State Leadership Funds (Adult education and family literacy act Section 223 (AEFLA))
AEFLA Section 223(1)(a)
RI Department of Education (RIDE, the AEFLA State Eligible Agency) collaborated with other one-stop required partners on implementation of priority strategies from RI’s Combined State Plan throughout PY 2021.
The operator of RI’s American Job Center (AJC) system supported interagency alignment and information sharing among partners by convening quarterly virtual meetings of required AJC partners and sending out a weekly email digest of employment and training opportunities compiled from partners. The regular meetings provided a forum for information sharing and alignment of activities. The weekly email digest reached a statewide network, including local adult education providers.
Related to the Combined State Plan’s goal of advancing a career pathway strategy for individuals with barriers to employment, the state leveraged philanthropic funding to build out education and workforce initiatives designed to ensure a strong economic recovery for the state post-pandemic. Expanding implementation of Integrated Education and Training (IET) became a focus area for the grant-funded project, which included participation from the state’s WDB, RIDE, the Office of Higher Education, and the state community college.
IET is a key strategy to assist RI in meeting employer demand and diversifying recruitment pipelines during the pandemic recovery. Thanks to grant-funded technical assistance, RIDE developed its first ever IET guidance materials, which became a supporting resource for RIDE’s spring 2022 AEFLA competition. 32 IET programs funded for implementation in the new five-year AEFLA grant cycle. The project also enabled the purchase of specialized manufacturing equipment for the first IET programming at the state Adult Correctional Institution.
Other Combined State Plan-aligned areas of focus for the interagency grant project included establishing a statewide community of practice for career coaches from across systems (with participation from adult education, workforce development, and postsecondary) and engaging a cohort of employer partners committed to piloting competency-based hiring practices.
In PY 2021, RIDE facilitated weekly Adult Education Core Team meetings. These interagency meetings provided a regular opportunity for information sharing and alignment of state agency programs supporting lower-skilled Rhode Islanders. Representatives from the state WDB, Department of Human Services (DHS), and the Office of Higher Education attend the meetings, which deepened partner agencies’ understanding of adult education and improved policy and resource alignment. As a result of discussions, the state WDB and RIDE convened a digital literacy workgroup in summer 2021 with the goal of better defining participant and provider challenges around digital access and digital literacy skill gaps. The workgroup produced a set of recommendations that was presented to state decision makers for consideration for pandemic relief funding.
The RI Department of Labor and Training (DLT) leads the demand-driven, sector-based workforce development strategy at the center of the Combined State Plan. Two grant programs - Real Jobs RI (Real Jobs) and its youth-focused sister initiative, Real Skills for Youth (Real Skills) - are key to implementing DLT’s approach. At the end of PY 2021, all but two of RIDE’s 19 AEFLA grantees are also grantees of either Real Jobs or Real Skills, evidence of a high level of integration between the state’s adult education and workforce development systems.
AEFLA Section 223(1)(b)
RIDE funded two AEFLA grantees to lead planning and delivery of professional development (PD) for the statewide network of adult education providers in PY 2021. Providence Public Library (PPL)’s Tech Hub has been funded to provide PD related to instructional technology and digital literacy for practitioners and learners since 2017; and PY 2021 was the second year that the Community College of RI (CCRI) hosted the state’s Director of PD for Adult Education, who oversees non-technology-related PD for AEFLA providers. All PD offerings focus on the specific learning needs of adults, including effective instructional practices to support improved learner outcomes, and are available both to paid and volunteer personnel.
RI prioritized PD on instruction incorporating the essential components of reading in PY 2021, participating in the OCTAE-sponsored STudent Achievement in Reading (STAR) training that ran from March through December 2021. A cohort of seven instructors and four administrators completed the training. These practitioners represented five different local AEFLA grantees, a quarter of the state’s AEFLA providers. Following up on the national training, the state PD provider facilitated monthly meetings of a STAR Learning Circle through the second half of the program year, facilitating implementation in local programs and fostering development of instructor-leaders who will support adoption of effective evidence-based reading instruction statewide.
RIDE works closely with PD providers to connect local practitioners with emerging research and praxis from other states in New England and nationwide. Local practitioners have access to RI’s memberships in the New England Literacy Resource Center and in the Coalition on Adult Basic Education, so they can benefit from opportunities provided by these regional and national networks. As the majority of PD offerings were delivered online throughout PY 2021, it was easy for RI practitioners to access presentations by regionally- and nationally recognized trainers. Furthermore, virtual networking sessions and other informal opportunities allowed RI practitioners to connect with adult educators around the country and gain a deeper understanding of promising practices in other states.
To promote local practices with observed success and support the network with implementation, as well as to gather feedback and identify opportunities for further technical assistance, RI’s PD providers coordinated regular role-specific check-ins, most occurring on a biweekly or monthly basis. They also brought together a series of workshops led by RI instructors that elevated promising individual practices, cultivated a sense of community among practitioners, and recognized local instructor-leaders.
The state’s PD providers responded to practitioners’ evolving needs throughout the pandemic, emphasizing support for grantees in using technology for distance service delivery and integrating digital literacy skills into all instruction. RI leveraged Learning Circles as a PD delivery format that allows deeper exploration of topics, examination of relevant research, and that establishes a learning community to support implementation of new practices and peer sharing. Learning Circles exploring Hyflex instruction and learner engagement strategies were of particular interest in PY 2021.
AEFLA Section 223(1)(c)
RIDE promotes adoption of research-based instructional and programmatic practices by identifying resources grounded in the most rigorous research available. For example, in PY 2021, RI hosted a TERC, Inc. workshop for math instructors that centered on making math relevant to everyday life to encourage connection and understanding. The state PD providers also used LINCS Technical Assistance Center resources to develop workshops about learning differences and to build out the required orientation for new practitioners. Lastly, Tech Hub participated in the IDEAL Consortium and EdTech Center’s communities of practice, which promote evidence-based best practices and methodologies in distance education. RI’s participation in these research-based national initiatives equips the state PD provider to promote effective practices in distance education at the local level.
Supporting an aligned and research-informed approach to distance education continued to be a technical assistance priority during PY 2021. Tech Hub’s Distance & Blended Learning for RI Adult Education handbook with guidelines was a key resource for guidance on effective practices for a more intentional approach to distance education and connected local providers with vetted distance education strategies and tools while modeling best practices. Staff offered responsive implementation assistance to local practitioners and program leadership throughout PY 2021 with online PD programming for learning software, resources, and technology, support for implementing distance and blended learning, regular drop-in hours and on-demand one-on-one coaching on specific instructional strategies, technologies and platforms.
Although RI’s AJC offices remained closed for the first three quarters of PY 2021 due to pandemic restrictions, adult education fulfilled its responsibility to provide access to employment, education, and training services as a required one-stop partner. PPL, the local AEFLA grantee designated as the state’s liaison with the AJC system, transitioned established services to online platforms with the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, and continued distance service delivery in PY 2021 to ensure continuity of services for clients referred by AJC staff for assessment or targeted skill development. Please see the “Integration with One-Stop Partners” section of this report for details on how PPL and other local providers provided access to career services, even without access to physical space at the one-stops during PY 2021.
In order to increase system efficiencies, particularly with regard to consistent communication with providers, RIDE expanded existing communication channels and leveraged technology to pilot new information tools for both providers and the public. RI refined three established communication tools: RIAdultEd.org, a website with both field- and learner-facing pages, a calendar of PD offerings, and a collection of webinar recordings for on-demand access; role-specific Google Groups, which served as the preferred communication channel for peer collaboration and updates from the state office; and a weekly PD email newsletter with information on upcoming local, regional, and national opportunities. In PY 2021, the state office piloted two new cloud-based information-sharing resources. One is a view-only Master Referral Spreadsheet with details of statewide AEFLA grantees’ courses, and the other is an adult education page on RIDE’s unified enrollment platform, EnrollRI.org, that includes a provider directory linked to an online pre-registration form integrated with the state’s MIS, LACES. Both new tools provide clear, accurate, and user-friendly information about the state’s adult education network to their respective audiences and minimize barriers to access for potential students or referral partners.
RIDE staff paid by section 223 Leadership funds held monthly technical assistance meetings with local program leadership virtually throughout PY 2021. In addition to the regular monthly presentations on planned topics for local program leadership, regular, role-specific technical assistance was also provided for local program staff. For example, technical assistance on the new data reporting system was offered twice per month for Data Managers representing each local grantee and the state CASAS trainers facilitated quarterly meetings with Assessment Specialists. Regular feedback from grantees helped inform technical assistance topics. RIDE staff joined the biweekly program managers’ meeting, which was an opportunity for the state office to get a sense of common challenges and emerging needs among local providers. Common questions indicated potential areas for technical assistance.
AEFLA Section 223(1)(d)
RIDE conducted quarterly virtual evaluations of local providers, with both narrative and data components. The narrative component includes questions related to promising practices and implementation challenges over the previous quarter, as well as progress made on one-stop integration activities and employer partnerships. Local providers are required to submit NRS Tables 4, 4b, and 5 for the data component of the quarterly reports. NRS tables provided a snapshot of local enrollment and skill gain outcomes and revealed varying local levels of understanding about post-exit indicators.
In the two years since RI transitioned to a new data system vendor, the state office has developed a system of regular touch points with local programs to identify technical assistance needs and issues related to data collection and reporting. In PY 2021 these included: twice monthly Data Manager meetings; drop-in times for programs to ask state staff database questions; a curated archive of supporting documentation related to data collection and reporting; a state-wide Google Group to communicate with data system users; quarterly review of key NRS reporting tables at the local level, and quarterly audits of local program data using a tool provided by the data system vendor. This system of monitoring and review supports a high level of data hygiene and helped ensure that good work at the local level was captured for reporting by the state.
AEFLA Section 223(a)(2)
In addition to the quarterly narrative and data submission, RIDE held one-on-one virtual meetings with each funded eligible provider during quarters one and three to review program implementation and outcomes year to date. These conversations were an opportunity to reflect on lessons learned from the previous year’s performance, to identify areas potentially in need of monitoring or technical assistance, and to set targets for the coming quarter.
Performance Data Analysis
Overall, disruptions caused by the pandemic had less of an effect on RI’s PY 2021 performance data than they had in the prior two program years; however, in many areas, the state has not returned to its pre-pandemic achievement levels due to persistent challenges. RI’s local providers maintained a mix of distance, blended and in person instruction in PY 2021. With lower room capacities for in person learning due to pandemic restrictions, challenges for some learners to access programs continued, particularly for those who are hardest to serve. Additionally, adult learners are still navigating pandemic-related challenges such as job loss, basic needs insecurity, and intermittent closure of childcare and schools. RI did not meet its state performance targets for PY 2021; however, there is cause for optimism as several key data points showed growth in PY 2021 as compared to PY 2020 and PY 2019, some approaching or even exceeding pre-pandemic performance.
In PY 2021, RI’s 20 local programs served approximately 19% more participants compared to the prior program year: the state served a total of 4,555 adult learners with 12 or more hours of instruction, 719 more than the 3,836 with 12 or more hours in PY 2020. The PY 2021 participant number is approaching the number of learners served in PY 2019 and PY 2018 (4,982 and 5,942, respectively).
In PY 2021, 30% of participants were assessed at entry in Adult Basic Education (ABE) levels, 14% assessed at Adult Secondary Education (ASE) levels, and 56% at ESL levels. While these proportions stayed relatively consistent over the past two years, the increase of ESL participants from 51% in PY 2020 to 56% in PY 2021 signals that ESL participants, whose enrollment was the most impacted of any of the three student groups during the pandemic, are starting to return to adult education. The level of 14% ASE participants in PY 2021 is slightly lower than PY 2020’s 16%, but still higher than PY 2019’s 9%. The increase in the number of ASE students served in PY 2020 and PY 2021 relative to historical numbers for this group was due in part to a pandemic-related influx of 16- and 17-year-old students leaving traditional high school settings to earn a GED.
RI’s PY 2021 MSG percentage of 42.05% demonstrates almost ten percentage points of growth from PY 2020’s MSG of 34.1% and PY 2019’s 33%. This can be attributed to higher numbers of participants, increased administration of assessments, and the inclusion of IET and Workplace Adult Education and Literacy MSG Types 3, 4, and 5 on Table 4. Although this increase in MSG percentage is promising, it has yet to return to RI’s pre-pandemic level of 53.0%.
The state also saw growth in the number of High School Equivalency (HSE) completions in PY 2021. The 271 High School Equivalency (HSE) completions among participants during PY 2021 was a significant increase from PY 2020’s 194 completions and PY 2019’s 122 completions. The PY 2021 HSE completion rate is approaching RI’s pre-pandemic level. This increase can be attributed to the reopening of the state’s GED testing centers, which had been closed or open with limited capacity in PY 2019 and PY 2020 to comply with public health guidelines, and the availability of the online proctored GED exam, launched in May 2020. Additionally, RI continued data matching to more accurately capture EFL gains through transition to postsecondary and recorded 125 such EFL gains in PY 2021, an increase from 65 in PY 2020 and 108 in PY 2019.
The post-testing rate is another data point that explains RI’s increased MSG rate in PY 2021. 52.3% of participants took a post-test in PY 2021, a significant increase from PY 2020’s 36% and slightly higher than PY 2019’s 50%. The state’s historically strong performance on MSG percentage has been linked to its strong post-testing rate. The low PY 2019 and PY 2020 MSG percentages reflect the difficulty in administering assessments to capture gains while adhering to public health and safety guidelines. RIDE has identified systemwide adoption of computer-based assessment as a priority in PY 2022, in order to build out the state’s capacity for remote assessment administration. As the state and local programs continue to develop best practices and adjust to reopening and new modalities, it is likely that the post-testing rate, and thus MSG percentages, will continue to increase to pre-pandemic levels.
On Table 5 outcomes, RI saw an increase in the second quarter employment rate from 34.6% to 39.9% and a $1,080.15 increase in second quarter median earnings on its NRS Table 5 from PY 2020 to PY 2021. The fourth quarter employment rate decreased slightly from 35.7% in PY 2020 to 35.2% in PY 2021. The postsecondary enrollment and employment rates within a year of exit for ASE learners decreased from 12.5% in PY 2020 to 9.6% in PY 2021. There were no outcomes for percentage attaining a postsecondary credential while enrolled or within a year of exit in PY 2020, but in PY 2021 that increased to .9% (4 participants). The overall deduplicated credential attainment was 12.3%, 1.4 percentage points lower than PY 2020’s 13.7%.
The state’s low percentages on Table 5 are due in part to limitations in the state’s system for reporting these data as well as inconsistent understanding and difficulty tracking the post-exit indicators at the local level. RI transitioned data system vendors at the beginning of PY 2020, launching the new system in October. The incomplete export of historical data from the legacy data system affected the data available for PY 2020 and PY 2021 Table 5 reporting. RIDE worked closely with the new data system vendor and with local providers to mitigate gaps in the migrated data; however, it was not possible to compensate fully for limitations in the legacy data. PY 2021 is the last year that gaps in the migrated data will impact the state’s reporting on post-exit outcomes, so we are optimistic that the data for PY 2022 and beyond will be more complete.
The transition to a new data reporting system has led the state to prioritize robust technical assistance to help programs learn and build data reporting comfort and capacity. This includes two technical assistance sessions per month, along with virtual drop-in sessions with state staff if needed by programs. RIDE also performs quarterly audits of local grantees’ data. Staff follow up with grantees about anomalies identified in the quarterly audits and work with local program staff to address problems in data collection and reporting.
While there has been growth in performance measures across the board over the past program year, state and local staff are still focused on supporting enrollment and participation for lower-level learners, those without access to technology or digital literacy skills, and English Language Learners. Many of these students and their families are still greatly affected by the pandemic. RI is committed to identifying and addressing barriers to access for specific student populations as the adult education system stabilizes post-pandemic.
Integration with One-stop Partners
As the AEFLA State Eligible Agency, RIDE is a key partner in RI’s WIOA implementation. A local AEFLA provider is a member of the state WDB, RIDE representatives are members of the state WDB’s Adult Career Pathways Advisory Committee, and there are local adult education providers on both of the state’s local WDBs. RIDE enters into Memorandums of Agreement (MOAs) with the two local WDBs related to coordinated service delivery and infrastructure cost sharing. Infrastructure Funding Agreements are part of the MOAs and are based on a cost allocation methodology where costs are charged according to each AJC partners’ proportionate use of an AJC office and relative to the benefits received from the use of the office. In RI, cost sharing is based on the number of seats allocated to each of the AJC partners. RIDE pays the cost of one seat in each of the local WDBs.
Adult education services are fully integrated into the state AJC system. RIDE has delegated responsibility for delivery of AEFLA career services onsite at the state’s two comprehensive AJC offices to the PPL, which receives funding to provide onsite services at the state’s two comprehensive AJC offices located in Providence/Cranston and West Warwick. At the local level, other AEFLA grantees also partner with AJCs to conduct outreach, support referrals, and co-locate services onsite at the offices. Finally, all local AEFLA providers are connected with the RI AJC operator’s weekly email digest, which ensures broad information sharing about employment and training opportunities statewide, including adult education services. The email digest reaches both AJC and community-based partners.
Because of the closure of RI AJC offices from spring 2020 through quarter four of PY 2021, adult education resources typically delivered onsite were transferred to online platforms. PPL’s virtual service delivery included drop-in hours on a regular schedule for clients referred by AJC staff for assessment, digital literacy skill development, GED preparation, or other adult education services. PPL’s device and hotspot loan program ensured that clients had the technology needed to participate in virtual services.
Partnerships between local AEFLA providers and AJC offices also continued virtually (and in-person when possible). Local AEFLA providers used the weekly AJC email digest to share relevant postings with their students and disseminate adult education program schedules and registration information relevant for AJC clients. One program invited AJC employment counselors to give presentations in ESL and GED classes to discuss job opportunities and host career exploration workshops. Another local provider has begun discussions with RI DLT about co-locating AJC services onsite at the provider’s location in Central Falls, an urban, majority BIPOC community without a local AJC.
RI learners’ access to WIOA one-stop services was limited during the time that the AJC offices were closed for in-person services, so local AEFLA staff helped learners find information and apply for benefits like Unemployment Insurance, Temporary Disability Insurance, and childcare assistance. Local providers adapted and expanded existing career coaching services to support job seekers who might otherwise have been served by in-person AJC services. RIDE encourages collaboration between local providers and the AJC system by promoting WIOA’s requirements around one-stop integration and highlighting opportunities for partnership. RIDE monitors local providers’ partnership activities through quarterly narrative report submissions.
Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education
IELCE Funds and grants
In PY 2021, four RI AEFLA providers, identified through a spring 2018 funding competition, offered Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education (IECLE)-funded activities. PY 2021 was the fourth and final year of the grant cycle, which had been extended a year due to the pandemic. Annual IELCE funding allocations to the four providers ranged from $60,972 to $76,331.
Training activity
In PY 2021, all four IELCE providers offered IELCE services in combination with in-house IET programming supported by section 243 funds. Depending on participants’ skills and goals, providers also refer IELCE participants to IET programs offered by other organizations, which may not be supported by section 243 funds. Grantees provide education services in combination with IET by delivering occupational skills training that integrates contextualized English Language Acquisition and civics instruction. Many of these pathways include work-based learning and all provide wraparound supports to help learners complete the program. Local providers have found multilingual career coaching to be an effective support for IELCE participants’ success.
IELCE Section 243(c)(1)
RI’s IELCE providers have designed pathways aligned with RI’s priority industry sectors, combining occupational skills training, relevant industry-recognized credentials, and contextualized English Language Acquisition and civics instruction. Most of the state’s IELCE-funded programs are within the health care sector: Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), Medical Assistant, Dental Assistant, Pharmacy Technician, Direct Support Professional, and homemaker. IELCE programs in other sectors include education (Teacher’s Assistant), hospitality (Kitchen Manager), and the building trades. Providers are responsive to employer needs. The state’s IELCE programs are critical partners in upskilling RIers to meet post-pandemic workforce demand. For example, programs are working with multiple employers to respond to staffing shortages in the health care sector. Students complete classroom training and are then immediately employed to gain required clinical hours, evidence of strong alignment with local workforce demand.
Furthermore, multilingual graduates of IELCE programs are especially valued by employer partners who serve RI’s growing immigrant communities. Long term partnerships with employers have strengthened pathways into the health care sector, resulting in job placements for IELCE graduates. Partnerships also benefit employers, whose multilingual clients receive culturally competent care in their native language. This is not unique to the healthcare professions, as employers in hospitality fields also value multilingual employees.
IELCE Section 243(c)(2)
IELCE program activities in RI are integrated with the local workforce development system thanks to partnership at the state and local levels. As part of its AEFLA funding competition process, RIDE submits applications to the relevant local WDB for review. Local WDB leadership reviews applications and provides feedback on opportunities to improve alignment with the local plan priorities. Additionally, of the state’s four IELCE grantees in PY 2021, one grantee was a member of the state WDB, as well as a member of the state WDB’s Adult Career Pathways Advisory Committee. Two other grantees were also on the Committee, along with representation from RIDE, the AEFLA SEA.
All four of RIDE’s PY 2021 IELCE grantees are also grantees of the RI DLT, and partner with their local WDBs. Specifically, grantees braid workforce development funding with AEFLA funds to support in-house IET pathways accessible to IELCE participants. Thanks to regular information sharing facilitated by the operator of the AJCs, IELCE grantees are also able to provide supported referrals to workforce development funded IET programming offered by other organizations. Finally, grantees collaborate with local AJC staff to provide career services designed to be accessible for participants with limited English proficiency, like job clubs and job fairs.
Adult Education Standards
The RI Board of Education officially designated the College and Career Readiness Standards (CCRS) as RI’s standards for adult education in January 2014. Because CCRS are a subset of the Common Core State Standards used by RI’s public education system, adult education providers’ use of the CCRS ensures alignment between RI’s adult and K-12 educational systems.
Support for local standards implementation continued to be a priority for state adult education professional development activities in PY 2021, as the state sought out CCRS-aligned resources and training relevant for incorporating standards in instruction. The PD provider created an introductory course to help new adult education staff and instructors acclimate to the standards and standards-based instruction for their content area. The 2-part workshop described the origins and purpose of the CCRS by having attendees participate in activities about the three instructional shifts and discussion focused on standards-based lesson planning. Another PD offering addressed standards-aligned instructional practices that best support beginning English learners.
Programs for Corrections Education (AEFLA Section 225)
In PY 2021, RIDE allocated AEFLA funds to the RI Department of Corrections (DOC) to deliver transition services to inmates at the state Adult Correctional Institution (ACI) who are within five years of release. AEFLA funds support services for inmates for whom behavioral issues have presented a barrier to participation in educational programming. AEFLA-funded programming, located at the medium- and maximum-security facilities, is intended to support inmates’ progress on their individual plans to succeed post-release. Apart from this supportive transition programming, AEFLA funds also partially support a contract with CCRI for coordination of educational programming and postsecondary advising services delivered on site at the ACI. These services are available to inmates enrolling in certificate-based courses, courses leading to industry-recognized credentials, and college courses. In PY 2021, 62 inmates participated in AEFLA-funded transition services in PY 2021. 44 participants completed the program. The relative rate of recidivism among participants served with AEFLA funds during PY 2021 was 44% for sentenced offenders. This percentage was determined by dividing the number of AEFLA-funded participants who returned to the ACI by the number of participants released over a given period of time.