Narrative: f.

Local providers are required to meet all of the standards established in the RFP and in the Career Pathways plans. Ongoing desk monitoring informs the state regarding program progress. In addition, timely progress reports must be submitted. If a local program does not meet performance goals, reporting schedules, budget adherence, or delivery of funded services, the state office steps in to determine what steps might be needed for program improvement. Depending on the severity and type of quality issue(s) being addressed, a program might be involved in an improvement plan or a corrective action plan. An improvement plan program includes action steps a program must take to address items that are generally related to how the program is being operationalized and outcomes. The Correctional action plan is for more serious issues of state or federal non–compliance. The provider involved in a corrective action plan must should provide a response within 30 calendar days of the request and once approved, begin corrective steps.

Additional Information

As explained in Section (D) on monitoring and evaluation, the State Office conducts data-based desk audits and annual evaluations to assess the quality of services being provided. By accessing the managed information system, desk audits are conducted for each program to check for compliance to Maine’s approved assessment policy as well as other state policies and rules. In addition, there is a risk-based monitoring protocol in place. Factors which prompt a risk-based monitoring visit may include the size of the federal grant, staff turnover, irregularities in financial reports, failure to submit data in a timely manner, and significant changes in performance.

During the quarterly audits, progress toward meeting performance measures is assessed. Emphasis is placed on the number of student attendance hours, educational gain, and post-testing percentage. Expenditures are also reviewed to determine whether or not program expenditures are in line with proposed budgets. If data illustrates that a program is underperforming, follow-up steps are taken that may include additional technical assistance and the development of an improvement plan by the local provider. Providers that fail to successfully deal with deficiencies will be at risk for losing funding. Each local provider is also assigned to a member of the State Office team who is responsible for staying in regular contact with the program, being available to answer questions and to provide resources.

Annual reviews take place with a thorough review of end of year data and narrative reports. Data is compiled for each program and entered into a program report card. Programs that fail to meet their projected outcomes will experience an on-site monitoring visit, participate in an action plan, and be ineligible for incentive funds.

Every three years, local providers are visited by a team of State Office staff, directors and instructors from other service providers. The team conducts a thorough review of student files; financial records; data reports; student intake, orientation practices and educational plans; reviews policies; examines facilities; reviews staff participation in professional development; observes classroom instruction; and meets with representatives of partner programs, instructors and students. The annual visit also provides each provider with the opportunity to highlight their achievements.

Follow-up to the visit includes a report that articulates findings, commendations and recommendations. The follow-up report also contains a list of archived training on NRS reporting, student assessment, high school equivalency administration, and other topics that program administrators may refer to. When remediation might be required, the local program is provided with a timeline for completion of their action plan to address each finding.

Each year local providers survey their staff for professional development needs. The provider then submits a professional development plan to the state office regarding how professional development needs will be addressed. The state office develops professional development offerings in response to those topics that are identified as most needed. In addition to local provider identified professional development needs, the state office also provides training to address federal initiatives, cross-training needs identified by the core partners, and areas of need as identified through desk audits of local data and monitoring visits. Evaluations are administered at the conclusion of each professional development activity to gather feedback and make any necessary adjustments. Student performance data is also used to assess teacher effectiveness and level of implementation of standards and other instructional best practices.