measurable Skill Gains achieved in at least a decade. All programs achieved MSGs over 40%, which was the initial threshold that was set as a minimum for programs to avoid being placed under a Warning Status.
Most monitoring during the 2021-2022 program year was virtual, however, state staff did visit several programs to provide Technical Assistance. Desk monitoring continued throughout the program year and promising practices were identified and communicated with all local programs.
Work has continued with the state longitudinal data system and a public facing dashboard is under development to showcase AEFLA program performance in each of the core measures.
AEFLA Section 223(a)(2)
Leadership funds were used to continue IET training for one local program and training on leadership for all programs. Additional targeted TA was provided on distance learning and organizing and scaffolding materials. Funds were also used to provide training on program and staffing design.
Performance Data Analysis
The Nevada Business Accountability Specialist for Adult Education tracked enrollment data and MSG performance data monthly during PY21, looking at individual program data. Local programs were informed at bi-monthly shop talk calls and programs with identified data anomalies were contacted individually to resolve errors. The enrollment for PY21 was affected by the pandemic but recovered somewhat from the first year of the pandemic. Programs have continued to increase the number of students enrolled in virtual learning, although courses were offered in-person during the 2021-2022 program year. However, Measurable Skill Gains were up with the approved target met with an overall NRS Table 4 outcome of 51.64% and a target of 43%.
There were 112 participants in distance education in PY19, 808 in PY20, and 955 in PY21. The significant difference can be attributed to the fact programs continued to increase the distance education available, as well as, increasing options for hybrid, hyflex learning. Many students chose to continue distance learning even with in-person classes resuming.
We saw a continued improvement with the overall MSG reaching a percentage point higher than the previous year. This improvement can largely be attributed to the fact that those post tested achieved an MSG at a rate of 72% during PY21 and 70% the previous year and the post-test rate stayed at approximately 69% with the state target at 70%.
Performance outcomes were up in most educational functioning levels. Gains were down slightly in ABE levels 2, 3, and 6 and ESL levels 5 and 6, with gains in all other levels increasing. The Warning, Probation, and/or Termination Status system put in place has led to significant improvement among the programs that had been placed under Warning Status. One of the programs previously under Warning status was the highest performer for PY21.
The number of participants achieving high school equivalency through the GED, or HiSET assessments continues to decrease from previous years, at 129 in PY19, 122 in PY20, and 120 in PY21.
After a significant increase in the number of individuals served in IET programs from 118 in PY19 to 174 in PY20, the number served in IET or IELCE went down to 130 in PY21. Programs will continue to receive additional technical assistance in developing and expanding integrated education and training programs.
There was a significant increase in the outcomes on Table 5, with employed second quarter after exit going from 25.66% to 46.1%. This increase can be attributed to being able to use the SWIS data for the first time. The fourth quarter after exit employment went from 25.7% to 38.8%. The median earnings went from $6,120 up to $8,320. This is likely due to the reduction in lower paying jobs reported following the pandemic.
Integration with One-stop Partners
The State has delegated its required One-Stop role to eligible providers. Nevada has only funded seven local providers in the last two competitions. Applicants are required to provide a response in the narrative of the application as to how they will integrate with the One-Stop system. Designations have been made in two ways, one being primarily geographical and the other based on previous work in developing satellite sites with space provided by a funded Title II provider. The One-Stop in the northern part of the state was staffed by one of the local providers and the director of a second program sits on the local workforce board. In the southern area, a partnership between a Title II provider, the Las Vegas Clark County Library District, and the local board has resulted in satellite One-Stop centers in multiple library locations with adult education classes and staffing co-located. Another southern local program provided office space for One-Stop operations to be conducted onsite, laying the foundation to increase partner activities and referrals.
Intake and orientation are provided to all Title II prospective students, including those referred from partner agencies. Title II providers conduct initial intake services within the One-Stop and schedule assessment and orientation for prospective students entering through the One-Stop. At this time, assessment is not typically conducted at the One-Stop location. The State Director has provided TA on local programs fulfilling this requirement through direct communications and participation in quarterly partner meetings. Program monitoring includes required responses to how the local program is fulfilling this requirement. Title II, at both the state level and local programs, join in cross-training and the local programs participate in referrals between agencies and the One-Stop and affiliate sites. Therefore, resources will be spent by Title II to share in One-Stop infrastructure costs.
The infrastructure costs will be covered using the local option with programs that have been designated to fulfill the One-Stop role. Both workforce areas have Infrastructure Cost Agreements in place with Title II providers co-located with Title I, III, and IV partners. Infrastructure costs are determined by co-location and staffing FTE. Along with the core partners, the Title II State Director was involved in the negotiations and has reviewed both agreements. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the northern local area is signed directly by the local program designated as the entity responsible for meeting One-Stop requirements. The southern local area MOU is signed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction for the Nevada Department of Education. The MOUs are handled differently because the portion of the southern local area infrastructure costs for Title II are covered by in-kind expenses and not charged directly to the designated Title II program. In addition to detailing how the program will address workforce system integration in all funding applications, either competitive or continuation, local programs are also required to address integration in an annual narrative report.
Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education
IELCE Funds and grants
A competition for Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education (IELCE) funds was held in the 2019-2020 program year for a three-year funding cycle and four programs were funded. The next competition will be conducted spring of 2023 for the next three-year cycle.
Training activity
Both Basic and Section 243 funds have been used to develop IET programs. ESL students are served within IELCE standalone programs, as well as in combination with ABE IET. Challenges still remain in partnering with postsecondary training providers for non-profits and for the adult education programs housed in community colleges to work with their own Career Technical Education (CTE) departments. Technical Assistance for the only non-profit receiving IELCE funds centered around developing pathways and partnerships to deliver the occupational training required. The program has made some progress but still has a long way to go. Our PD contractor includes the services of a national expert on IET who has provided individual program TA. We have found that additional work is needed at leadership levels to effectively partner within and between institutions.
All of our current IELCE programs have dedicated local staff to provide career navigator services and/or career counseling. Programs have worked to expand the access for students to occupational training information.
The number of participants receiving services through IELCE has remained consistent at approximately 600. The number of students participating in IET through IELCE has increased slightly with 27 participants in IET through IELCE in PY20 and 44 in PY21. Students were served in concurrent IELCE, IET programs in the following areas, construction, HVAC, certified administrative assistant, and Certified Nursing Assistant through the four programs awarded Section 243 funds.
IELCE Section 243(c)(1)
A significantly higher percentage of IELCE participants achieved an MSG than the rest of the program participants. Based on the National Reporting System (NRS) Table 9 the overall MSG for IELCE participants was 58.07% while the overall MSG for the state was 51.64%. In addition, programs are providing concurrent enrollment opportunities in in-demand occupations such as construction, HVAC, medical administrative assistant, and Certified Nursing Assistant. Enrollment of IELCE participants within these programs increased slightly with 27 participants in IET through IELCE in PY20 and 44 in PY21.
Employment outcomes for IELCE have increased significantly from PY20 to PY21. IELCE participants employed second quarter after exit increased from 25.39% to 39.63% and fourth quarter after exit increased from 25.02% to 35.16. This increase can be attributed to the inclusion of data from the State Wage Interchange System (SWIS).
Programs are using the Career Ready 101 curriculum, as well as the Employability Skills for Career Readiness System developed from Career and Technical Education. WorkKeys assessment leading to the National Career Readiness Certificate is also being used and the Las Vegas area is designated as a certified ACT Work Ready Community. Northern Nevada is working toward becoming an ACT Work Ready Community as well. All WIOA programs are encouraged to use WorkKeys.
All programs report the need for documentation as a challenge with the population served. Employment outcomes reported through surveying are far lower than outcomes reported through data match.
IELCE Section 243(c)(2)
The state office sent the local area workforce boards the section on alignment for each application for funding prior to the review committee convening. The feedback received from the local boards was considered during the committee review. However, limited feedback was received and did not include significant findings in most cases. Our one extremely rural program has struggled with alignment due to a lack of resources in the rural community. One local non-profit program has received Title I Out-of-School Youth funding through their LWDB and has a staff member located at the program providing services to out-of-school youth, including those in IELCE. An IELCE funded program in Northern Nevada is co-located with the One-Stop to coordinate services to all eligible participants. Referrals are still much fewer than we would expect, but efforts are continuing to build relationships and communication. The work on the state plan will continue to be led by the AEFLA State Director which will facilitate discussion among partners. Cross-training occurs monthly in the southern workforce area which includes almost 75% of the population of Nevada, and the northern board has started the Northern Nevada Workforce Alliance that meets monthly. Both the State Director and the Business Process Analyst for AEFLA attend.
The primary challenge has been the difference in eligibility between partner programs. Work is taking place to provide data match beyond UI data to determine co-enrollment between Title II and Title I and III. This will help identify those IELCE students receiving services integrated with other Titles.
Adult Education Standards
Implementation of the College and Career Readiness Standards (CCRS) aligns the Nevada Adult Education content standards with the Nevada K-12 standards. The Nevada State Standards are based on the Common Core Standards. The state provides policy and guidance on the required use of the standards through the Nevada Adult Education and Family Literacy Act Handbook and the online New Teacher Training module. Annual monitoring includes required documentation on how the standards are implemented within the program and samples of lesson plans that include standards-based instruction. Program monitoring includes class observations to determine if the use of standards is evident in instruction.
English language learners at lower levels were not adequately receiving instruction that included core academic content, which was evident during the SIA Curriculum Review project. We discovered that the curriculum used in multiple locations did not do a good job of providing this content along with the English language instruction. Nevada has strong examples of core academic content being provided to those English language learners at the more advanced levels with a focus on transition to ABE. Work is continuing to address this issue and provide additional supports for English language learners. The success of the work can be seen by the significant increase in MSGs for the lower-level ESL students.
We have sustained the work of the SIA Curriculum Review project by using the teachers that received the training to deliver training to the rest of the state. The PD contractor has developed and published an online module for the SIA curriculum review process, as well as a module on the CCRS and English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS). All programs are required to use the curriculum review process prior to purchasing new curricula. The online training module developed for CCRS and ELPS is used as a refresher for current staff and initial training for new staff. An additional module is under development to go more in-depth on implementation of the CCRS and ELPS.
State Leadership also continued the integration of CCRS by incorporating standards content within the new teacher training online system. Helping the teachers learn how to implement the CCRS has paved the way for students to make easier transitions to postsecondary education and training. Furthermore, the implementation of CCRS has helped to align ABE programming with workforce and career readiness that leads to certification and credentialing, and to support short-term certification for high demand job sectors based on current Nevada Department of Employment Training and Rehabilitation (DETR) local labor market data.
Programs for Corrections Education (AEFLA Section 225)
During the last program year, no AEFLA funds were used for Programs for Corrections Education and the Education of Other institutionalized Individuals. The competitive RFP released in 2023 will include the option to apply for corrections funding. State funding not connected to AEFLA has been used for Corrections Education. We will continue to explore the options for partnering with the existing state funded corrections education program during the coming years.