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)

New York’s 258 local programs funded under WIOA Title II continued their commitment to align their adult education program and literacy activities with their local American Job Center (one-stop). As articulated in their contractual agreements with NYSED and a part of NY’s WIOA Combined State Plan under Operational Planning Elements, each awardee was required to coordinate effort with their local American Job Center and provide direction and support to students. Local programs preserved their commitments outlined in signed agreements submitted back in 2018 as a part of their proposal review and award; these agreements remain supported. Those including IET were also required to have full approval for each industry recognized credential they intended to pursue. The local WDB was asked to support each IET plan and endorse the resulting credential. In New York State, WIOA funds are not permitted to support the training cost for an IET, as such, Title I also has provided training dollars for some of this training across the 33 local WDBs.

In addition, each WIOA participant is required to be registered with the assistance of a Title II case manager, in JobZone, followed by a demonstration of how to manage their account on that site. Utilizing the features associated with JobZone is a required mechanism built into the case manager job duties raising it to priority level for all WIOA participants.

AEFLA Section 223(1)(b)

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

New York continues to support a team of geographically organized technical assistance centers across the state. The seven Regional Adult Education Network (RAEN) centers funded with Section 223 funding in program year 2022-23 kept local program staff engaged and supported as they continued to provide in-person and hybrid learning options to their students. In program year 2022-23, NYSED staff and RAEN participated throughout the year in various work groups established by New York State Department of Labor. These work groups, including the Interagency Workgroup, the Data Integration Work Group, the Training and Assistance Work Group, and the Youth Work Group, have continued to meet throughout Program Year 2022. The barriers to employment were exacerbated by the pandemic’s impact and required more individual support. Identification of a participants’ barriers to employment has become essential to the case management support provided to every participant. Identifying the barriers is critically important but as important is the ability for a local program so support that participant with valuable community resources. To this end, a Community Service Resource Guide was created and disseminated by AEPP to assure that each funded program has identified and connected to the local community resources that can best support their participants’ needs. Every case manager is required to attend a three-hour training hosted by the RAEN centers annually to build on existing skills.

During program year 2022-23, leadership funds supported systemic integration of WIOA employment data and performance requirements into NYSED’s custom built adult education management information system—Adult Student Information System and Technical Support (ASISTS). Included were the following modifications to ASISTS:

ASISTS continued a quarterly electronic exchange of employment data from DOL’s Unemployment Insurance database
- The MOU, drawn, signed, and renewed in 2023, continues to provide for aggregate data to be exchanged with ASISTS on a quarterly basis
- Social Security Numbers are encrypted for secure exchange and used for the match
  - Social Security Numbers are not required for students to participate in educational Title II services
- Those students, for whom the local program does not report a Social Security Number, must be followed up via a survey manually
- Data that continues to be included in the exchange:
  - Median earnings in the second quarter after exit from the program
  - Employment in the second quarter after exit from the program
  - Employment in the fourth quarter after exit from the program

In program year 2022-23 the RAEN, under the guidance of NYSED’s Adult Education Program and Policy (AEPP) Unit, provided statewide training to all local program staff. More than 5,000 teachers and administrative staff attended RAEN supported trainings. Every paid staff member of an AEPP funded program must attend a minimum of fourteen hours of professional development provided by the RAEN centers. Programs are encouraged to permit their staff to attend additional appropriate professional development in addition to the requisite fourteen hours of RAEN training. Each RAEN center is charged with providing quarterly reports to all locally funded programs indicating the accrual of their staff’s professional development hours completed.

NYSED and RAEN centers fully support the electronic access to academic modules and independent study materials created under a combined effort between content experts at NYSED and curriculum experts from the City University of New York (CUNY). All electronic materials remain with full public access on two dedicated websites: www.TeachingtotheCoreNY.org and www.collectEDNY.org.

NYSED and RAEN staff monitored remote teaching sessions and met with teachers to offer support and suggestions for improvements including posting vetted materials on their respective websites. In addition to academic materials, RAENs also provided constant access to the NYSED/CUNY CareerKits. These CareerKits are accessed electronically from the www.collectEDNY. They reflect pertinent career seeking activities that include training requirements to eleven high demand industries. Each CareerKit can be used by teachers in their classrooms or be shared electronically with students. Using a pedagogy of inquiry and discovery, the CareerKit presents a range of activities and resources that support the continued acquisition of basic language and literacy skills in the broad context of work. The kits are designed to be used by literacy professionals who help students learn about and navigate career choices. All career services are integrated via the CareerKits into every component of instruction, ABE, ASE, and ESL.

The activities take the form of practices already used in a language or a literacy/HSE class including reading and discussion, writing and revising essays, solving word problems, interpreting graphs and conducting research all centered on the topic of work. The study of careers includes academic support including basic literacy skills and improved critical thinking. At the same time, students learn how to navigate electronic career databases, find and interpret online help wanted ads, assess job offers, analyze job outlooks and match their own interests to careers in rising industries.

It should be noted that all CareerKits have, as their foundation, labor market statistical data. In program year 2022-2023, the eleven CareerKits continued to support career services instruction throughout the following high demand areas: Construction, Manufacturing, Healthcare, Education & Child Care, Community & Social Services, Retail, Hospitality, Recreation, & the Arts, Technology, Transportation, and Food Production. More information on the NYSED/CUNY CareerKits can be found at www.tinyurl.com/cunyCareerKits

AEPP continued to support eight topic areas in math that represent those portions of the HSE test where the majority of adult students were not successful based on data collected over a five-year period. Electronic, self-paced, comprehensive learning packets for each of these identified topic areas were shared with students; these electronic packets reside on our easily accessible website www.CollectEDNY.org. AEPP commissioned for each packet to be updated with more recent pertinent information in support of the current GED Math subtest. The packets were split into smaller, more manageable sections to better support students. As a result, there are now sixteen packets in total being used in ABE and ASE programming throughout the state. They are used by teachers as instructional tools within their classroom and used as distance education options for students that cannot commit to a classroom setting. AEPP is tracking the use of the packets through the electronic management information system to follow the progress and success of those students using the packets as a preparation tool.

Program year 2022 marked the next NYSED Teacher Leader Institute provided in October 2022. A total of eighty-seven new and veteran Teacher Leaders were comprehensively trained on how to best deliver, in turnkey fashion, the aforementioned learning materials back to each of their RAEN regions. The RAENs identified potential Teacher Leaders in the areas of Math, ELA, and ESL. All three areas of training included the materials from the updated CareerKits. These new Teacher Leaders now joined the statewide cadre of Teacher Leaders that have been associated with this initiative since 2014.

In addition to RAEN sponsored professional development, AEPP created and deployed WIOA funded Program Manager training. All program managers were compelled to attend two full days of training held in Albany, NY. The training was customized to cover a full range of duties and responsibilities associated with WIOA funded program managers. Feedback from program managers was excellent compelling AEPP to establish this training as an annual event. Close to 300 local program administrative staff fully participated.

AEFLA Section 223(1)(c)

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

Leadership funds supported statewide technical assistance, monitoring, and troubleshooting by the AEPP Regional Team, the NYS Director of Accountability, and the RAEN directors to improve data quality and monitor program sustenance in every WIOA Title II funded program.

The NRS Director of Accountability for adult education provided training and updates on WIOA policy and procedures for literacy programming during program year 2022. Data recognition, data collection, and data reporting protocols were all updated and shared with local program staff. In total, the NRS Director of Accountability for adult education conducted 27 training sessions in program year 2022.

The provision of technical assistance to eligible providers of adult education and literacy activities receiving funds under this title is the primary focus of a vendor contract funded by NYSED. Leadership funds continue to support Technical Assistance and Training for NRS programming. This technical assistance included the development and dissemination of instructional and programmatic practices aligned with state and federal policy. These practices are based on rigorous or scientifically valid research in reading, writing, speaking, mathematics, English language acquisition programs, distance education, and staff training.

Leadership funds helped support joint effort from NYSED ACCES-AEPP regional associates, who work along with Director of Accountability, and the seven RAEN directors to support programs most in need. After conducting a comprehensive review of all funded programs, it became evident that due to the pandemic, most of our funded programs were in need of enrollment increases, risk management, and technical support. AEPP resumed the Individual Technical Assistance Program (ITAP) in each RAEN region in program year 2022. Together, the State director, AEPP regional staff, RAEN directors, and the Director of Accountability monitored and evaluated the quality and performance of all WIOA funded programs. Fifty-seven (57) ITAP programs were identified and placed under ITAP. Monthly monitoring meetings are scheduled within each region providing monitoring and technical assistance as needed.

In program year 2022, AEPP Regional staff, along with the respective RAEN directors solicited remote instruction schedules from each locally funded program. Master schedules were developed so that staff could join remote learning sessions to observe and offer constructive feedback to the teachers and program managers. In addition, best practices were identified and also noted on monitoring documents posted to the NYS Accountability website.

Technical Assistance & Monitoring to Local Programs:

Activities	FY2022/2023 July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023
In Person Site Visits conducted	57
Remote Desk Monitoring (local programs)	178
Monitoring of Remote Learning/Teaching Sessions	186
TOTAL MONITORING	421

AEFLA Section 223(1)(d)

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

As noted in the table above, AEPP, along with the RAEN and Accountability Office provided 421 monitoring activities across the state. All resulting narrative reports and relative program data are stored in secure, password protected, program accounts. The website and all secure documents are maintained through the office of Accountability for adult education under contract/direction from AEPP. The AEPP staff and program staff have full access to all accounts maintained on the Accountability website through password protected access. All technical support, monitoring activity, communication (emails, phone calls, recorded web meetings) were posted to assure constant and supportive assistance was provided to every program throughout the state.

Monitoring programs in Program year 2022 included but was not limited to desk monitoring. The NRS team reviewed all data and created a program evaluation based on current and previous data elements including Measurable Skill Gain, Post Test Rate, and Follow Up Outcome data. Subsequently, web meetings were scheduled with those programs presenting with the most significant deficiencies in these same areas of performance. These web meetings included the AEPP regional team, the regional RAEN Director, and the NRS Director. Based on a review of standard data checking documents, determination of data errors, data omissions, and coding errors were assessed and shared with the local program staff. Itemized lists of action steps were shared at the conclusion of each web meeting; programs were then scheduled for a second review and meeting to confirm all data correction expectations. When necessary, remote tutorial sessions were schedules with local data teams to guide data corrections.

Program Year 2022 marked the return to issuing NYSED Adult Education Report Cards. The report cards are designed to quartile rank Measurable Skill Gain (MSG) and Post Test Rate as compared to all other WIOA funded programs. MSG is also weighted to demonstrate the differences in learning trends in populations that were served. More credit is associated with programs that served those students where Measurable Skill Gain is the most challenging based on NYS and Federal data trends. Measurable Skill Gains include Educational Gain evidenced by a pre and posttest, the attainment of the high school equivalency diploma, and for industry credentials earned by students. The report cards also provide the follow up outcomes of employment and median wage matches both with the electronic data match conducted with NYSDOL and with manual surveys conducted by the local programs.

NYSED requires all funded programs to enter data on a monthly basis. Enrollment, attendance, assessments, and follow up data were entered by the end of the month following the month in which the service was delivered. AEPP has found this policy ensures programs monitor their student attendance and identify trends both up and downward and have ample time to react accordingly. NYS local funding (used as part of the MOE for New York) is calculated on a contact hour logarithm, consequently, it has become increasingly more important for programs to keep a pulse on their monthly accrual for this NYS funding. This requirement also encouraged programs to employ program improvement strategies throughout the program year. The RAEN centers and NRS Accountability office provided additional training related to strategic data management and opportunities to interpret data trends along with upward or downward movement.

AEFLA Section 223(a)(2)

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

Leadership funds support joint effort from NYSED ACCES-AEPP regional associates, who work under the NY State Director for adult education, the seven RAEN centers, and the NRS Director of Accountability for adult education. Constant vigilance over risk management is required of all AEPP team members. During program year 2022, a team effort afforded individual support to every program statewide to guide and return to pre pandemic enrollment and services.

Together the State director, AEPP regional staff, RAEN directors, and the NRS Director of Accountability for adult education mentored and monitored every program and recommended plans for keeping students and staff engaged.

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.

The annual data from WIOA funded programs informed NYSED in all aspects of managing local programs during program year 2022. In Program Year 2022, we had only one program that closed for the final four months of the fiscal year as they experienced an upheaval of administrative staffing. The expectation was for that program to reopen on July 1, 2023 and they did just that.

Program year 2022 marked the inception of all newly awarded WIOA funded programs throughout the seven regions of the state. Every funded program entered all new data into ASISTS indicating the type, amount, and duration of their funding awards. AEPP requested that ASISTS create a new field in the data system that would enable local programs the ability to track their enrollment more accurately and keep a pulse on their progress toward their projected annual enrollments. Within the seven geographic regions, the NYSED regional staff, the RAEN director, and the NRS Director of Accountability worked as a team to initiate strategies for the preservation and reporting of performance data. From the beginning of the program year, all AEPP funded programs were reminded often that fiscal year 2022/2023 marked the return of the NYS Report Cards. To that end, intense technical assistance and data management support afforded these programs the ability to restore their program data to pre pandemic indicators.

In Program Year 2022-2023, the total number of students served was 62,988 students. This cohort represents an approximate increase of 30% over the previous year’s enrollment marking a significant return to pre pandemic enrollment. While we acknowledge that we did not reach pre pandemic enrollment which was closer to 70,000 students, this increase of 14,543 students (approximately a 30% increase) represents the consorted effort from AEPP to support and preserve the services to adult students in New York. It should also be noted that the reduction in the number of students enrolled was counterbalanced by very significant increase in the persistence of students and resulting increases in learner outcomes. Regardless, programs offered students in-person, remote, and hybrid options for student engagement in Program Year 2022 under direction from AEPP. New York’s average contact hours from Program Year 2022 was approximately 103 hours per student indicating an increase of 5 hours per student from the previous year.

Along with a hard drive toward building student enrollment, New York’s Measurable Skill Gain in Program Year 2022 exceeded our goal of 49%, by 6 points coming in at 55.87%. This significant increase in MSG was thoroughly impacted by the major effort our programs demonstrated in post testing their students. In Program Year 2022, 68% of students enrolled were successfully post tested within the valid time range, our goal is 70%.

In addition to being the first of a five year WIOA award to local programs, in Program year 2022, New York continued to adjust to the newly implemented High School Equivalency test, the GED. New York’s contract with the Data Recognition Corporation concluded on December 31, 2021. As a result of this significant change in testing procedures, the NYS Board of Regents implemented the return to the GED as the HSE diploma test beginning January 1, 2022. This shift initiated a major effort in moving all HSE preparation programs funded under AEPP from TASC preparation materials and curricula to the new GED associated materials and preparation tools. The shift resulted in a very slow implementation as the technological requirements and onboarding process required for the GED was vastly different from that used for the TASC. Program year 2022 gave our local programs the time needed to settle into a new routine in support of the GED.

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.

The New York State Commissioner of Education represents WIOA Title II on the State Workforce Development Board. New York State has 33 Local Workforce Development Boards (LWDBs). Each local workforce development board has a Title II representative identified by NYSED and recommended to the county elected official for approval. The Title II designee represented local WIOA funded programs in the workforce area at all meetings with the Local Workforce Development Boards.

During fiscal year 2022-2023, ACCES-AEPP, working as part of the NYS WIOA interagency team, assisted all local funded programs in developing comprehensive Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) between themselves and each LWDB. Each MOU included the specific career services for Title II and the WIOA Title II funding for the LWDB.

Examples of the services agreed upon in the executed MOUs include the use of JobZone for all adult literacy students. This system is designed and supported entirely by the WIOA Title I provider, the New York State Department of Labor. JobZone is a job search and career development web-based tool that is customized to each student’s local community. As a part of our commitment to this collaborative work, the access to and use of JobZone was added to the NYSED Certified Case Management training required of all funded programs and is included in their WIOA deliverables. In addition, through the American Job Center, adult literacy students are guided through CareerZone which enables the learner to access detailed career and education information for more than 800 occupations.

AEPP funded programs do not individually contribute to infrastructure costs because our programs are not co-located. Our funded programs deployed their case managers to connect and engage literacy students with Title I services made available through the American Job Centers in each community. In addition, our funded programs continued to refer their students to their local Workforce Development Boards and American Job Centers to access and apply for services online. AEPP funded case managers assist students with these processes to assure the ability to gain access and benefit from the services provided from the NYS Departments of Labor via the American Job Centers.

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.

Fiscal Year 2022-2023 marked the first of a five year WIOA award to 37 local programs to support Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education (IELCE) programming. The RFP required that programs receiving this award had to demonstrate the training associated with these awards would be fiscally supported by funding resources other than WIOA. Under NYS policy, these programs were not able to use WIOA Title II funds to support the training initiatives. This requirement resulted in IELCE programs working very closely with local employers, higher education centers, and proprietary training establishments to provide the training component leading to an industry recognized credential. Both the employer and the training/credentialing program met with approval from the local Workforce Development Board and AEPP prior to the proposal being awarded. This requirement established a direct connection to the local need for both the training and the proposed employment.

Training activity

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

IEL/CE programs worked closely with their training partners to provide not only the training but to ensure a collaborative approach between the literacy instructor and the training instructor. In this way, the literacy classes associated with each training component are contextualized to further assist and support in their ability to secure employment once the credential is earned. Local IEL/CE program staff continued to meet quarterly via remote options with employers. Literacy teachers meet routinely with employers to design curriculum and instructional modalities that mirror the needs of the employer. Case managers continued to meet with learners to monitor their progression and readiness for employment which included job preparation skills, resume preparation, and workplace skill expectations. This intense case management supported the transition students successfully completed their training component and sought employment. This consistent and constant communication between local programs and local employers ensured employment opportunities within each community.

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

The ACCES-AEPP team, the RAEN Directors, and the NRS Director of Accountability met with each of the 37 funded programs quarterly. Case management was heightened during this program year to provide ample and sustainable support to students enrolled in the IEL/CE programming. The team reviewed all approved expectations and suggested alternatives and options for programs that did not meet with success in the existing training components. While program year 2022 was the first of a five-year award, the proposals awarded were originally written back in 2020. For several programs, the employment landscape and employer training needs changed significantly from the time the proposal was written to the day of initial implementation, July 2022. Consequently, it was necessary for some providers to move to different training partners and resulting credentials to better serve their communities and students. The AEPP team also managed budget amendments to further support the ongoing and changing needs of teachers and students during year one of the WIOA awards.

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 close coordination between IELCE programs and local workforce development, ACCES-AEPP facilitated communication with local Workforce Development Boards to keep all partners apprised of the support being provided to both students and program aimed at sustaining the programs. Local funded program continued to engage with the American Job Centers in each community to further their collaboration.

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.

New York adopted the College Career Readiness Standards for Adult Education released in 2013, which are aligned to the New York State’s K-12 common core standards. All instruction and professional development funded under WIOA title II (as noted in all sections above) as well as the professional development provided by the RAEN centers supported these standards in program year 2022-2023. Full remote access to all training materials, teacher designed modules, and professional development was supported throughout the program year. Programs were encouraged to provide ample time for teachers to access training and materials. WIOA awards included provisions for teacher to be paid to attend ample training opportunities surrounding College and Career Readiness Standards hosted by the RAENs. In addition, materials, modules, and training videos/materials are all available statewide on two AEPP supported websites: www.CollectEdNY.org and www.TeachingtotheCoreNY.org .

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.

The NYSED has not, in the past, collected data on recidivism for Corrections Education and Other Institutionalized Individuals funded under WIOA Title II. In an effort to track the rate of recidivism, with guidance, programs under section 225 and via their case managers, will conduct a post training survey to capture this data. Not only will the data serve to understand the status of each participant, but it will help our programs understand student barriers and provide resources that will significantly help improve our participants’ lives. Agencies that have received WIOA funding for this population have kept data or have provided qualitative information about their specific populations. In anticipation of the need to review data surrounding recidivism, AEPP has designed a student survey that will be implemented in program year 2023 aimed at collecting data from students served under our Corrections Education programming and have exited the program and/or facility.

Corrections Education programming was gravely impacted by the COVID 19 pandemic. Program year 2022 marked the new beginning for WIOA Corrections awards that began July 2022. To this day, we remain at the mercy of many correctional facilities that experience bouts of infections and consequently close services for periods of time within the program year. In most cases, during these periods of closure, our programs move to a remote status however, internet connections are not always permitted to students; on those occasions, teachers prepare packets of self-directed educational materials to send into the facilities for students to access and complete. These options afforded our teachers the opportunity to keep students engaged throughout the program year.

Our WIOA Corrections programs worked tirelessly in Program year 2022 to keep their incarcerated students engaged and on their continuum toward a high school equivalency diploma. Many funded programs have described systemic barriers to obtaining tracking information on the incarcerated population and express that they cannot report meaningful statistics with confidence. Another consideration is the challenge of a follow-up contact and data gathering as the participants wish to distance themselves from their former connections to the courts and the corrections system. In some cases, the adult education programs are prohibited from contacting inmates upon their release however, while receiving services, inmates are encouraged to contact their case manager even after they exit the facility. In spite of these types of restrictions, New York will work to support these funded programs in the goal of reporting significant data on recidivism. These challenges are ongoing and have been the focus of our technical assistance support to our Corrections Education programs.

In total, AEPP funded Corrections programming successfully served 1,136 students in program year 2022; this marks a significant 100% increase from the number served in program year 2021 (542 students). Our corrections programs also provided intense case management and transition services to those inmates released during Program year 2022. Teachers worked hard to transition these inmates back into traditional community programs. Teachers in these programs committed to investing in the NYSED/CUNY CareerKits which are housed electronically and therefore easily accessible to students once they were released. The CareerKits provide some self-paced lessons that students can work through on their own and then confer with teachers for further guidance and support. The CareerKits are also found on either of the two websites: www.CollectEDNY.org and www.TeachingtotheCoreNY.org .

Narrative Report for New York 2022