Narrative: e. 1.

State Leadership will focus on the following priorities:

1. Providing purposeful leadership by serving as thought partners with stakeholders and refining and developing thoughtful, consistent policies and procedures for program performance;

2. Promoting growth and success focused on student outcomes by designing and conducting effective monitoring focused on continuous improvement and building capacity by gathering and sharing best practices;

3. Delivering high quality, responsive support to the field by continually gathering feedback for needs, offering meaningful technical assistance, and providing purposeful professional development; and

4. Supplying current, transparent, and useful information by providing accurate and timely communication with providers in the field.

Based on these strategic priorities, AEI will designate State Leadership funds to effectively and efficiently provide support and service to the field. In accordance with section 223 of WIOA, funds for State Leadership will continue to support local programs in their integration of services with core partners, development of career pathways, and ultimately, to benefit Coloradans. Colorado began this work through passage of the Adult Education and Literacy Act of 2014. This legislation began the work of aligning adult education and family literacy activities with the core programs of WIOA and one-stop partners. In alignment with WIOA, Colorado State Plan goals, and strategic priorities for the AEI office, State Leadership projects will include:

1. Alignment of adult education and family literacy activities with other core programs and community partners for consistency of service, building on the work piloted through the Colorado Adult Education and Literacy Act of 2014, through talent development system integration events, statewide work group participation, a LEAN process event, ongoing technical assistance efforts, and sharing best practices already in existence across local areas;

2. Establishment of high quality professional development programs to improve instructional and programmatic practices, including statewide self-assessment of professional development needs of educators; state, regional, and local level in-person professional development; regularly scheduled webinars dedicated to professional development; online communities of practice to support collaboration and local implementation of new practices; and regional specialist support to continually improve quality of adult education and family literacy services;

3. Delivery of consistent technical assistance to local programs through regional specialists and subject-matter experts, including providing updated research on evidence-based practices in reading, writing, mathematics, English language acquisition programs, employability skills, digital literacy, distance education, career pathways, partnership development, and local workforce board representation;

4. Monitoring and evaluation of the quality of, and the improvement in, adult education and family literacy services focused on learner outcomes;

5. Supporting development of content and models for contextualized bridge programs, integrated education and training and career pathways to align with postsecondary education and training programs within the Colorado Community College System and workforce;

6. Development and implementation of distance education for both learners and educators to enhance digital literacy, increase learning opportunities and access to professional development training;

7. Continued implementation of College and Career Ready Standards across the state;

8. Other strategic priorities to further enhance collaboration with core partners and the role of adult education and family literacy in the Colorado talent development system.