Narrative: f.

The Colorado Department of Education Office of Adult Education Initiatives (AEI) will assess the quality of sub-grant recipients through ongoing grantee monitoring and oversight. AEI will conduct desk, virtual and on-site monitoring as needed and in accordance with materials approved by the Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education. Quality will be evaluated through program visits, performance reports, and on-site program monitoring. Additionally, the grantees’ ability to meet the federally negotiated performance targets will be reviewed. Grantees must provide data from all enrolled adult learners,  progress measures attained by all learners that have attended at least 12 hours of instruction. Documented progress of student performance measures must include at a minimum:

• Educational functioning level improvements in reading, writing, and speaking the English language, problem solving, numeracy, and other literacy skills
• Placement in, retention in, or transition into postsecondary education, training, unsubsidized employment, or career advancement
• Attainment of a secondary school diploma or its equivalent.

All programs are required to maintain individual student records that include the data required by the statewide information system. Additionally, all sub-grant recipients are responsible for maintaining the privacy of the data for learners of all ages who participate in their programs. The AEI team evaluate the overall viability of all sub-grant recipients - both from fiscal and programmatic perspectives. The AEI team will compare trends in data and determine necessary technical assistance and next steps. The AEI team will also develop assistance plans for programs struggling to meet goals and objectives, and those plans will be used for service and support to providers. If a sub-grant recipient fails to meet performance goals or other programmatic requirements, the AEI office will take actions to assist the program in improving the quality of the program, which may include performance improvement plans and corrective plans.

AEI will assess the quality of professional development activities by ensuring that technical assistance and professional development focuses on the required and permissible activities under WIOA Section 223 (a).

AEI will also assess quality of professional development by providing opportunity for feedback, using surveys from the field after professional development opportunities.  

In the past, AEI engaged American Institutes for Research (AIR) to interview adult education grantee staff. AEI also conducted visioning sessions around the state early in 2019. Annually, AEI collected and will continue to collect feedback from grantee staff at the annual grantee program director meeting. All of this input indicated a need for increased professional learning opportunities, in particular improving the quality of the Adult Basic Education Authorization (ABEA).

The ABEA is an authorization that began almost twenty years ago and was recently reviewed and modified to better align with WIOA. The ABEA competencies were created work instructors in focus groups and aligns with WIOA Section 223(a)(1)(B), in particular “including instruction incorporating the essential components of reading instruction as such components relate to adults, instruction related to the specific needs of adult learners…and dissemination of information about models and promising practices related to such programs.

The ABEA is delivered through classes or through demonstrated portfolios of experience that include observations. Additionally, the ABEA requires that instructors renew the authorization every five years, including 90 hours of professional learning to meet the requirements. All information for both initial attainment and renewal of the ABEA is tracked through CDE’s Educator Licensing Office. The effectiveness of the ABEA is explored through surveys of instructors attaining the credential.

Colorado included a Professional Learning Assurance as part of the new grant cycle Request for Applications to ensure that the requirements outlined in WIOA Section 223(a)(1)(B) of “the establishment or operation of high-quality professional development programs” is also part of local grantee practice. This assurance includes training for leadership and instructors within AEFLA-funded programs. A local professional learning coordinator must be identified at each program to initiate local training that supports instructors earning the ABEA.