Narrative: f.

The Adult Education Section analytically assesses program staff and performance data in conjunction with surveys and responses to ongoing planned instruction to improve essential components related to adults in reading, language, and math. Using yearly performance trends, Arkansas Adult Education reviews the performance data in LACES of individual EFL levels associated with reading, language, and math scores of adults to measure the results. The performance results are measured with yearly negotiated benchmarks and compared to nationwide testing results and performance levels of top-performing states. Data is kept on individual providers so that results can be analyzed to determine possible influences of results.

Outside the capacity of participants to attend and make gains, individual providers and instructors have an influence on the attainability of participants. Arkansas Adult Education has identified components of education and literacy activities associated with availability and customer service levels as having an influence on the participant's attainability scope and retention. Arkansas Adult Education section reviewed the availability and hours of operation, scheduling and available courses, and enrollment peaks of participants throughout the year and on a daily schedule at each provider. Providers were made aware of the need to increase availability on nights and weekends with core subjects and low attending class schedules to increase opportunities for participants.

Associated with the availability of classes were the customer service skills of providers and instructors that can influence the success of participants. Multiple training sessions were held to share best practices in communication and follow-up methods with participants to improve customer service. Strategies were also identified in subject-specific lesson planning to focus instruction on key components in subject areas. A combination of methods is used to assess the effectiveness of professional development training to support local programs and instructors. Classroom observations, student educational gains, focus groups, and overall self-reporting tools are used to determine professional development effectiveness. Data from the adult education management information system are utilized to evaluate and determine if and how the professional development activities impact student learning outcomes.

The Adult Education Section monitors the required training of local provider staff through annual site visits, program reviews, and desk audits. Site visits and program reviews address questions of staff training and staff performance. Staff needs are specified through local director requests, conference and training surveys, state staff assessments of performance, and professional development records of instructors at local agencies. The Adult Education Section reviews local performance, monitoring evaluations, surveys, and requests to determine how to broadcast and distribute training needed to meet adult learners' needs and address any instruction deficiencies. Communicating the needs of professional development and training is conveyed through local advisory boards, senior management meetings, focus groups, and by analyzing performance data.

Arkansas has its own professional development resource center, The Arkansas Adult Learning Resource Center (AALRC).  The coordination of the Adult Education Section’s professional development programs is managed by the AALRC.  The AALRC is funded through the Southeast Arkansas Education Service Cooperative by the Arkansas Division of Workforce Services, Adult Education Section (ADWS/AES). It was established in 1990 to provide a source for identifying, evaluating, and disseminating 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.

Except in specific circumstances approved by the Adult Education Section, teachers must hold an Arkansas teacher license in order to teach adult education classes in Arkansas. Teachers must participate in at least 36 hours of professional development annually in order to maintain the license. In addition, Arkansas requires adult education directors, full-time instructors, and counselors to be certified in adult education within three years of initial full-time employment. The AALRC supports this effort by providing tuition reimbursement for those completing this requirement. The AALRC supports the Adult Education Section by supporting statewide program administrators' meetings, numerous committee meetings, publishing a directory of literacy services, and maintaining a website (http://www.aalrc.org).

The Adult Education Section has adopted the College and Career Readiness (CCR) Standards set forth by the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education. State staff, teachers, and directors from the field examined each CCR standard to align materials used in the field. Subject-focused trainings are provided to assist teachers statewide in delivering high-quality instruction based on the CCR Standards.

During the 2017 legislative session, the Arkansas General Assembly passed Act 1061 (the Right to Read Act). Beginning with the 2021-2022 school year, all kindergarten through sixth-grade teachers and kindergarten through 12th-grade special education teachers must show proficiency in scientific reading instruction (evidence-based practices that teach a student how to learn to read). All other teachers must demonstrate an awareness. In addition to Act 1063, Act 416 of 2017 requires education preparation programs to teach scientific reading instruction. Since adult education teachers must have a current Arkansas teacher's license, they will also have to meet the Department of Education requirements to maintain their license. The AALRC also offers professional development training in other content areas, such as math, science, and social studies.

The AALRC supports practitioners and trainers through professional development opportunities at state and national conferences. Those include the Arkansas Association for Continuing and Adult Education & Adult Literacy Alliance (AACAE/ALA) Conference, Learning Disabilities Association (LDA), Coalition on Adult Basic Education (COABE) Conference, Hot Springs Institute for Technology, and California State University Northridge (CSUN) Assistive Technology Conference. 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 AALRC uses a variety of methods to ensure that local program directors and staff are aware of professional development activities. An email is sent to the program directors explaining each training event, and event information is included on the AALRC website (www.aalrc.org) under the professional development heading. Information regarding training activities is also included in the AALRC newsletter, which is published quarterly. The newsletters are available on the website and mailed to each local program. For those attending training sessions, the AALRC pays travel expenses according to the state travel guidelines for those participants paid with adult education funds.

The AALRC uses a system called ESC Works to track activities and participants. Educators in the State of Arkansas must register for and track professional development events with this online system. Participants are able to manage their own transcripts in the system to add professional development attended outside of the AALRC (i.e., state conference or national conference). Arkansas Adult Education has begun to require providers to list the certificates, credentials, and professional development training of staff for each provider in LACES. Local providers and state staff can monitor staff training and licensing using the LACES data management software.

To assess the quality of its professional development programs, the AALRC uses Guskey's model for the Five Critical Levels of Professional Development Evaluation. Evaluations are aggregated and evaluated to determine the quality of training, and adjustments are made according to the results to improve the effectiveness of the professional development provided by the state through the AALRC and the impact on student learning outcomes.

Additionally, to improve the quality of adult education activities in the state, data collected on each adult student include demographic data (age, gender, ethnicity), barriers to employment, county residence, entering educational functioning levels as defined by the National Reporting System (NRS), progression through educational functioning levels, employment status at entry, follow-up achievements, test scores, class enrollment, and daily attendance. Data is also collected on each instructor/tutor, including personal data, title, certification, participation at conferences and required training, classes assigned, and attendance for each class. Through the data collected above, federal, state, and local reports are generated using any and/or all of the data. In addition, through a memorandum of understanding between the Arkansas Department of Higher Education and the Division of Workforce Services, follow-up measures for exited participants who enter post-secondary education or gain employment are tracked.

All adults who have received services and completed intake forms are entered into LACES whether or not an assessment has been administered and recorded on NRS Table 2a. All adults who receive services from adult education and literacy programs are considered Reportable Individuals. Individuals who have 12 or more contact hours within a program year (July 1 to June 30) are considered Participants by the National Reporting System (NRS) of the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) and recorded on NRS Table 4. Students should be pre-tested before they have acquired 12 instruction contact hours.

All student data must be entered into LACES by the 15^th of each month for the previous month’s data. All data must be reviewed for the previous month's data by the 22^nd of each month. This includes student participation and attendance, pre-test and post-test scores. Students with both a pretest and post-test will be recorded in NRS Table 4B, which is a required federal table. In addition, all assessment scores in the system should be dated on the exact date the test was given. Test documentation must be available in the students’ files and is subject to monitoring during site visits and program reviews.

Each program is required to maintain and follow a written policy and procedure for data entry that includes checks and balances for data collection steps, personnel responsible for entering data, and personnel who check and verify data that aligns with the state's assessment policy. Adhering to a written policy that aligns with the state's assessment policy is expected and monitored for all adult education providers, regardless of location. Verification of data is checked through desk audits, quarterly reports, and on-site visits by state program advisors.

According to Assurance 13 of the Adult Education Section Assurances, which is signed at the time of the adult education grant award, all programs that receive adult education funds agree to submit student data according to schedules set by the Adult Education Section. If programs are missing data in LACES or have data with errors or deviations, they will be notified by a program advisor and will be required to correct the problem within one month. According to Assurance 33, the Adult Education Section may reduce funding or terminate agreements in part or whole if it has been determined that a program has failed to comply with the assurances.

The Adult Education Section staff reviews and analyzes data in LACES regularly throughout each year to monitor change, assess trends, and address anomalies and factors of performance. Adult Education monthly reports, administrator meetings, advisory board meetings, WIOA monthly meetings, Senior Management meetings, desk audits, LACES pieces of training, quarterly reports, and other associated projects all encompass sharing regularly monitored and analyzed data with the field. As data is monitored and analyzed, the Adult Education Section reviews best practices and ways to address improving aspects of performance and improve the quality of adult education activities in the state whether through training, site visits, desk audits, or other assistive strategies.

When the Adult Education Section analyzes and identifies sub-performing data, meetings are held to address ways to improve performance and offer technical assistance. The Adult Education staff addresses key indicators of data affected and attends to strategies local providers can manage to improve areas of performance that were identified and addressed. Utilizing a team approach of state program advisors, regular meetings are scheduled with local providers where issues are addressed. Goals are set to correct and enhance the delivery of adult education services to participants. Adult Education staff continue to meet regularly with local providers until goals are satisfied and aligned to improve the quality of adult education activities in the state.

When common data trends are identified, the Adult Education Section prepares technical assistance strategies to address those trends. Utilizing webinars and Zoom training, issues can be addressed quickly, while Administrators’ meetings and other conference dates are used to develop specific pieces of training to address issues. Regional LACES trainings are also held throughout the year to address local and regional providers. These regional pieces of training target a myriad of well-developed LACES training while including site-specific and regional-specific strategies for improvement.

The Adult Education Section uses annual site-visits monitoring reports to assess and assist local programs with key areas of program performance. Each area of compliance on the site-visit form is aligned to assist local providers in meeting the 13 Adult Education Assurances. Areas of compliance include; reviewing student data kept on file that match data in LACES; the number and percentage of missing Social Security Numbers; manual outcomes completed, valid IET, compliance with the Assessment Policy, Advisory Board compliance, managed enrolled classes being offered; the usage of technology and software; providing evidence of preparing students for the workforce, the analysis of GED^®’s, WAGE™ certificates, and credentials; recruitment and retention efforts; post-test rates; and among other compliance issues, how programs are working with WIOA partners.

The Adult Education Section addresses the Site-Visit forms annually after the site-visit season and reviews common findings, issues, and areas for improvement. These site-visit forms are adapted to curb trends and address key indicators of a healthy well-run program while addressing non-compliance issues across the state. State staff review economic trends, possible legislation, business and industry needs, and local and regional workforce development needs to help programs establish valid IET programs leading to certifications and credentials. The Adult Education Section continues to strive to improve opportunities and quality of adult education activities in the state.