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CAEP Annual Plan: 2021-22 17 Foothill De Anza / NSCCC

Status: Consortium Approved

California Adult Education Program : Annual Plan : 2021-22 Produced: Aug 16, 2021, 06:48 PM UTC Tom Keating

17 Foothill De Anza / NSCCC

Plans & Goals - Consortium Approved

Executive Summary
Like many consortia, the North Santa Clara County Consortium struggled during the dual pandemic that impacted both program, social identity, ethics and humanity as well as the ability for teaching and learning to continue during unprecedented times. The climate we have lived through in the last year has challenged our thinking as well as our comfort level regarding race, disease, political ideology, student support, equity and more. We have seen a large decrease in student enrollment yet have done our best to recruit students, create new models of teaching and learning, respond with “just in time” staff development, & strengthen our collaborative ties to aid resilience & persistence. We have worked toward not only achieving our goals but setting new goals mid-year, committing to addressing student & community needs. We have been humble and honest, reflecting on our mission & vision to find us lacking in clear articulation about our anti-racist values & our commitment to systemic change to seek equity for all. Many of us have mourned the death of friends, students, family & colleagues. And, amidst it all, is a pall of exhaustion from having to respond and rethink so many processes such as student testing, engagement of online learners & more. First, it should be noted that we have new strategies that address many of the things that we have struggled with & discovered this year. We have committed to revising our mission & vision, persisted to accomplish strategies that were put on hold due to the pandemic, & have built stronger collaborative relationships as a result of these trying times. We began the year thinking that we could take on all of the strategies that were remaining in our three-year plan as well as additional strategies that we added for the 2021-2022 school year; the challenges limited completing all of the strategies, yet we have made great progress, especially given the large number of strategies we commit to annually. We have accomplished the following strategies: 1) Delivered multiple “bridge” activities for ESL & ASE students (#1, Seamless Transition). 2) Created pathway maps from our adult school programs to our Foothill & De Anza Colleges for three CTE pathways (#3, Seamless Transition). 3) Piloted a non-credit ESL at De Anza College and established mirrored courses for every ESL level for 2021-2022; transitioning students have been given presentations about the new opportunities (#7, Student Acceleration). 4) Dove deeply into ESL student data through our in-house Data Dashboard—looking specifically at the retention, completion & movement of students within the colleges & between the five agencies. We also utilized the results to make programmatic changes & deliver resulting staff development starting with CAA ESL sub-group for curriculum alignment guidance (#15A, Professional Development). 5) Provided distance learning and anti-racist resources and support to consortium members (#16, Professional Development). 6) Completed a special admit Board Policy for Foothill-De Anza District (August 2020) that allows any CAEP Adult School student (not just HSE) to concurrently enroll at Foothill or De Anza for free for up to 11 credits per quarter, 6 in summer. Members of the colleges & adult schools created the system for referral and created an easy process for enrolling. Transition advisors & counselors recruited & enrolled numerous students from multiple CAEP programs (#6, Student Acceleration, SSWG and AS Transition Advisors/Counselor). 7) Created a Program Coordinator II at De Anza College to work with non-credit certificates & transcripts for student acceleration. They will also interface with the transition team & others to identify ways for smoothly transitioning students & supporting their success. This position uses CAEP funds, in conjunction with other funds, and works in admissions & records. The Coordinator II for CTE who supports dual enrollment is an additional support, along with the counseling staff, to increase transitions (#19, Student acceleration). Extended 2021-2022 Strategies: a) #11 Gaps in Services; b)#2 Seamless Transitions; c) #13 Student Acceleration; d) #14 Student Acceleration; e) #12 Leveraging Resources; f) #17 Leveraging Resources. New 21-22 strategies: a) #25 Professional Development & b) #21 Leveraging Resources. To complete the above work & continue increasing student transition and success, our consortium continues to follow a fiscal model and process that we have had in place since the beginning of our consortium. Specifically, we issue portions of additional funds (beyond the COLA percentage) based on the percentage an agency has of the total funds for the consortium. This percentage of the total funds determines their annual allocation. In addition, the Board reviews all five budgets, affirming that all funds spent on CAEP Programs are aligned with the overall three-year plan. See supporting doc for full Ex Sum & Annual Plan
Regional Planning Overview
The three-year plan is evaluated along with progress on the annual plan. This evaluation is done in work groups and taken forward to the Leadership Board. The Leadership Board determines final changes to the three-year or annual plan. We believe our three-year plan is sufficient and can extend an additional year as the volume and detail of our strategies (both new and continuing) will need the 2021-2022 school year to complete. We look forward to spending 2021-2022 creating a new three-year plan to lead us through 2025. The three-year plan clearly articulates our overall mission, vision, and expected outcomes. Further, this plan clearly delineates the roles within the consortium to accomplish the plan. Implementation will have three prongs of responsibility. First, the Leadership Board provides oversight and guidance throughout the process of implementation. This occurs through monthly Leadership Board meetings, Leadership Board participation in activities resulting from Work Groups, articulated guidance provided to Work Group Chairs and the Director, and system assistance regarding changes to program, policy and leadership. Second, the Work Groups focus on established SMART goals, completing and analyzing the work, and making recommendations for adjustments or next steps and communicating with the Leadership Board with regular updates. Third, the Director interfaces with the Work Group Chairs and Work Group Members, providing guidance, support, and staff development to accomplish the goals set forth in the plan. The Director is also the hub of communication and makes sure information is shared in all directions for clarity. The Director of the consortium facilitates setting benchmarks and timelines for each strategy, planning backward using Understanding by Design. For each strategy, we outline what indicators will let us know when we achieve the strategy, what actions need to be taken to achieve the strategies, and what timeline and work group will address the strategy. With guidance from the Leadership Board, the Director and Work Group Chairs are supported in completing the strategies.

Meeting Regional Needs

Regional Need #1

Gaps in Service / Regional Needs
For our region, one of our largest populations in need includes those who speak English less than “very well.” For those 25 and older, this number is estimated at 51,093. In addition, we know that the number of those in need is actually higher as we serve a number of individuals who work in our region but do not live in our region; the cost of living has pushed many to live outside of the boundaries of our consortium, so there are many more potential students in our workforce. Looking the the numbers from the newly released CAEP Manager Summary from the past three academic years (2018-19, 2019-20, & 2020-21), the effect that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the consortium’s overall number of ESL/ELL students served can be seen: a) in 2018-2019, we served 2,714 ESL/ELL students (44% of total students served) (​​column E); b) in 2019-2020, we served 2,442 ESL/ELL students (57% of total students served) (​​column E); c) in 2020-21, we served 1,326 ESL/ELL students (42% of total students served) (​​column E), Breaking our 2020-21 ESL/ELL numbers down further: d) 1,068 ESL/ELL students with complete student outcome data sets (SODS) (34% of total students served & 55% of total ESL/EFF students served) (column B); e) 585 ESL/ELL students took both a valid pre & post test (55% of all our total ESL students & 19% of all of our students served). (CAEP Manager Summary, column C); f) 261 ESL/ELL students achieved EFL gains (45% of all of pre/post test students, 24% of all ESL/ELL students, & 8% of all of our total students served). It should be noted that returning or continuing ESL students remained consistent; almost the entire decrease in ESL students were located in the category of “first-time” student. The Silicon Valley Region matched this trend line with similar statistics. Therefore, we need to continue offering and expanding services since we are serving approximately 5-6% of those who speak English less than “very well.” Continuing to expand our services for English language acquisition will also help with our region's unemployment statistics. The biggest barrier to employment reported has consistently been the lack of English skills; a) for 2019-2020, this percentage was 40%; b) in addition, 26% (down from 30% in 2018-2019) report that cultural barriers are keeping them from employment; c) In 2021-21, the NSCCC served 3,125 students, which is down from 2019-2020’s number of 4,321 students, and down from 2018-2019’s number of 6,165 (CAEP Manager Summary- total number subtracted by N/A number). The Launchboard data shows similar patterns statewide and in Silicon Valley. While it is anticipated that the total served in our consortium would decrease over the three years due to economic issues and numerous students moving out of the area as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, this is a more dramatic drop than expected—serving 72% of the students we served in 2019-20 and 51% of the students served in 2018-2019. Finally, a new data point that appeared in 2019-2020 is the percentage of consortium participants. Looking at the consortium’s enrollment numbers in Launchboard, of the 7,674 total reportable individuals served by the consortium in 2019-20, the following data should be noted: 1.) 75% (5,768) had 12 or more instructional contact hours; 2) 28% (958) had one or more educational functioning level gains (less than the statewide percentage of 32%); 3) Consortium-wide, the number of students who achieved an educational functioning level gain in 2019-2020 is Adult School students who earned a high school diploma or high school equivalency totaled 85 (unduplicated) in 2019-2020 CASAS reporting, down from 100 in 2018- 2019; 4) 4% (222) completed a workforce preparation milestone up from 173 in 2018-2019; 5) 126 students achieved a post-secondary credential, down from 388 in 2018-2019; 6) 1,301 of 5768 (23%) completed an immigrant integration milestone, above the state average of 19%; 7) Of the 2019-2020 CTE students, 61% state that English Language Proficiency is the greatest barrier to employment up from 38% in 2018-2019. In addition, 32% long-term unemployment was also a huge barrier to employment; as such, developing CTE co-enrollment opportunities in ESL as well as embedded language improvement within CTE are key areas to consider as we work on our career pathways and curriculum articulation and integration. 8) In 2019-2020 we had a total of 1,198 CTE participants. Of these, 98% joined short-term CTE training. 9) Long term unemployment continues to be an employment barrier for ASE students (32% of participants). Workforce readiness and job placement as well as developing additional pathways from the Adult Schools into noncredit and credit career pathways are two key areas that continue to be a focus within our consortium strategies.
How do you know? What resources did you use to identify these gaps?
Data analyzed for identifying gaps came from the LaunchBoard, the CAEP CASAS Manager Summary, the Bay Area Community College Consortium regional data, labor market data and our in-house Data Dashboard.
How will you measure effectiveness / progress towards meeting this need?
Analysis of data through our Data Dashboard and Launchboard will take place consistently throughout 2021-2022, and our in-house Data Dashboard will allow us to take a deeper dive into individual student data. The Data Work Group will lead much of this exploration. Overall the Consortium Director and Data sub-group will be responsible for overall analysis. Each workgroup has SMART Goals with clear data points for analysis of the strategy completion and success. Work Groups, with the assistance of the Director, analyze effectiveness throughout the year and present and receive guidance from the Leadership Board quarterly. In addition, we will continue Data Dashboard Trainings for active consortium members in 2021-2022 and this is reflected in a strategy listed below.

Gaps In Service

New Strategies

Strategy #1
ANNUAL PLAN CONTINUING STRATEGY: a: CONSORTIUM STRATEGY ID: #11, Data WG, Gaps in Services. RESPONSIBLE WORKGROUP/S: Data & Leadership Board. STRATEGY: The Data Work Group will meet quarterly to analyze key reports in ASAP and identify processes and practices that can be aligned for completer and more accurate consortium-wide data in CASAS (#11, Data WG, Gaps in Services). RATIONALE: We have discovered that some of our processes have changed as a result of the pandemic and, as we continue to explore the Launchboard, we see differences between the schools that we have not seen before. As a result, we want to make sure that we're following the same processes and practices to align our data entry. While this strategy was initially created to tighten up the alignment between the adult schools, we also see that there are differences in data results on the Launchboard for our community colleges. Finding ways to share practices and align those practices is critical. OBJECTIVE: 1) For Adult Schools: To submit data to CASAS that accurately reflects each member’s. a) Enrollment numbers in CAEP programs; b) Students’ transitions, barriers and outcomes; 2)For Community Colleges: For each college to align how they record their CAEP data into the MIS system. DELIVERABLE/S BY END OF JUNE 2022: 1) A guide for common practices for data entry into ASAP & TE/CASAS for all CAEP students across adult schools. 2) A guide for common practices for data entry into MIS for all CAEP students across community colleges. CRITERIA FOR ASSESSMENT OF STRATEGY (KEY BENCHMARKS): 1) Each of the five schools in the consortia will have a representative at the Data Workgroup quarterly meetings 2) All members are confident that the data in CAEP reports accurately reflects student enrollments and outcomes.

Seamless Transitions

New Strategies

Strategy #1
ANNUAL PLAN CONTINUING STRATEGY: b: CONSORTIUM STRATEGY ID: #2, SSWG, Seamless Transitions. RESPONSIBLE WORKGROUP/S: Student Support. STRATEGY: Survey a cohort of AS transition students regarding their experiences with and perceptions of transition activities and transition support services, including transition passport/checklist and transition plan. RATIONALE: Our hypothesis is that students succeed based on a variety of factors, including what services we provide, how we provide them, the extent to which students access them, and how students experience and perceive them. OBJECTIVE: To identify institutional improvements in policies and practices, informed by the findings, such as filling gaps in services, better promotion of services, improving transition activities/communication, preparing students/setting expectations, aligning curriculum, etc. DELIVERABLE/S BY END OF JUNE 2022: 1) At the end of fall quarter/beginning of spring, conduct a survey and/or focus group of a cohort of students who transitioned from adult schools, those who were successful, those who were not successful, and those who withdrew. 2) Report of findings shared with transition advisors, program coordinators, A&R, and program faculty. 3) List of identifiable strategies based on the findings and a timeline for implementation: short-term interventions and longer-term systemic changes, such as filling gaps in services, better promotion of services, improving transition activities/communication, preparing students/setting expectations, more accurate placement, etc. CRITERIA FOR ASSESSMENT OF STRATEGY (KEY BENCHMARKS): 1) Identify cohort. 2) Determine research methodology: focus groups and surveys; research questions (work with Institutional Research). 3) Conduct the research. 4) Compile research findings and analysis.

Student Acceleration

New Strategies

Strategy #1
ANNUAL PLAN CONTINUING STRATEGY: c: CONSORTIUM STRATEGY ID: #13, Transition Advisors/Counselors AS and CC, Student Acceleration & #24 (Strategy #4 was incorporated into Strategy #24). RESPONSIBLE WORKGROUP/S: Student Support & Data. STRATEGY: Continue to refine the processes for students’ transitions from adult schools to community colleges. RATIONALE: Our hypothesis is that students need multiple levels of support as they transition from adult schools to community college. In 2020-21, we developed a passport for students to use so that they would have clear, consistent documentation of the steps they had accomplished prior to entering college. For 2021-22, we intend to collect and analyze data on the numbers of students who complete the steps (i.e., the passport) and determine what other steps and supports are needed. The continued data analysis and collaborative discussion will further align transition planning across adult schools and clarify expectations for the use of transition tools. OBJECTIVE: Refine and streamline support services to assist adult school student transition to community colleges by creating documentation that supports community college staff to help better assist adult school students in their transition. DELIVERABLE/S BY END OF JUNE 2022: 1) Final passport that is used consistently by consortium members. CRITERIA FOR ASSESSMENT OF STRATEGY (KEY BENCHMARKS): 1) Documented numbers of students with completed passports by adult school. 2) Analysis of data related to students’ completion of college enrollment in processes. 3) Analysis of data related to students’ successful completion of college classes.
Strategy #2
ANNUAL PLAN CONTINUING STRATEGY: d: Consortium Strategy ID: Consortium Strategy: #14 (#14, ESL Subgroup, CAA WG, Student Acceleration). RESPONSIBLE WORKGROUP/S: Curriculum Alignment & Articulation. STRATEGY: Identify entry and exit skills in reading and writing to: assist in appropriate placement; identify any gaps in preparation; and brainstorm strategies for addressing gaps. RATIONALE: Using a subgroup training from CALPRO on curriculum alignment as well as data from our internal Data Dashboard, a collaborative exploration took place. Identifying the most common course at Foothill that students transition into, this group learned that some of our assumptions about where students self-place was not completely accurate. Appropriate preparation and placement of incoming students to the community colleges will support greater success. OBJECTIVE: Identify the three key skills in reading, writing, listening, speaking, grammar and technology that a student will know and be able to do when they exit the adult school and enter either credit or non-credit courses at De Anza and Foothill. DELIVERABLE/S BY END OF JUNE 2022: 1) Map of adult school exit skills in reading, writing, listening, speaking, grammar, and technology [completed]. 2) Map of community college entry skills needed by courses/levels, correlated to adult school exit skills. 3.)Maps shared with transition advisors, college counselors, and assessment offices. 4.) Potential - integrate maps in Foothill GSP process. 5) Analysis of maps to identify any gaps in preparation. 6) Documented ideas for addressing gaps, including a new strategy for 2021-22. CRITERIA FOR ASSESSMENT OF STRATEGY (KEY BENCHMARKS): 1) Placement: a) Maps are used or considered during placement processes at community colleges. b) Maps are used by transition advisors during transition planning. 2) Preparation: a. Discussions occur among program faculty regarding curriculum gaps. b) Discussions occur among transitions specialists and program faculty regarding bridge activities.

Professional Development

New Strategies

Strategy #1
ANNUAL PLAN NEW STRATEGY: a: CONSORTIUM STRATEGY ID: #22, Leadership, Professional Development) & (#25, Leadership, Professional Development). RESPONSIBLE WORKGROUP/S: Professional Development; Leadership. STRATEGY: Review, assess and (potentially) revise our charter to reflect the changes we have made since inception and make clear our commitment to equity and anti-racist education. The Leadership Board will also work together to amend our mission and vision. We want to make clear our commitment to equity and anti-racism. RATIONALE: In anticipation of a new three-year plan and with some new members of the Leadership Board since the charter was written in 2015, we believe it is an appropriate time to reflect on the charter and the areas in which we could increase clarity with regard to vision, mission and processes. OBJECTIVE: 1.) Determine whether we need to revise the charter in advance of the three-year plan. 2) The Leadership Board will work together to amend our mission and vision. We want to make clear our commitment to equity and anti-racism. DELIVERABLE/S BY END OF JUNE 2022: 1) Charter revised and approved (or the lack of revision approved). 2) Amend mission for the Three Year Plan. CRITERIA FOR ASSESSMENT OF STRATEGY (KEY BENCHMARKS): 1) Consensus from the Leadership Board that the charter & mission reflects our vision, mission, values and processes needed to run an effective consortium. 2) Adherence to said charter and mission in policies and practices.

Leveraging Resources

New Strategies

Strategy #1
ANNUAL PLAN CONTINUING STRATEGY: e: CONSORTIUM STRATEGY ID: #12, SSWG, Leveraging Resources. CONSORTIUM STRATEGY ID: Student Support. STRATEGY: Disseminate information about programs, services, and events through a variety of different mechanisms (#12, SSWG, Leveraging Resources). RATIONALE: For the consortium to better communicate what important work they and their students have accomplished. It also sets up a system for the consortium partners and students to be informed about upcoming events. Overall, this strategy is designed to assist the consortium in collaborating. OBJECTIVE: 1) Staff at consortium agencies and workgroup members demonstrate knowledge of basic services that the consortium provides to students. 2.) Other stakeholders, such as Boards of Trustees, local service clubs, are informed of services that the consortium provides. DELIVERABLE/S BY END OF JUNE 2022: 1) Presentations to promote student services - in video and slide formats, for use online and in-person. 2) Schedule of adult school transition advisor visits to adult school department meetings and classes, both at the beginning and throughout the year. 3) Information session at Colleges Opening Days. 4) Community college information sessions - presentation to adult schools and college field trips. 5) Schedule of informational presentations for staff (including clerical staff and teachers), consortium workgroup members, and other stakeholders, such as Boards of Trustees and local service clubs. 6) Career Fair at adult schools, with a booth for consortium student services. 7) Online calendar located on the consortium website that includes all consortium events. This includes all deadlines for registration, financial aid, etc.. 8) Links on all school websites to the online calendar to help promote the information. 9) Pre- and post-surveys for assessing awareness of student support services. CRITERIA FOR ASSESSMENT OF STRATEGY (KEY BENCHMARKS): 1) Staff surveys demonstrate knowledge of basic services that the consortium provides to students who have this knowledge; 2) other consortium workgroup members demonstrate knowledge of basic services that the consortium provides to students; 3) presentations have been made according to the planned schedules.
Strategy #2
ANNUAL PLAN CONTINUING STRATEGY: f: CONSORTIUM STRATEGY ID: #17, Leadership, Leveraging Resources. RESPONSIBLE WORKGROUP/S: Director. STRATEGY: In partnership with NOVAConnect and all WIB partners, we will help organize and run a Partner fair. Also, in conjunction with NOVAConnect, the consortium will help assist in facilitating consortium training in Mental Health 101. RATIONALE: To share resources and build collaborative relationships that extend and complement the monthly partner meeting. OBJECTIVE: In partnership with NOVAConnect and all WIB partners, we will help organize and run a Partner fair and assist in facilitating consortium training in Mental Health 101. DELIVERABLE/S BY END OF JUNE 2022: 1) The Partner fair has already been postponed once due to the pandemic, and it was thought it could be held in the fall of 2020, when face-to-face learning was set to return. However, with the uncertainty the new variants are creating for unvaccinated and vaccinated people, holding this event in person is still undecided. Discussions are being held on whether the event will take place remotely on zoom or some other platform. 2) The Mental Health 101 trainings are also under assessment on how to best offer them safely. CRITERIA FOR ASSESSMENT OF STRATEGY (KEY BENCHMARKS): 1) Continued partner sub-group organizational meetings with NOVAConnect. 2) The Director will continue to serve on both sub-groups to create and carry out the original plans that were/continue to be stunted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Strategy #3
ANNUAL PLAN NEW STRATEGY: b: CONSORTIUM STRATEGY ID: #21, Leadership/sub-group, Leveraging Resources. RESPONSIBLE WORKGROUP/S: Facilitators: Leadership Board members and Early College Task Force. Strategy: Increase the numbers of students who transition from adult school CAEP programs into community college Early Childhood Education classes by creating an ECE task force with members from adult schools & CC to provide students with an orientation to ECE program options, resources that share workforce opportunities, support for completing CCC Apply and accessing CC resources as needed to succeed in class. RATIONALE: After working with our Data Dashboard through the member training process, we discovered that a large number of ESL students as well as K12 success students were going on to child development at either De Anza or Foothill. As a result, we have had a meeting to explore creating an explicit pathway with transition support embedded in the process. FHDA allows any CAEP student to take tuition-free community college classes concurrently with their CAEP program classes. By sharing this opportunity with students on a more timely and proactive basis, we plan to increase the workforce in advance of the state’s initiative to broaden access to TK. RATIONALE: 1) Increase the numbers of students who transition from adult school CAEP programs into Early Childhood Education classes at the CC’s by creating an ECE task force with stakeholders: a) Stakeholders from PAUSD and FUHSD for preschool & ESL; b) FHDA stakeholders including faculty from ECE and ESL; c) Student representatives from PAUSD and FUHSD to help identify barriers to success. DELIVERABLE/S BY END OF JUNE 2022: 1) Documented numbers of participants in outreach/transition activities. 2) Data from adult schools and community colleges regarding numbers of transitioning students enrolled in ECE classes. 3) List identifying barriers to success & action plan defining areas to change. CRITERIA FOR ASSESSMENT OF STRATEGY (KEY BENCHMARKS): 1) Calendar of outreach activities with student attendance. 2) Students’ goals data analyzed to determine interest & readiness. 3) Increased numbers of students in the “NSCCC data dashboard” who are “successful” in their ECE classes. Success is defined as receiving a grade of C or better in a class.

Fiscal Management

A narrative justifying how the planned allocations are consistent with the annual adult education plan which is based on your CAEP 3-year plan.
All planned allocations tie directly to the work in our annual plan and outlined in the strategies presented above. All of the above strategies also align with the work laid out in our 3-year plan.
An approach to incorporating remaining carry-over funds from prior year(s) into strategies planned for 2021-22.
At the Leadership Board Retreat in July, the Board explored how to use carryover funds from prior years with the goal of identifying how members will incorporate these funds to support the consortium work in 2021-2022. Due to current proposed legislation suggesting a maximum of a 15% carryover, we will utilize that number as a potential target for maximum annual carryover in our discussions. Our goal is to have an initial agreement on carryover that is updated in our Charter by December 1, 2021.

Certification

De Anza College - Member Representative

Approved by Thomas Ray

08/13/2021 05:41 PM PDT

Foothill College - Member Representative

Approved by Valerie Fong

08/16/2021 08:41 AM PDT

Fremont Union High - Member Representative

Approved by Lori Riehl

08/14/2021 07:42 PM PDT

Mountain View-Los Altos Union High - Member Representative

Approved by Dr. Brenda Harris

08/13/2021 05:18 PM PDT

Palo Alto Unified - Member Representative

Approved by Tom Keating

08/16/2021 11:48 AM PDT