State Leadership Funds (Adult education and family literacy act Section 223 (AEFLA))
AEFLA Section 223(1)(a)
Strategies of Vermont’s WIOA Combined State Plan that were emphasized in Program Year (PY) 2022 resulted in AOE participation in DOL-sponsored training on Registered Apprenticeship and Pre-Apprenticeship programs. These trainings are foundational to future professional development that will be rolled out to local AEL providers to support the design of pre-apprenticeships that may also be IET programs.
One provider implemented an Integrated Education and Training (IET) program that included support for the workforce training component from the Department of Labor to prepare students to work in the Restaurant and Food Services industry within the Hospitality and Tourism career pathway. This partnership resulted in a co-enrollment of services and the ServSafe credential for participants.
AOE continues to participate in Adult Re-entry cross-disciplinary group, which has resulted in ongoing work with the Department of Corrections education staff to improve transitions of students from incarceration to AEL services. The DOC will be transitioning from CASAS to the TABE in order to improve access by aligning assessments with AEL services.
Alignment of AEL activities also occurred through regular meetings at the local level. AEL providers participated in local meetings convened by Vocational Rehabilitation staff that included one-stop partners and employers in order to best serve customers with disabilities to obtain employment. Local providers continued to make referrals to one-stop partners as needed. See response to question #3 for more information on the provision of career services.
State staff shared data quarterly with Vocational Rehabilitation to capture co-enrollment data and obtained annual employment data from the Department of Labor. AOE also collects data from local AEL providers on services provided to employers and sends this data to DOL to be included in the statewide report for Effectiveness in Serving Employers.
AEFLA Section 223(1)(b)
During the reporting period, the Agency of Education participated in three national offerings that involved AOE staff participation with AEL provider staff engaged in intensive professional development. This participation included 44 virtual events. Further details are provided below.
- Teaching Skills that Matter included a 3-day in-person session, an orientation plus three webinars facilitated by the TSTM project team. Four AEL provider staff participated representing three of four local AEL provider organizations. A sustainability plan was created as part of program and AOE staff worked with the provider participants to create a PowerPoint that would introduce TSTM to others while giving context to the role of TSTM in helping to meet Vermont’s academic standards. AOE staff also held regular TSTM office hours (that are ongoing) and continued support for the implementation of TSTM strategies at the local level.
- Only one AEL provider staff member took advantage of the Standards in Action offering with an AOE staff representative. Vermont has seen a 23% increase in ELLs seeking AEL services as compared to pre-pandemic program year 2018. AEL providers have experienced more staff turn-over and the AOE has increased its support for serving ELL students. Program year 2023 includes an Integrating English Language Proficiency Standards with Academic Standards series offered with LINCS.
- The IET Basic Design Camp had five AEL provider staff participating, representing all four AEL provider organizations. Additional provider staff joined the cohort and the AOE to develop an IET checklist that is more streamlined and includes the single set of learning objectives. As a result of the design camp, AEL providers have been developing new IETs with continued support from AOE staff. Vermont will also be participating in the IET Advanced Design Camp in program year 2023.
In all, less than a dozen out of over 100 local AEL provider staff participated in these offerings during program year 2022. The AOE has spent significant time and resources to offer quality professional development opportunities that will result in rigorous educational services in addition to measurable skill gains for students. Recordings of events are made available whenever possible. The year’s offerings focused on equity, trauma-informed practices, serving those with disabilities, and strengthening curriculum in instruction that is standards-based.
To address serving students with disabilities, the AOE promoted a four-part webinar series from the National Association of State Directors to local AEL providers which described guidelines that support any educators serving those who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing, their families, and professionals working with them.
Other offerings promoted by the AOE through their listserv included a six-session trauma-informed series sponsored by LINCS and COABE webinars covering such topics as IETs and career navigation.
Through Vermont’s membership in the New England Literacy Resource Center, two webinars were developed in partnership: Language Based Learning Disabilities and Unpacking the Science of Reading for Adult Learners.
Trainings that focused on AEL assessment literacy were:
- BEST Plus 2.0 new administrator training through a contract with the Center for Applied Linguistics
- Introduction to Assessment for Adult Basic Education – LINCS facilitated course
- TEAL Formative Assessment: Math – LINCS facilitated course
- TEAL Formative Assessment: Writing – LINCS facilitated course
- Three local assessment trainings of trainers facilitated by AOE staff
Multiple trainings were also offered on the new database, LACES, which went live in April of 2023 in addition to three trainings for local data specialists who are responsible for supporting local staff in ensuring the quality of data entry.
The AOE conducted a professional development needs survey of provider staff in the spring of 2023 to inform planning. Thirty-four respondents included instructional staff, seven were directors, and six were administrative or data specialists. Respondents were given a list of eight topics for which they would like to receive additional training: reading, writing, mathematics, social studies/civics/citizenship, science, health, technology integration, and disabilities/special needs law (504). The results were technology integration (8), reading (7), disabilities/special needs law (7) math (4), social studies/civics/citizenship (3), health (2), writing (1), reading (1), English as a second language (1), and English language learning & technology (1). Further professional development events are being offered and developed for program years 2023 and 2024.
AEFLA Section 223(1)(c)
Thirty virtual sessions with provider staff were held as below.
- Quarterly one-on-one sessions with each of the four providers’ leadership staff to review benchmarks, performance, and progress toward Federal and State targets.
- Eight meetings with provider leadership staff included all four providers’ executive and program directors. These meetings provide AOE updates and presentations by AOE staff or one-stop partners and include opportunities for AEL provider staff to share announcements, successes and challenges.
- Seven additional individual meetings with provider organizations on the topics of:
- Developing and implementing IET programs
- Servicing an increased number of ELL students
- Implementing IELCE programs
- Braiding funding through partnerships
- Supporting students with multiple barriers and addressing individual challenging circumstances
AEFLA Section 223(1)(d)
Agency of Education staff audit student records quarterly to ensure active education functioning levels and appropriate services that lead to graduation. Other monitoring activities included quarterly performance monitoring for each provider and evaluation of program improvement.
In the spring of 2023, the Agency of Education held the AEL grants competition and facilitated a database migration. Applications were received from the same four AEL providers and each was awarded funding to serve specific counties. The process of reviewing grant applications provided an opportunity for evaluation of programs with input from colleagues at the AOE.
The AOE conducts quarterly desk monitoring in several ways. For those students receiving reimbursable services under the state-funded High School Completion Program, each student record is audited for accuracy, updated information such as goals and achievements, valid assessments, and appropriate instructional services. Other quarterly monitoring includes each AEL provider to review progress toward performance targets to identify challenges and successes. Beginning in PY21, the AOE included in AEL grant agreements a list of expectations for progress toward meeting established Federal and State targets known as “benchmarks”. For example, at mid-year, AEL providers are expected to have reached these benchmarks:
By December 31, 2022, the subrecipient will be expected to meet the following benchmarks to demonstrate progress toward meeting the annual targets:
- 50% of total students served
- 90% of students with baseline assessment
- 25% of students with progress assessment
If subrecipient is falling short of two or more of the mid-year benchmarks, the subrecipient will be required to develop a CIP (Continuous Improvement Plan). The CIP will need to include specific strategies that ensure meeting the annual performance targets before July 1, 2023.
Benchmarks were also developed for the end of the third quarter. In this way, AEL providers are held accountable for continuous work toward meeting the annual targets. The practice of reviewing these benchmarks at mid-year and the end of the third quarter resulted in a deeper conversation with each individual provider into their recruitment, engagement and assessment practices. No AEL providers were required to submit a Continuous Improvement Plan in PY 21 or PY22 because they met at least two out of the three benchmarks each quarter. The AOE reviews the number of students without progress (post-test) assessments although they have received at least 40 hours of instruction and asks questions about specific students in order to better understand the barriers to assessing. This desk monitoring led to improved outcomes this year for student recruitment and engagement, but we continue to struggle to improve the progress assessment rate, which directly impacts the MSG rate.
AEFLA Section 223(a)(2)
Vermont secondary students have access to the dual enrollment program, which supports eligible students to take two college courses. The program is available not only to high school enrolled students, but also to adult education and literacy students assessing at a minimum of NRS 5 in the skill areas of reading, language, and math on the TABE 11/12. For those not demonstrating an NRS 5 in all three skill areas, AEL providers may submit a prior approval form to make the case that the student has shown readiness in the content area of the college course in some other way (i.e., Accuplacer, GED College Ready scores, evidence of proficiency on high school transcript, etc.)
In April of 2023, Vermont’s data was migrated into LACES. As part of this migration, a process of reviewing how required data is entered into the system was conducted that included elements of discovery, testing, and training for both AOE and AEL provider staff. In the fall of 2023, the data was painstakingly reviewed by AOE staff to determine the accuracy of data in each of the NRS reporting tables. When errors or omissions were identified, AEL provider staff were directed to make corrections. This process was crucial to demonstrating Vermont’s performance in the program year. Analysis of the final submission of NRS tables convened by comparing them with those submitted in previous years, especially comparing pre-pandemic to current performance.
Performance Data Analysis
Results of analysis show that AEL in Vermont’s Federal report population increased by 37.4% (n=368) as compared to the lowest participation in PY20. This also includes a 79.5% (n=179) increase of English Language Learner (ELL) students in the same period. Although this does not represent a return to pre-pandemic levels, the increase demonstrates some recovery in both re-engagement of students while recruiting others new to AEL services. In PY20, Vermont observed an increase in the number and percentage of overall students served assessing at ABE level at entry and a decrease in ASE students. The largest increase was observed between PY19 (53%) and PY20 (66%). However, beginning in PY21, the trend started to reverse to 64% and continued to decrease in PY22 to 61%. These numbers may reflect the impacts of the pandemic as students experienced learning loss and others entered services with higher needs and barriers.
For several years since the beginning of the pandemic, Vermont has not met Measurable Skill Gains (MSG) targets although some employment rate targets and all credential attainment rate targets were met. In the two years leading up to the pandemic (PY17 and PY18) Measurable Skill Gains targets were met. The momentum gained from meeting targets for two years in a row was lost as AEL providers served an increased number of students facing multiple barriers, including lack of childcare and transportation, lack of access to the internet, learning loss as a result of the interruption of their education during the pandemic, and increased levels of stress.
Vermont exceeded employment targets in PY22 with the exception of employment fourth quarter after exit. This is an improvement over PY21 when none of the employment targets were met. The cohorts in the measure were those who exited during 2020, a time when many people were unemployed. Employment measures are expected to continue increasing as Vermont enjoys a low unemployment rate.
As previously mentioned, the AOE is engaged in ongoing efforts to increase the quality of instruction and services through intensive professional development in the areas of IET, English Language Proficiency standards, and academic content areas. In addition, the AOE is working on literacy-focused professional development on a couple of fronts. The AOE has launched a series on literacy that although is largely focused on K-12 students, necessarily includes modules that address working with the youngest AEL students (aged 16-20) served under Title II. These self-paced modules are available to AEL instructors. Finally, the AOE’s AEL team has worked with MetaMetrics to bring training specifically to AEL providers to orient them to the resources and use of the Lexile and Quantile Frameworks.
Integration with One-stop Partners
The State eligible agency is the Vermont Agency of Education. In PY21, a new One-Stop Partner agreement was developed and signed in the spring of 2022 for the period of July 1, 2022 - June 30, 2025. The agreement includes the infrastructure costs agreement as the AOE has allocated Federal WIOA funds in the amount of $1,181.00 that was scheduled to be paid in quarterly installments beginning in PY22. Due to staff turnover at the Vermont Department of Labor and in leadership of the State Workforce Development Board, no invoices for the infrastructure costs have been issued to date.
Local AEL providers are responsible for providing career services at the local level. Provider staff meet with regional core program staff and customers at the local core partner program offices. Some regions have developed common referral forms to facilitate warm referrals. In PY22, career services applicable to AEFLA programs continued to be delivered as follows:
|
Career Service |
# Students |
|
Outreach, intake, and system orientation (1X1) |
446 |
|
Outreach, intake, and system orientation (Group) |
26 |
|
Initial assessment of skill levels (1X1) |
754 |
|
Initial assessment of skill levels (Group) |
6 |
|
Referrals and coordination (1X1) |
62 |
|
Referrals and coordination (Group) |
13 |
|
Provision of performance information and program cost (1X1) |
4 |
|
Provision of performance information and program cost (Group) |
0 |
|
Information on and referrals to supportive services (1X1) |
13 |
|
Information on and referrals to supportive services (Group) |
5 |
There was an increase in the number of career services delivered to students by AEL providers in four out of five categories with the biggest increase in Outreach, intake and system orientation of 39.6%. It is likely that improved data entry practices coupled with the increase in program participation contributed.
Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education
IELCE Funds and grants
The competition for grant funds under Section 243 in Vermont was held in the spring of 2023 – the next competition for grand funds is scheduled for the spring of 2025. PY22 was the second year of a two-year grant period beginning July 1, 2021 and ending June 30, 2023. In the current grant period which began on July 1, 2023, Vermont Adult Learning (VAL) was awarded 83.42% or $50,306 of the $60,306 available. Central Vermont Adult Basic Education (CVABE) received $10,000. The amounts were based on the strength of their proposals and also their past performance. In PY22, CVABE served 17% of ESL students in Vermont while VAL served 74.73% of students. Two other providers together served 7.5% of ESL students without receiving IELCE funds.
Training activity
Vermont participated in the IET Basic Design Camp in PY22 and will be participating in the program the IET Advanced Design Camp in PY23. The AOE also convenes bi-weekly IET office hours, which is an opportunity for any AEL provider staff member to share successes and challenges and receive individual technical assistance.
The State also provided technical assistance to one provider implementing IELCE to design a Licensed Nursing Assistant IET program. Through a partnership with the local Career Technical Education center to provide the training component, the program was ready to launch with a cohort of seven interested students. When the LNA instructor fell ill and could no longer teach, the provider, with the State’s help, began an extensive search for a substitute. The search is ongoing. The workforce shortage in the healthcare industry has led to similar difficulties implementing programs with partners. In Vermont, LNA courses must be taught by a licensed Registered Nurse.
Another provider has been implementing a program to prepare individuals for entry level jobs in solar panel installation, heat pump installation and/or weatherization. The program titled “Energy Works” has run in several areas of the state with the help of two large grants that the provider secured. Unfortunately, meeting all of the requirements of an IET have been more difficult than anticipated (i.e., concurrently executed components) and the State is providing technical assistance. Of note is that the State’s collaboration with LINCS to bring the professional development series on integrating ELP standards with academic content standards will help as the provider develops the curriculum of the program to meet the needs of ELL students.
IELCE Section 243(c)(1)
ELL classes integrate civics and citizenship education with English literacy. Providers use Burlington English (BE), an online educational program that integrates civics training and workforce preparation training into teaching the English language.
Our data indicates that in PY22, for all Periods of Participation (PoPs), 23.06% of IELCE participants were employed the second quarter after exit, and 23.97% of our participants were employed by the fourth quarter after exit. In PY22, the Vermont AEL providers provided 373 students with Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education services.
Compared to the overall AEL population (46.27% and 39.84% respectively), post-exit employment rates are low for the IELCE population. We are pleased, however, to see that the median earnings for second quarter after exit is $7,862.80 for IELCE students as compared to $4,423.21 for the overall AEL population. Possibly, it is due to a number of IELCE students entering our program who already have higher degrees. New Americans entering Title II-funded services in Vermont have a wide range of English skills and educational backgrounds, yet the vast majority depend on English language instruction to help them achieve academic, citizenship, and career goals.
IELCE Section 243(c)(2)
AEL providers participate in regional workforce groups including Vocational Rehabilitation’s Workforce Partners, which match employers with job seekers who have disabilities. Some regions convene “workforce development boards” that are independently striving to mitigate workforce shortages by increasing access to training and meeting employer needs. These groups are not overseen by a state entity and vary in their degree of engagement and efficacy. Providers communicate with local employers to recruit students and to match employers’ workforce needs with students who possess or can attain the skills.
Adult Education Standards
AEL content standards continue to be aligned with Vermont’s K-12 Education Quality Standards (EQS). The EQS adopts the Common Core Standards, which incorporates the College and Career Readiness Standards (CCRS). Every hour of instruction tracked in the database must display the predominant standard addressed in the session – whether it is an EQS transferable skill or a CCRS for Adult Education standard.
In addition, the revised assessment manual for PY21 expanded platforms allowed for proxy hours. Each platform was vetted by the State through the lens of standards-based content. Only Learner Mastery Model proxy hours are permitted for these platforms to ensure that student hours tracked are the result of mastery of standards. The platforms are: Essential Education’s GED Academy; Khan Academy for content areas aligned with EQS: math, reading and language arts, and science; and IXL in the standards-aligned content areas of math, language arts, science and social studies.
The AOE continues to uphold a minimum of NRS 5 skills in reading, language, and math for graduates of the state-funded High School Completion Program (HSCP) unless a prior approval has been sought and approved. Through this program, AEL providers work with local schools to develop personalized learning plans that meet the school’s Proficiency Based Graduation Requirements. This is another way that there is alignment with K-12 standards and Vermont residents are afforded the option of a diploma from a local high school as an unenrolled from school student. AEL students also have the option of pursuing the GED with preparation support from their local AEL provider.
Programs for Corrections Education (AEFLA Section 225)
Per Vermont’s WIOA Combined State Plan, Title II funds are not used to fund corrections education for incarcerated individuals. The Community High School (CHS) of Vermont serves incarcerated individuals through education and access to a diploma.