Located in:
- Program-specific Requirements for Adult Education and Family Literacy Act ProgramsThe Unified or Combined State Plan must include a description of the following as it pertains to Adult Education and Literacy programs under title II, the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA).
a. Aligning of Content Standards
Describe how the eligible agency will, by July 1, 2016, align its content standards for adult education with State-adopted challenging academic content standards, as adopted under section 1111(b)(1) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(1)).
Current Narrative:
The Arkansas Division of Wokforce Services, Adult Education Section (ADWS-AES) adopted the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education (OCTAE)’s College and Career Readiness (CCR) Standards for Adult Education developed by Susan Pimentel. The CCR standards were implemented along with Common Core, which is the state standard that has been adopted by the Arkansas Department of Education for K-12 schools at the end of the 2013-2014 program year.
To ensure adult education and literacy council providers are utilizing a standardized approach to teaching and student learning, the Arkansas Division of Wokforce Services, Adult Education Section (ADWS-AES) has developed the Arkansas College and Career Readiness Framework (ACCRF) based on U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education (OCTAE)’s College and Career Readiness Standards (2013). The ACCRF is designed to be used by instructors for classroom instruction for all levels of ABE and ASE students. These standards form the foundation of lessons where career-oriented analogies are presented for students to solve in efforts of developing skills in job related career clusters. Arkansas Adult Education teachers will be able to expand and adapt ACCRF to meet the local and student needs. The ACCRF for the educational functioning level (EFL) 6.0-12.9 was finalized and distributed to all Arkansas Adult Education programs in 2014. The ACCRF Committee has since expanded the ACCRF EFLs to 0.0 - 5.9, and the updated ACCRF was distributed to all Arkansas Adult Education programs at the beginning of the 2016 program year. The Arkansas Division of Wokforce Services, Adult Education Section (ADWS-AES) has also prepared the Arkansas Adult Education ESL Framework based on the CCR, which distributed to local programs and ESL instructors July 1, 2016.
The ACCRF was developed and implemented by ACCRF Taskforce, which consisted of state office representatives, instructors, and program directors from across the state. The scope of the ACCRF project included creating sample activities and a list of resources designed to prepare students for the high school equivalency exam and entering post-secondary training or the workforce. The taskforce met on several occasions to develop plans, content and assistance for teachers in meeting CCR Standards. The result was the Arkansas Adult Education Framework, which was sent out to the local programs in draft mode on October 16, 2014. Various taskforce members researched frameworks and curriculum guides created by other states to find the best practices. Some of the Common Core Standards from other states examined included Kentucky, New York, Georgia and Florida. Each CCR standard was examined closely and the committee held a two-day workshop where activities and resources were aligned with each standard. Taskforce members searched through online and printed curriculum to provide examples of each of the skills that students needed to master at each level.
Programs are expected to adhere to all standards and align with the ACCRF by July 1, 2017. Between August 2016 and July 2017, programs received local and regional training on the implementation and use of the ACCRF with special emphasis on rigor, text complexity, evidence, building knowledge, application, process, fluency, concept and understanding. Programs will then use the framework to select curriculum that meets the standards set in the framework and will discuss their curriculum during their regional or statewide training. In addition, as an extension of the ACCRF Committee, a statewide Curriculum Committee is being established to provide leadership in curriculum development, review and recommend curriculum, and evaluate curriculum in a systematic manner on a regular basis to ensure that they are current and relevant to the state office.
Leadership funds were used to support the taskforce meetings and included webinars, conference calls, and face-to-face meetings. State office technical assistance was also provided to support the project and included site visits, conference calls, and regional trainings. The framework was presented as a break-out session at the State’s Spring Administrators’ Meeting and the Arkansas Association of Continuing Adult Education Conference. Participants were given the opportunity to provide additional input.
Lastly, the Arkansas Adult Learning Resource Center (AALRC), the state’s professional development training center, was created to provide a source for identification, evaluation, and dissemination of materials and information to adult education/literacy programs. Several workshops were hosted by the AALRC, such as Career & College Readiness Mathematics, Career & College Readiness Language Arts, Integrating Technology in the Classroom, and Regional GED® trainings, to help prepare teachers to teach to a more rigorous curriculum.