Narrative: e. 1.

The Arkansas Division of Workforce Services, Adult Education Section will use no more than 12.5% of federal funds for the following adult education and literacy activities to develop or enhance the adult education system of the state:

(A) The alignment of adult education and literacy activities with other core programs and one-stop partners, including eligible providers, to implement the strategy identified in the unified State plan under section 102 or the combined State plan under section 103, including the development of career pathways to provide access to employment and training services for individuals in adult education and literacy activities.

(A) Response: The Adult Education Section has either met or is in the process of meeting the requirements of Section 223 of WIOA and funds will be used accordingly. The Adult Education Division continues to have monthly meetings with other state agencies and divisions including the Arkansas Division of Workforce Services, Arkansas Rehabilitation Services, Workforce Investment Board, and Services for the Blind and Deaf. In addition, some adult education programs are located within workforce centers or have a satellite program located there, and all of the adult education programs across the state provide services to one-stop participants.

The Arkansas Career Readiness Certificate involves collaboration between the Arkansas Diivision of Workforce Services, Arkansas Workforce Centers, the Arkansas Department of Higher Education, the Arkansas Community Colleges, the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, and the Arkansas Department of Education, with the governor signing the official Arkansas CRC certificates. Adult education programs provide basic skills improvement through regular adult education services as well as the Key Train software. Several adult education centers also provide the WorkKeys assessment which an individual must pass to receive an Arkansas Career Readiness Certificate. Recently, this initiative has begun offering the Platinum CRC, which takes higher skill levels to earn. It is hoped that this move will increase the number of people who come to adult education to improve their skills in order to earn this credential.

The Arkansas Division of Workforce Services, Adult Education Section will continue its partnership with the Arkansas Community Colleges to offer Accelerating Opportunity, a career pathway program, foradults without a high school diploma. Accelerating Opportunity is a community college initiative of Jobs for the Future whose goal is to ensure that more workers have the skills needed to earn credentials that lead to family-sustaining careers. The initiative aims to change how Adult Basic Education is structured and delivered through a collaborative effort in which a basic skills instructor and technical college instructor co-teach and plan the curriculum for low skill level adults in a technical course leading to a certificate credential. Arkansas will be in its third year as an Accelerating Opportunity program and plans to continue the program in the future.

(B) The establishment or operation of high quality professional development programs to improve the instruction provided pursuant to local activities required under section 231(b), including instruction incorporating the essential components of reading instruction as such components relate to adults, instruction related to the specific needs of adult learners, instruction provided by volunteers or by personnel of a State or outlying area, and dissemination of information about models and promising practices related to such programs.

(B) Response: Arkansas has its own professional development resource center, The Arkansas Adult Learning Resource Center (AALRC). The AALRC is funded through the Southeast Arkansas Education Service Cooperative by the Arkansas Division of Workforce Services, Adult Education Section. It was established in 1990 to provide a source for identification, evaluation, and dissemination of materials and information to adult education/literacy programs. The AALRC is located in Little Rock, Arkansas and has seven full-time employees, which include a Director, Professional Development Coordinator, Information Technology Specialist, Disabilities Project Manager, Media Coordinator, Secretary, and Administrative Assistant. State funds support employee salaries while federal funds are used for the fulfillment of our mission.

In order to teach adult education classes in Arkansas, teachers must hold an Arkansas teacher license. Teachers must have at least 60 hours of professional development to maintain his/her teaching license. In addition, Arkansas requires adult education directors, full-time instructors and counselors to be certified in adult education within four years of initial full-time employment. The AALRC supports this effort by providing tuition reimbursement for these individuals. The AALRC supports the ADWS-AES agency goal of “providing and effective communication system that is involved, informative, and interactive,” by holding statewide directors’ meetings, numerous committee meetings, publishing a statewide newsletter, publishing a directory of literacy services, and maintaining a web-site (http://www.aalrc.org).

The AALRC also supports practitioners and trainers through professional development opportunities at state and national conferences. Those include AR Association for Continuing and Adult Education & Arkansas Literacy Council, Inc. Conference (AACAE/ALC), Learning Disabilities Association (LDA), Commission on Adult Basic Education Conference (COABE), Hot Springs Institute for Technology, Project Ideal, LINCS Region 2 Regional Resource Center Training, ATIA Conference, and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).

The AALRC also supports local programs by maintaining a current library of materials, providing research support/information, purchasing/distributing software and materials, and upgrading/redistribution of equipment.

The Arkansas Division of Workforce Services, Adult Education Section has adopted the College and Career Readiness (CCR) Standards set forth by the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education by Susan Pimentel. State staff along with teachers and directors from the field developed standard framework teachers could use to inform instruction that was based on best practices and research. Each CCR standard was examined closely 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. The task force decided to address sample activities and the framework for grade levels 6.0 - 12.9 during the initial phase of this project. At the request of the field, lower educational functioning levels were added to the document.

(C) The provision of technical assistance to eligible providers of adult education and literacy activities receiving funds under this title, including—

(i) The development and dissemination of instructional and programmatic practices based on the most rigorous or scientifically valid research available and appropriate, in reading, writing, speaking, mathematics, English language acquisition programs, distance education, and staff training;

(ii) The role of eligible providers as a one-stop partner to provide access to employment, education, and training services; and

(iii) Assistance in the use of technology, including for staff training, to eligible providers, especially the use of technology to improve system efficiencies.

(C) Response: The Arkansas Division of Workforce Services, Adult Education Section will continue to offer technical assistance to eligible providers. Many program directors have registered with the Literacy Information and Communication System (LINCS), which offers a plethora of resources, professional development, and an opportunity to connect with other practitioners. During administrators’ meetings and through the AALRC, trainings by experts in the field of English as a Second Language, Learning Disabilities, Math, Literacy, Distance Education, and much more continue to be offered. As mentioned earlier, adult education programs provide basic skills improvement through regular adult education services as well as the Key Train software to the Arkansas Division of Workforce (ADWS) clients as well as our own. Several adult education centers also provide the WorkKeys assessment which an individual must pass to receive an Arkansas Career Readiness Certificate. Eligible clients from DWS may enroll in adult education classes. Since most adult education programs are collocated at one-stop centers, the referral process for clients is much smoother. The Adult Education Division staff provides technical training on our management information system, LACES. The 2017-18 program year is the state’s first year utilizing the data management information system. LACES provides technical support to the field on an as needed basis. The state staff has provided over 10 LACES training to over 200 users.

(D) The monitoring and evaluation of the quality of, and the improvement in, adult education and literacy activities and the dissemination of information about models and proven or promising practices within the State.

(D) Response: Each year the staff from the Arkansas Division of Workforce Services, Adult Education Section (ADWS-AES) will conduct a number of Technical Assistance Program Reviews evaluations. These evaluations address issues in the implementation of Title II of the Workforce Investment and Opportunity Act (WIOA) of 2014, the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA), the Arkansas Adult Education Program Policies, the Arkansas National Reporting System for Adult Education Guidelines, and the Learning Disabilities Policy Manual, including: accountability, compliance, promising practices, program improvement processes, learning disabilities and technical assistance needs. Extensive three-day program reviews are conducted in the following areas every five years for each provider: management, finances, personnel, student intake and orientation, program instruction, technology, recruitment and retention.

• The AES staff will update the following items included in the program review packet annually:

• The questions to be used to guide the review

• Checklist that goes back to the program

• Corrective Action Plan (CAP) template

• Local program notification letter

• Letter that goes out with the evaluation report

• Letter closing the CAP, and the

• Compilation of commendation; recommendations; and findings.

The ADWS-AES staff determines which programs will be reviewed. The ADWS-AES staff determines the dates of the reviews and a technical assistance team is formed from the state staff to determine tentative dates to conduct program reviews. Transmittal letters are sent to the local program director and local education administrator (LEA) that will be reviewed informing them of the review, dates, and format of the review. If there is a conflict, the director will communicate that to the program advisor who then tries to be flexible in finding an agreeable date. The local program director is sent a list of program review questions in advance to prepare for the visit. The director provides supporting documents or evidence in a binder or other format that answers each of the program review questions. Binders or other format are prepared for each team member including the local director.

A team from ADWS-AES goes to local program and conducts the review. The team uses the questions and checklist to conduct the review. The checklist with the additional spaces is used to record notes during the review. The ADWS-AES team meets each evening to compare notes and record answers on the checklist. The choices on the checklist consists of Yes, No, or not applicable (N/A). The team will also choose the appropriate comments from the comment document compiled from previous program reviews. Writing a new comment is acceptable also. The areas to comment on may contain Commendations, Recommendations, and Findings. The commendations will be on the accomplishments of the local program. Recommendations are strategies that the local program may wish to implement to improve program quality and accountability standards. The Findings are areas of noncompliance requiring actions that the local program must address in the form of a Corrective Action Plan (CAP).

The program advisor for that particular program is responsible for compiling the report. Each team member will review the report before it is mailed to the local program and returns it to the program advisor in time to meet the four-week deadline of return to the program. The letter that will be sent with the report to the local program is prepared. The Deputy Director and the Associate Director will review the letter and the program review report before it is mailed to the local program.

The evaluation report will be mailed to the local program administrator and adult education contact person within four weeks of the program review. The report will include:

• Report transmittal letter

• Program Review Report

• Program Review Checklist

• Technical Assistance Program Review Report (comments, etc.),

• CAP template, and

• CAP template example.

The CAP template will also be sent electronically to the local program. The LEA has 45 days to complete and submit the CAP by (snail) mail or e-mail to the Adult Education Office. When the CAP is received in the Adult Education Division Office, it is date stamped and a copy made and put in the CAP folder for that program year. All program review CAPs (reviews conducted for that year) will be kept in the same folder and a copy in the program’s individual green folder. The program advisor for that region will approve the CAP. The CAP will be monitored by the program advisor for that region. The program advisor works with the local program in order to close the different areas of the CAP as information is submitted to the Adult Education Division Office from the local program until the CAP has been closed completely.

After the CAP is closed, a letter is mailed to the LEA administrator and director informing them that the CAP has been closed. This letter is signed by the Deputy Director of adult education. Also, all deadlines such as the review date, date report sent, number of findings, date CAP due, etc. will be kept on an Excel sheet by the administrative specialist.

Site visits is another monitoring tool used by the state. Site visits are conducted annually on all providers. During site visits, program advisors, monitor student folders, make classroom observations, randomly check Personnel Activity Reports, review program self and staff evaluations, check inventory, and go over the program’s current and prior year performance in meeting negotiated benchmarks.

Another monitoring and evaluation tool we use to determine whether a program is meeting the performance requirements is using our Effective and Efficient (E&E) calculations. To be considered effective and efficient, local adult education programs and literacy councils receiving adult education funds will be required to meet or exceed the percentage of the federal negotiated core indicators as determined by the Deputy Director of Adult Education. Programs not meeting percentage requirement, in the first year will be required to submit an improvement plan. The improvement plan will address each core indicator of performance that was not met and will include measurable objectives for correcting deficiencies during the following year. State program advisors will provide technical assistance to each program submitting an improvement plan and closely monitor programs during the year. Core indicators of performance are defined in the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, Title II, the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA); however, using the core indicators as criteria for effective and efficient evaluations and imposing a minimum score is a state decision.

Programs that do not meet the percentage requirement, of their negotiated core indicators of performance for a second consecutive year will be assigned a state technical assistance team to assist the program in addressing its deficiencies. The team members may include but not be limited to state and local staff, administrators, teachers and students. Quarterly progress reports will be submitted by the program being monitored to the Adult Education Division describing the progress being made to bring the program into compliance with core indicators. Programs not achieving percentage requirement, of their negotiated core indicators of performance for three consecutive years will be submitted to the Career Education and Workforce Development Board for appropriate action prior to continuation of funding. In addition, Mandatory Administrators’ Meetings are held twice a year where policies and procedures are discussed and information is disseminated. During the administrators’ meeting providers share best practices with one another as well as gain additional professional development training from staff or guest speakers.