Located in:
- Program-specific Requirements for Adult Education and Family Literacy Act Programs
The Unified or Combined State Plan must include a description of the following as it pertains to adult education and literacy programs and activities under title II of WIOA, the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA).
Section 427 of the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA)
In the text box below, describe the steps the applicant proposes to take to ensure equitable access to, and participation in, its Federally-assisted program for students, teachers, and other program beneficiaries with special needs provide the information to meet the requirements of Section 427 of the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA), consistent with the following instructions posted at https://www2.ed.gov/fund/grant/apply/appforms/gepa427.doc.
Current Narrative:
The Adult Education Section of the Division of Workforce Services (ADWS-AES) will ensure equitable access and participation in the federally funded Title II programs and meet the requirements of Section 427 of the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA). ADWS-AES will provide training on and access to tools that addresses the barriers to education, including gender, race, national origin, color, disability, or age. These trainings are focused on particular issues and topics related to each of the barriers. For example, ADWS-AES has and will continue to provide training on Learning Disabilities that includes assessment tools, accommodations, and instructional materials; Diversity Awareness on various topics, such as age, socio-economic status, gender, sexual orientation, and race; trainings on recruiting, retaining, and instructing English Language Learners. Each adult education provider is required to have an ADA Coordinator on staff to assist students with any disability need they may have. Programs are allowed to check out resources such as reader pens, text-to-speech software, devices to remove background noise, page magnifiers, etc. to meet the needs of students, staff, and employees with disabilities.
ADWS-AES is committed to implementing strategies for ensuring equitable access and participation in the program. The following steps will be or have been implemented as necessary to reduce access barriers and maximize participation.
- Work with the professional development center ADA Coordinator to identify the special needs of program participants including, but not limited to, access requirements—such as wheelchair access, signers, and interpreters as needed.
- Develop and implement a plan that will address the identified special access needs indicated by participants prior to events: conferences, seminars, workshops, focus groups, regional trainings, etc. All program-related events will be held in ADA accessible facilities.
- Offer culturally sensitivity and ADA training for program staff, faculty, and employees.
- Post information curriculum, materials, and schedules of events on the internet which enables equitable access by participants and enable assistive computer devices to interpret the materials.
- Continue to monitor for program effectiveness to ensure that the proposed strategies are met, target audience(s) are being reached, and goals and objectives are achieved.
In addition, before grant funds are awarded, each Local Education Agency must ensure equitable access and participation in Adult Education activities to be conducted with federal adult education assistance by addressing the access needs of students, teachers, and other program beneficiaries in order to overcome barriers to equitable participation, including barriers based on gender, race, color, national origin, disability and age.