Produced: Aug 16, 2024, 02:03 AM UTC - By Greg Camacho-Light
2024-25
Plans & Goals
- Executive Summary
Gavilan Regional Adult and Career Education Services’ (ACES) vision is to help students move past barriers to education and empower them to continue pursuing their educational and career goals by offering a range of affordable and convenient classes in English as a second language, programs to earn a high school diploma or equivalency, and citizenship classes, as well as other basic skills and short-term vocational courses. Gavilan Regional ACES continues to work on addressing the disproportionate impact the pandemic had and continues to have on students of color, including issues of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Current data indicates a slow but steady return to pre-COVID-19 participation in adult education. Goals for the 2024-25 year include: rebuilding program offerings; expanding existing programs, services and effectiveness; improving transitions to college and career through and developing and implementing a community outreach effort. The consortium will continue to provide CAEP service areas and expand short-term vocational programs. The awarded ELL grant is helping to catalyze these efforts. Consortium members accomplishments are below:
Gavilan College: The college successfully transformed the ESL lab into a flex center where transition from ESL lab to instruction/lecture to assessments center can occur by seamlessly incorporating desks, monitors, hard ware, Hyflex equipment and projectors. The new monitors descend into the desk tops facilitating instructor student discussions which is essential when teaching/learning another language. Collaboration between Gilroy Unified School District and other community partners has resulted in additional ESL and HiSet classes. CAP for adult education was initiated in 2023-24 and the team provided numerous campus activities to support students including breakfast/lunch and tamale events that discussed pathways to career placement and enrolled and welcomed students.
San Benito High School District: The Adult Education program through San Benito High School District has a goal enrollment of approximately 40 students for the 24-25 school year. The program graduated 14 students in June and is a steady year over year increase. The instructor continues to build the program with enthusiasm and good rapport with students while motivating them to finish their classes with the online platform of Edgenuity. The program continues to explore all options in expanding support to the program and removing barriers for students including providing dinner and a guidance counselor. SBHSD is currently working with the San Benito County Workforce Development Board to better align services for both programs in order to provide a continuum of support for our students. This school year SBHSD collaborated with the college to offer a Welding Course for Adult Education and conducted ground work to offer the EMT Healthcare Pathway in Spring of 2025.
Gilroy Unified School District: For the fourth consecutive year Gilroy Unified School District Adult Education Program has increased student enrollment as well the second highest total of student graduates. We have dedicated our last three years in making the transition from our comprehensive high schools (Gilroy and Christopher) and our district continuation high school (Mount Madonna) easier and more timely so we can have a smooth transition to graduation for our students. We also started discussions with Mount Madonna to incorporate the “Get Focused, Stay Focused” this school year, especially for our “Lado a Lado” students who begin work in Adult Ed 5 months before their 18th birthday and officially enter Adult Ed to complete their diploma requirements. The “Get Focused, Stay Focused” program will be instituted into the Adult Ed curriculum as well. We partnered with Gavilan Community College to offer ESL and HiSet classes at our Adult Ed site which has enhanced our programs outreach and student support.
Morgan Hill Community Adult School: Last year, the MHCAS staff completed the WASC accreditation process and ended the year with a change in site leadership. Under new leadership, the staff is excited to make significant improvements in the programs offered to students. Over the summer, teachers met to create new syllabi for all courses and the ESL team is excited to start the year with a new and updated curriculum, which will be aligned with Gavilan Community College course offerings. We look forward to continuing the implementation of the ELL Pathways grant with the offering of the Get Focused curriculum for our EL students. We have two goals for next year: 1) increase the number of high school graduates by 50%, and 2) increase the number of students progressing from one level to the next in ESL by 50%. The opening of a media/tutoring center this fall and a campaign to promote a strong sense of belonging among our students & staff, will ensure that our students meet their goals.
- Regional Planning Overview
Gavilan Regional ACES will continue to build on the goals stated in the prior year for 2023-24 which include: 1) rebuilding past program offerings; 2) identifying how to expand existing programs, 3) services and effectiveness; 4) improving transitions; and 5) developing and implementing a community outreach effort and systematic needs assessments.
Program areas served by the consortium include: 1) English as a second language, 2) high school equivalency, adult high school diploma and 3) short-term vocational programs such as welding, CMA and EMT.
In addition to funding existing programing in ASE, ABE, ESL and short-term vocational, the consortium will do the following:
1. Continue to build its capacity to conduct systematic reviews of data to assess progress toward metric and to improve systems.
2. Retain and support staff: The consortium is working to ensure stable and consistent leadership within members and across the consortium.
3. Focus on engaging regional business, workforce agencies and other stakeholders.
Meeting Regional Needs
Regional Need #1
- Gaps in Service / Regional Needs
Gavilan Regional ACES seeks to strengthen and increase enrollment in ESL and high school equivalency (HSE) programs to meet the English language and educational needs of the region.
Nineteen percent of Gavilan Regional ACE’s population earned less than a high school education and 26% reported speaking English less than well. Among consortium members, San Benito County has the highest percentage of population between the ages of18 to 24 with less than high school educational attainment compared to other members.
Currently, San Benito, Gilroy and Morgan Hill adult schools offer high school equivalency programs. From 2016 to 2018, enrollment in these programs were steady. However, in 2019, the consortium experienced a significant decline in enrollment and rebounded slightly in 2020 and continues to do so.
Gavilan College and Morgan Hill Adult School also offer ESL courses. From 2016 to 2019, ESL enrollment was climbing steadily year over year. However, enrollment declined in 2020-21 but has steadily increased. Gavilan Regional ACES has been addressing ESL and high school equivalency needs, due to the pandemic.
- How do you know? What resources did you use to identify these gaps?
Gavilan Regional ACES accessed educational attainment and English language proficiency data from the American Community Survey 2020 and reviewed Launchboard and CAEP fact sheets.
- How will you measure effectiveness / progress towards meeting this need?
Gavilan Regional ACES will engage in a systematic review of data to assess progress toward these goals. Specifically, consortium members will review local indicators including enrollment data on a per-semester and annual basis to track increases in enrollment in these two programs (ESL and HSE). Further, consortium members will review retention rates by reviewing member-specific exit surveys. The consortium will work to ensure their strategic goals are SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound) during monthly consortium meetings. Local indicators with year-one targets (number of participants) that the consortium and individual members will assess to measure progress include the following projections for year 3.
Consortium-level targets Year 1 Year 2 ` Year 3 English language learner (AE -overall) 735 3344 3500 Low literacy (AE -overall) 1000 1100 1200 Number of adults served (AE 200): Consortium lelvel 1900 4403 4500 Gavilan College 1000 3767 3900 MHCAS 175 410 450 GUSD 80 227 250 SBHS 38 40 40 Participants with educational functional level gains ESL (AE -ESL): Gavilan College 250 275 280 MHCAS 28 145 160 GUSD - - - SBHS - - - Participants with educational functional level gains ABE (AE -ABE): Gavilan College - - - MHCAS 62 25 35 GUSD - - - SBHS - - - Participants with educational functional level gains ASE (AE -ASE): Gavilan College 30 33 40 MHCAS - - - GUSD - - - SBHS - - - Participants who earn a high school diploma or equivalency (AE -overall): Gavilan College - - - MHCAS 33 28 35 GUSD 30 108 115 SBHS 11 15 18
Regional Need #2
- Gaps in Service / Regional Needs
Gavilan Regional ACES seeks to increase employment and income levels of the region. Among the consortium’s population with income near poverty or lower, 39% have less than a high school education and 40% speak English less than well. Further, among those near poverty or lower, 60% are not in the labor force, 8% are unemployed and 32% are employed. The region fares slightly higher than state averages for the same demographics except for those who are employed, where the region has a lower percentage of the population at or below poverty who are employed (see table 1).
Table 1. Among population near poverty or less, percentage by demographics
Gavilan Regional ACES Statewide
Less than high school education 39% 30%
Speaks English less than well 40% 34%
Not in labor force or unemployed 68% 67%
Employed 32% 34%
Among the overall population with no high school diploma, 61% speak English less than well and 55% are either not in the labor force or are unemployed. Compared to state averages for these measures, the region has a higher percentage of the population that speaks English less than well. However, the region has a slightly higher percentage of this population employed than the state average (45% vs. 39%) (see table 2).
Table 2. Among the population with no high school diploma, percentage by demographics
Gavilan Regional ACES Statewide
Speaks English less than well 61% 49%
Not in labor force or unemployed 55% 61%
Employed 45% 39%
Several efforts to support the economic needs of adult learners of the region are in place. For example, Gavilan College refers all students, including adult learners, to resources provided by “El Centro,” which includes assistance with housing, food, financial aid and financial literacy. It also refers them to a regular roster of partner services as well as direct support for justice impacted students. MHCAS houses “The Market,” a food pantry, to its students. In addition, Gavilan College provides services and accommodations to students verified with a disability through the Accessible Education Center (AEC).
The consortium received the ELL grant to provide short-term healthcare certification in two areas: CMA and EMT. Gavilan College is working to create these for credit certifications into no-credit offerings. The goal is to offer EMT and CMA courses this spring. In addition, the welding program was launched last year in San Benito and has enrolled.
- How do you know? What resources did you use to identify these gaps?
Gavilan Regional ACES accessed employment and labor market data from the Centers of Excellence for Labor Market Research for the San Francisco Bay Area region, which includes San Benito and Santa Clara counties.
- How will you measure effectiveness / progress towards meeting this need?
For existing programs, the consortium will track enrollment and completion rates regularly (every semester). The consortium will work to ensure their strategic goals are SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound) during monthly consortium meetings. Local indicators with year one target (number of participants) that the consortium and individual members will assess to measure progress include the following:
Consortium-level targets Year 1 Year 2 ` Year 3 Low income (AE -overall) 600 660 670 Long-term unemployed (AE -overall) 700 770 770 Participants with transition to post-secondary (credit college) (AE -overall): Gavilan College 25 28 32 MHCAS 15 17 20 GUSD - - - SBHS - - - Participants with transition to post-secondary (CTE) (AE -overall): Gavilan College 55 61 65 MHCAS - - - GUSD - - - SBHS - - - Participants with transition to ASE (AE -overall): Gavilan College 55 61 65 MHCAS 69 23 28 GUSD - - - SBHS - - -
Address Educational Needs
2024-25 Strategies
Marketing
Activity that Applies to this Strategy
Community Outreach
Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy
- All: Number of Adults Served (AE 200 - Overall)
Due to onboarding of new member staff and bylaw updates, the following activity was postponed in 2022 –23 and 2023-24. In 2024-25, the consortium will increase community outreach efforts by assessing members’ current marketing and communications information and identifying gaps in messaging. With support from the ELL grant, the outreach campaign will include program offerings, information and highlight program outcomes, and accurately target adults in the community. This may include development of multilingual collateral, student and partner testimonials, reaching out to partners to help promote awareness of program and class offerings through their onsite and online websites, and paid advertisements.
During the fall, the consortium will conduct a needs assessment of outreach requirements and develop materials and outreach strategies based on best practices and culturally responsive approaches. During spring, the consortium will implement the outreach strategy. Implementing a marketing and outreach campaign will raise awareness of the adult services available to our adult community
Improve Integration of Services & Transitions
2024-25 Strategies
Institutionalize need assessments
Activity that Applies to this Strategy
Develop integrated needs assessment tools
Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy
- All: Number of Adults Served (AE 200 - Overall)
In 2022-23, consortium members discussed using CASAS’s assessment tool. Each member agreed to use the CASAS assessment and identified common variables. In addition, consortium members developed an exit survey to gather employment and career interest information among other items. In 2024-25, consortium members will revisit these survey instruments and develop a protocol to administer, maintain and share the data. In 2023-24, MHUSD contracted with a consultant to administer an online needs assessment and results will be reviewed in the fall 2024 and used to assist with outreach and programming.
Develop tracking system
Activity that Applies to this Strategy
Improve Transitions Tracking
Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy
- All: Adults who Became Participants (AE 202 - Overall)
Members are working to assist current students identify educational and career goals. Counselors provide students with necessary information to achieve educational and career goals. All adult schools in the region have or will have access to counselors who work to help them transition to college or work. By the end of 2023-24, three members have a part-time counselor, and one member has a full-time counselor. Members discussed the need to provide a consortium wide counselor who will not only compliment work done at member sites with part-time counselors but also assist the one member who does not have a counselor. Further, the consortium does not have a formal structure to track or share information about postsecondary interests with other members. The consortium is working with Gavilan College to ensure the common application properly captures adult education students. In addition, partner counseling teams have held one meeting to exchange information and will continue meeting in 2024-25.
Improve Effectiveness of Services
2024-25 Strategies
Expand current and create new short-term vocational programs
Activity that Applies to this Strategy
Offer Additional Short Term Vocational Programs
Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy
- Employment and Earnings: Median Change in Earnings (AE 801 - Overall)
- Employment and Earnings: Participants Who Became Employed in the 2nd Quarter After Exit (AE 505 - Overall)
The consortium is working on expanding welding programs to other members and implementing the ELL grant CMA and EMT certifications. The goal is expanding the welding program to Morgan Hill and offer the EMT in Hollister and the CMA program at Morgan Hill this spring.
Career Services
Activity that Applies to this Strategy
Build Capacity for Career Services
Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy
- Employment and Earnings: Median Change in Earnings (AE 801 - Overall)
- Employment and Earnings: Participants Who Became Employed in the 2nd Quarter After Exit (AE 505 - Overall)
A new position to extend career services across Gavilan College, including adult education students, was hired Spring 2023. Services which are provided in English and Spanish (staff is bilingual) include career panels, internships, resume and job search workshops, and career counseling. In 2024-25, the consortium will schedule presentations at member sites. The college will also continue to provide counseling and peer advisors to serve continuing education students.
In 2024-25, GUSD will re-hire a part-time counselor. Morgan Hill will provide additional support to its current part-time counselor through professional development to further assist students.
As noted in prior activity, consortium members have agreed to use CASAS to collect adult learner information. In addition, members will continue to onboard and train staff to use the wage and earnings survey. To compliment the collection of earnings by CASAS, consortium members will implement an end of semester survey that will also ask about income.
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.
Planned allocations align with the annual adult education plan as it supports continued funding of existing and new programs that meet educational and economic regional needs. In addition, consortium members have identified the need to conduct consortium wide activities that will ensure greater awareness and enrollment. Consortium members have identified the need to provide additional consortium wide counseling to support transition to post-secondary and/or workforce. Finally, efforts to streamline internal processes such as data collection and reporting is supported by the consortium as it identified the need to ensure a part-time 20 hour a week consortium director position (previously the position was only 10 hours a week). Members are committed to serving the consortium community and are working to ensure activities noted are funded appropriately and equitably through annual budgets and work plans that support these efforts as well as consortium amendments that address one-time activities. The current allocation is distributed as follows:
Gavilan College (39%)
Morgan Hill Community Adult School (35%)
Gilroy Adult School (19%)
San Benito Adult School (7%)
Each member works to serve specific needs in the community. Gavilan College continues to serve as the fiscal agent but also provides ESL, citizenship, short-term vocational, and continuing education programming. Morgan Hill Community Adult School provides similar programming including adult basic education. Both San Benito and Gilroy Adult schools provide High School Equivalency (HSE) programming.
- An approach to incorporating remaining carry-over funds from prior year(s) into strategies planned for 2024-25.
Consortium members finalized the consortium bylaws and included in the bylaws are processes for expending carry-over funding. The process which will be used this year is as follows:
1) Members with 20% or more carryovers will submit an expenditure plan in September or 15 months after initial funds were disbursed outlining expenditures and the timeline to expend funds. The plan must be approved by the consortium. The expenditure plan includes a contingency plan if funds cannot be used for whatever reason as specified. Members are required to maintain a separate line item for carryover funds to ensure funds are identifiable and distinct from yearly operating expenditures.
2) The consortium will ensure costs outlined in the expenditure plan align with the three-year plan.
3) The director of the consortium will meet with such members either monthly or bi-monthly outside of monthly meetings to ensure progress towards expending funds.
Members have outlined how they will use carryover funding from 2023-24 and approved by the Consortium. Activities outlined in their plans align with the three-year plan and include the following:
Gavilan College will:
Purchase computers for adult education staff: $15,000
Develop a year-long professional development for ESL staff providing stipends for faculty participation: $10,000
Hire a full-time adult education director to help grow and manage Gavilan's course offerings: $170,000
San Benito Unified School District will:
Increase counselor hours to increase student services: $10,000.00
Cover the evening welding programs supplies and materials: $20,000.00
Remaining balance will remain as carryover (less than 5%): $ 5,836.00
Certification
Gavilan Joint CCD - Member Representative
Susan Sweeney - Dean, Student Success and Workforce Pathways
- ssweeney@gavilan.edu
- (408) 848-4757
Ana Rocha - Division Assistant
- arocha@gavilan.edu
- (408) 852-2824
Rosio Pedroso - Director
- rpedroso@gavilan.edu
- (408) 846-5760
Gilroy Unified - Member Representative
Greg Camacho-Light - Administrator of Alternative Educational Programs
- gregory.camacholight@gilroyunified.org
- (669) 205-5291
Morgan Hill Unified - Member Representative
Corina Sapien - Director of Family & Community Engagement
- sapienc@mhusd.org
- (408) 201-6000 ext: 51076
San Benito High - Member Representative
Claire Grissom - Coordinator of College & Career Readiness
- cgrissom@sbhsd.k12.ca.us
- (831) 637-5831 ext: 166