Narrative: III. b. 5. B. i.

Methods and Factors for Title II

West Virginia Adult Education conducts a competition, multi-year grant award process for Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) and Corrections Education and Integrated English Literacy and Civics (IELCE) grants. In accordance with 34 CFR part 463, Subpart C, a multi- year grant is awarded through a Request for Proposal (RFP) process; the first year being the initial grant award year with subsequent renewal years.

West Virginia awards grants established on need.  The needs-based formula is used to allocate funding based on programmatic requirements.  It assures local programs receive resources to deliver quality instruction.  The needs-based formula ensures funding regardless of the program size (i.e. part-time or full-time program, rural or urban area) due to the vastly differing regions of the state.

Grants are awarded on a multi-year cycle with an annual continuation grant submitted. Each year’s renewal will be based on evidence of success in provision of the contracted services and subject to the availability of funds. West Virginia Adult Education will use the following process to distribute funds to approved applicants: 1. shall use not less than 82.5 percent of the grant funds to award grants and contracts under Section 231 and to carry out Section 225, Programs for Corrections Education and Other Institutionalized Individuals, of which up to 20 percent of such amount shall be available to carry out Section 225; 2. shall use not more than 12.5 percent of the grant funds to carry out State leadership activities under Section 223; and 3. shall use not more than 5 percent of the grant funds, for administrative expenses of the eligible agency.

As part of the application process West Virginia Adult Education will collect basic information from the eligible provider (e.g., location, service area, scope of the program, demographics served, demonstrated need, data collection, and fiscal management procedures). Additionally, each applicant will be required to submit a proposed budget and program design information. 

All eligible applicants will respond to the statewide RFP announcement and will be expected to address the thirteen considerations:

1. Needs Assessment: The degree to which the provider is responsive to (A) regional needs as identified in the local plan under section 108; and (B) serving individuals in the community who are identified in such plan as most in need of adult education and literacy activities, including individuals who have low levels of literacy skills and who are English language learners.

2. Individuals with Disabilities: The degree to which the provider is able to serve eligible individuals with disabilities, including eligible individuals with learning disabilities.

3. Past Effectiveness: The degree to which the provider demonstrates past effectiveness in improving the literacy of eligible individuals, to meet state-adjusted levels of performance for the primary indicators of performance described in section 116, especially with respect to eligible individuals who have low levels of literacy.

4. Alignment with One-Stop Partners: The degree to which the eligible provider is responsive to, and demonstrates alignment between, proposed activities and services and the strategy and goals of the local plan under section 108, as well as the activities and services of the One-Stop partners.

5. Intensity, Quality, and Instructional Practices: The degree to which the eligible provider’s program is of sufficient intensity and quality and based on the most rigorous research available so that participants achieve substantial learning gains; and uses instructional practices that include the essential components of reading instruction.

6. Research-Based Educational Practices: The degree to which the eligible provider’s activities, including reading, writing, speaking, mathematics, and English language acquisition instruction, are based on the best practices derived from the most rigorous research available and appropriate, including scientifically valid research and effective educational practice.

7. Effective Use of Technology: The degree to which the eligible provider’s activities effectively use technology, services, and delivery systems, including distance education in a manner sufficient to increase the amount and quality of learning and how such technology, services, and systems lead to improved performance.

8. Integrated Education and Training: The degree to which the eligible provider’s activities offer learning in context, including through integrated education and training, so that an individual acquires the skills needed to transition to and complete postsecondary education and training programs, obtain and advance in employment leading to economic self-sufficiency, and to exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.

9. Qualified Staff: The degree to which the eligible provider’s activities are delivered by well- trained instructors, counselors, and administrators who meet minimum qualifications established by the state, where applicable, and who have access to high quality professional development, including through electronic means.

10. Partnerships and Development of Career Pathways: The degree to which the eligible provider’s activities coordinate with other available education, training, and social service resources in the community, postsecondary educational institutions, institutions of higher education, Local Boards, One-Stop centers, job training programs, and social service agencies, business, industry, labor organizations, community-based organizations, nonprofit organizations, and intermediaries, for the development of career pathways.

11. Flexible Schedules and Coordination with Support Services: The degree to which the eligible provider’s activities offer flexible schedules and coordination with federal, state, and local support services (such as child care, transportation, mental health services, and career planning) that are necessary to enable individuals, including individuals with disabilities or other special needs, to attend and complete programs.

12. Data Collection: The degree to which the eligible provider maintains a high-quality information management system that has the capacity to report measurable participant outcomes (consistent with section 116) and to monitor program performance.

13. English Language Acquisition and Civics Education: The degree to which the eligible provider has a demonstrated need for additional English language acquisition programs and civics education programs.

Previously funded programs will be required to provide data demonstrating they have met previously proposed state targets for the required percent of students making a measurable academic gain. Programs must also provide data demonstrating successful transition to post-secondary education or employment by students. For programs not previously funded, programs with data demonstrating student learning gain and successful transition to post-secondary education or employment, especially for individuals with low-levels of literacy, will be given preference. Both measurable skill gain data and transition data must be disaggregated to demonstrate a history of success with students who have low levels of literacy, disabilities (including learning disabilities), or are English language learners.

Programs will need to clearly articulate how their instructional delivery model will be aligned to the needs of one-stop, postsecondary, and employer partners. This alignment at a minimum must include the ability to offer flexible scheduling so that adult education services coordinate with the students’ wrap-around support services and logistic needs. The delivery model must be of sufficient intensity and duration so that the students’ will exit with the necessary skills to attain their career goal. Existing programs will base intensity and duration of service on demonstrated past effectiveness (student skill gain and transition outcomes) and the latest research on the effectiveness of time and intensity. It will be critical for each program to validate their commitment to an instructional delivery model that can support high school equivalency attainment, as well as preparation for entrance into postsecondary, a training program, or employment for adults with, or without, a high school diploma. This support must lead to preparation for a career pathway for all students, including the low-skilled and under employed, who are most in need of increasing their knowledge and skills for the next career step. All eligible programs will assess the need for providing an English language acquisition and civics education program in their area and provide services when there is a demonstrated need.

Eligible programs will verify that adult education activities are conducted by licensed instructional staff and confirm that all staff will participate in high quality professional development offered by the state professional development unit. Professional development activities will include face-to-face and distance education, so all staff will be able to participate in a variety of delivery venues. Programs must ensure they will follow all state assessment policies and publisher guidelines for administering and scoring.

Instruction in all content areas (reading, writing, speaking, mathematics, and English language acquisition) will be delivered by staff who are knowledgeable of the essential components of high quality instruction. Programs must use scientific, effective research-based instructional delivery models for students in all content areas. Programs will articulate how distance learning, and other modes of technology, will be integrated into instruction to support digital literacy attainment and meet students’ specific learning needs. The overarching goal of instruction for all students will be a successful transition to employment, postsecondary, or training according to their chosen career pathway. This will require instruction be contextualized, and student pathways guided by labor market needs and data from collaborative partnerships (education, one-stop partners, and employers).

The array of program activities that support the individual students’ career pathway must be based on each student’s Education and Career Plan (ECP). Eligible programs will describe how they will assist all students in setting up their ECP through a series of lessons in the College Foundation of West Virginia’s website at www.CFWV.com or alternative career exploration resource. Programs will detail how teachers will be assisting students in aligning their skills and interests with a career choice and helping them to create long-and-short term goals to enter their career pathway. Each program will share their protocol for linking student career pathways to academic lessons that are relevant and supportive of students’ career goal. Programs will confirm that they are providing learning activities that are contextualized, so students acquire the knowledge and skills needed for transition to their individual career pathway. Programs will ensure that the teaching staff offer a variety of instructional strategies that engage students and promote student persistence and retention; this should include whole group instruction, peer tutoring, and individualized instruction along with distance learning. The variety of instructional strategies will integrate academics, career counseling, employability and soft skills to bolster the students’ ability to gain employment, go to college, or enter a training program that could include an apprenticeship. Integrated education and training programs will align with the needs of the local labor market. The occupational training provided as part of an integrated education and training program will be connected to realistic, existing employment opportunities in the local area that connect to a career pathway for the participants.

The state management information system will collect all data elements that will be required for the WIOA Annual Statewide Performance Report. Primary indicators of performance that will be reported include:

• participants in unsubsidized employment during the second quarter after exit,
• participants in unsubsidized employment during the fourth quarter after exit,
• median earnings from unsubsidized employment the second quarter after exit,
• the percentage of students who obtain a postsecondary credential or a high school equivalency diploma,
• the percentage of students who participate in an education or training program, and
• percent achieving a measurable skill gain.

To facilitate this process, funded programs must ensure they will: collect and provide participant social security numbers to enable a data-match (to the best of their ability), input data accurately and within prescribed timelines, and adhere to all state policies and guidelines regarding data privacy.

Programs must provide evidence of activities with other education institutions, local workforce partners, and agencies that support student career pathways. The National Career Clusters® Framework provides a vital structure for organizing and delivering quality Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs through learning and comprehensive programs of study. This National Career Clusters® Framework is the basis for the Career Pathways Programs established at WV Career and Technical Centers and articulated with WV Community College and University Systems.

Beyond assisting students for attainment of a measurable skill gain, achieving a high school equivalency or postsecondary credential, or entering a career pathway, eligible programs must demonstrate that they have established cross-agency partnerships to help students navigate system challenges (completing applications, writing resumes, scheduling campus visits, etc.) that can be barriers to success. Programs must be willing to cooperate with agency partners to provide the wrap-around services common clients will require.

Through ongoing labor market analysis all programs will have an awareness of regional labor market needs to provide teachers with a working knowledge of regional career opportunities. Programs must be able to disclose their methodology for ensuring that employer and labor market needs are driving their instructional practice. Effective programs will be those that deliver instructional activities that support student transition to specific occupations or career clusters.

The RFP is the mechanism through which Adult Education will identify, assess, and award multi-year grants to eligible providers throughout the state that have demonstrated effectiveness in providing adult education activities to eligible individuals. An eligible individual is a person 16 years of age or older who is not enrolled or required to be enrolled in secondary school under state law; is basic skills deficient; does not have a secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent; has not achieved an equivalent level of education; or is an English language learner.

Programs previously funded by Adult Education will be evaluated for their ability to meet designated state performance measures. Applicants not previously funded by Adult Education are required to provide data that demonstrate their past ability to achieve success in comparable measures. For both groups, these measures include effectiveness in helping students develop their academic skills, achieve high school equivalency, and transition into employment and/or postsecondary education and training.

Eligible providers submitting applications to Adult Education may include:

• A local education agency;
• A community-based or faith-based organization;
• A volunteer literacy organization;
• An institution of higher education;
• A public or private nonprofit agency;
• A library;
• A public housing authority;
• A nonprofit institution with the ability to provide adult education and literacy services;
• A consortium or coalition of agencies, organizations, institutions, libraries, or authorities described above; or
• A partnership between an employer and an entity described above.

Local grants will be distributed based on whether they meet the requirements of AEFLA purposes outlined in WIOA, which include their ability to:

• Assist adults to become literate and obtain the knowledge and skill necessary for employment and economic self-sufficiency;
• Assist adults who are parents or family members become a full partner in the education development of their children;
• Promote transition from adult education to post-secondary education and training through career pathways; and/or
• Assist immigrants and English language learners improve reading, writing, math, speaking and comprehending the English language and acquire understanding of American government, individual freedom, and responsibilities of citizenship.

As part of the application process, LWDBs will review applications to ensure that funds allotted align with their local plans. Adult Education will consider the review and any recommendations made by LWDBs when scoring the related sections of the applications.

The RFP process is as follows:

• Statewide announcement
• Release of application
• Technical assistance webinar
• Application due date
• Review by LWDBs
• Evaluation by review committee 
• Notification of awards
• Distribution of grant awards