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CAEP Annual Plan: 2021-22 26 Long Beach Adult Education

Status: Consortium Approved

California Adult Education Program : Annual Plan : 2021-22 Produced: Aug 13, 2021, 02:21 PM UTC Debbie Broadway

26 Long Beach Adult Education

Plans & Goals - Consortium Approved

Executive Summary
The Long Beach Adult Education Consortium (LBAEC) is a collaborative of the Long Beach Unified School District School for Adults (LBSA) and Long Beach City College (LBCC). The vision of the LBAEC is to have focused and well-aligned educational programs that provide the region’s adults with equitable access to educational and wrap-around support services that will prepare them for long-term success and careers. LBAEC will continue to provide professional development for faculty and staff through systemic training, as well as collaborate with community partners, to leverage its collective strength to minimize barriers to education and increase the access to services and programs using culturally competent strategies for the Long Beach community. The planned allocations are consistent with these goals and will lead to short-term and long-term impact on the adults in this region.     The LBAEC identified four major goals through its pre-planning assessment, review of labor market information, and thorough review of the community needs in the region. These include: 1. Leveraging consortium resources and partnerships to strategically recruit students - The consortium website was redesigned to become a repository for adult education and community services. The website, along with targeted marketing efforts to reflect the diversity of the community, paid social media campaigns and professionally designed brochures and mailers enhanced recruitment efforts.  Staff worked closely with community partners on scheduling in-person and virtual courses, leveraged relationships with the community to streamline the matriculation process. Newly onboarded staff provided enrollment support at offsite partner locations and students benefited from a new, streamlined admissions application. Due to deceasing enrollment during the school closure, LBSA leveraged social media and reached many more adults in our community. We also connect with our districts Parent University and will be doing presentations, which will be aired on YouTube in many different languages. 2. Creating diverse programming to meet the community’s needs - Community partners, noncredit faculty and staff attended several professional development trainings to increase cultural competency and combat racial bias. The workshops focused on racial justice, equity and inclusion, implicit bias and identity. New programs in CTE, English as a Second Language, Foundations Skills, and GED Preparation have launched. In fall 2021, new GED courses in English and Spanish will be offered, as well as foundational courses in Language Arts and Math. LBSA will move programs back to the Willow site to allow LBUSD to open a new Independent Study school. 3. Meeting the workforce demands of a changing economy - Staff worked closely with the curriculum committee and noncredit faculty on the development of culturally competent courses that align with employment trends. New programs were developed to ensure workforce alignment in Construction Apprenticeship Readiness, Home Remodeling, Forklift Fundamentals and Automotive Technology. LBSA continued to offer Animal Care and Custodial Classes in person during the school closure with reduced numbers and will add digital Literacy workshops for ESL and ABE students. 4. Streamlining access to services provided by consortium partners and community members to ensure seamless transitions and support for students - Several staff were hired to assist with enrollment and streamline business practices. A dedicated counselor was hired to support noncredit students and ensure consistency and cultural competency. LBSA and LBCC partnered to streamline access to wrap-around support services offered by community partners and institutions. Upon review of prior efforts around the fifth metric (transitions from the Long Beach School for Adults to LBCC) it was determined in this final year of the three year plan that additional focus and supports were needed. An audit and overhaul of business processes and student supports in this area was completed in partnership with the head of the LBSA and a shared vision for improvement is being implemented. This includes LBCC providing a dedicated counselor and dedicated student outreach staff with a detailed plan with in person and virtual events scheduled throughout the academic year including LBCC orientations, introductions to both credit and noncredit short term and degree programs. There are open office hours for enrollment help as well as counseling. While matched student data for labor job placement and wage gains is still unavailable AEP will begin marketing and providing career services to noncredit students for the first time. Students will be invited to attend industry panels with private and union employers. In addition they will have access to online job board, resume development, and job search tools and career counseling services.
Regional Planning Overview
This question is asking about the new three year plan yet we are in the last year of our current three year plan and therefore it is premature to respond to this question. I reached out to CAEP TAP and representative Holly Clark emailed the below on August 6, 2021 – Melissa, The wording in NOVA is wrong. This year's annual plan is based on the last year of your current 3-year plan. We will work with the programmers to see if we can get that language fixed.  Thanks, Holly Clark CAEP TAP (888) 827-2324  mail: tap@caladulted.org CAEP TAP Website Submit a Support Ticket

Meeting Regional Needs

Regional Need #1

Gaps in Service / Regional Needs
There are several gaps we’ve identified in this last year and over the total of three year plan which we will strategically address in the new planning process in the coming year. One of the largest disruptions has been from the impacts of Covid-19 on the local labor market and the seemingly permanent transition of many jobs and activities to automation and or becoming more reliant on technology. For example, restaurants are relying more and more on “ghost” kitchens and centralizing their businesses in one location that does take out only, others include the growing demand for applicants of entry level jobs to have some digital literacy skills from restaurants using tools such as Toast Tab, to commercial truck drivers needing to use portable ticket and tracking tools within and outside the Port of Long Beach. The use of technology is no longer just for “office jobs” but for those blue collar or manual labor jobs as well and the research tells us that individuals with less than a college degree have the lowest levels of digital skills needed for today’s job market. Another gap has been the need to provide a language bridge for many ESL students who are looking to develop digital skills. The pandemic pushed most if not all ESL courses to an online format and we learned that not only did most students and families not have the needed technology, but they also lacked the digital skills needed to use the technology that was loaned to them. Providing every learner regardless - of their language skill or their vocation - access to computer literacy skills is essential. This need however, revealed another gap which was needed: language support for English learners in computer literacy courses. Another gap has been the lack of access to childcare for adult learners wanting to take courses. Between work and family duties, access to reliable transportation has continued to create barriers for many students. Related to this, there has been limited geographic access to classes within their neighborhood and with trusted partners. Lastly, noncredit students need career services supports as most are taking short term certificates with the goal of immediate employment. This creates a need and a gap in service for providing students with updated job search skills, an understanding of how to apply to online jobs, how to create a resume or complete a job application, and providing interview preparation.
How do you know? What resources did you use to identify these gaps?
The gaps were identified through reviewing matriculation and completion data, direct feedback from noncredit students, and feedback from meetings with community partners that provide direct client services. LBAEC has almost 30 community partners that regularly attend consortia meetings and 10 of which provide courses on site at their locations. They provide us with invaluable feedback on students’ experiences and needs, as well as that of prospective students. In addition, local labor market trends and forecasts were reviewed to determine pandemic resistant jobs as well as looking where there are permanent losses in the job market and in what sectors. Working with the Los Angeles’ Economic Development Corporation and the Cal State Long Beach Economics Program, staff had access to regional and local data on community demographics and labor market trends. In addition, staff reviewed the research on the growing trend toward digital skills for entry level jobs finding that occupations that historically relied on only manual labor are shifting, but our local populations skills are not increasing.
How will you measure effectiveness / progress towards meeting this need?
LBAEC is still committed to our original three year plan metrics and goals, as well as tracking and completing the activities that were outlined in our three year plan. Those details are outlined in the executive summary. That being said, through those activities we have begun to address these gaps and plan to address them in our new three year planning process. They are outlined in the next strategy section.

Gaps In Service

New Strategies

Strategy #1
To address the need for more digital literacy and digital skills in today’s job market, we have begun to expand our computer courses and offer them on site at community partner locations. In addition, we purchased a laptop cart and 30 laptops to provide an offsite computer lab for courses in the community that do not have easy access to either of our campuses. In addition, we have begun to provide some translation assistance in our computer courses to help ESL students to concurrently take computer literacy skills while they are learning English. To address the lack of access to childcare for adult learners wanting to take courses we have explored more offsite partnerships with our local Unified School District to offer classes during the school day after families have dropped their children off at school, thereby providing childcare while students are in class. Lastly, to address the needs for career services supports, services that have targeted credit students will now also target noncredit students including access to resume development tools, industry speakers, workshops, and one on one career counseling and coaching.

Seamless Transitions

New Strategies

Strategy #1
In this last year the program director has changed to a new college leader at LBCC. Upon review of prior efforts around the fifth metric, transitions from the Long Beach School for Adults to LBCC, it was determined in this final year of the three year plan that additional focus and supports were needed. Matriculation has remained flat since the beginning of the three year plan. An audit and overhaul of business processes and student supports in this area was completed with the head of the LBSA and a shared vision is being implemented. Several strategies have been rolled out for fall. For students completing at LBSA throughout the year, instructors will provide a “warm” introduction on behalf of those students to the dedicated LBCC Outreach and Enrollment staff. It will be that person’s responsibility to follow up with those students, track them in our database and provide them with one on one case management until matriculation to LBCC’s credit or noncredit programs is complete. In addition, staff will refer students to an LBCC counselor for educational planning and career exploration when needed. This counseling resource has been identified, part of their caseload is dedicated to LBSA students. All staff have been briefed in the demographics of the students and their educational programming at LBSA. In addition to the “warm” introduction, Ruby will be on campus providing prescheduled and advertised in person or virtual office hours for LBSA students to drop in. In addition, she will provide prescheduled and advertised workshops every week including topics like completing a college application, financial aid support, online orientations, course placement, Student Support Services referrals, program informational workshops, how to schedule a Counselor appointment, and career exploration.

Student Acceleration

New Strategies

Strategy #1
All noncredit courses at LBCC can be compressed, offered in the evenings and on the weekends. Courses are scheduled to meet students’ needs. Courses are also offered at partner locations within the community. Partners survey their clients to determine the best time for them to take classes and LBCC schedules courses accordingly. Providing courses in the community removes both the transportation and the trust barriers for students. Co-branding and joint marketing with trusted community partners allows us to reach students that would not otherwise visit a campus to take courses either due to lack of transportation, lack of trust in the institution, or both. In addition, partnering with the Unified School District provides opportunities for families without childcare looking to take courses while their children are in class. In the coming year we will pilot a new employer work-based learning platform in noncredit CTE courses. This program matches faculty with employers looking for students to work on real time industry projects. This will provide noncredit students contextualized learning as well as work experience within the classroom.

Professional Development

New Strategies

Strategy #1
Despite the pandemic and virtual work environment for many at LBCC, LBSA and our community partners the LBAEC continued with virtual professional development. These meetings include instructional and counseling faculty, direct service delivery staff, and a variety of community partner leaders and their staff. At Consortia meetings, LBCC Institutional Effectiveness, in anticipation of the new three year plan, began deeper dives into the existing LBAEC metrics and available data on students. Data dashboards were created and related professional development was provided. A session on enrollment and registration business processes for both LBCC and LBSA was provided for all staff, faculty and community partners in an effort to both garner feedback on the steps and supports needed, and also to introduce the staff who can aid students and partners in helping community members to apply and enroll. And lastly, two sessions were provided by the California Conference for Equality and Justice to increase cultural competency and combat racial bias. The workshops focused on racial justice, equity and inclusion, implicit bias and identity and provided guidance on how to implement practices in the classroom and workplace.

Leveraging Resources

New Strategies

Strategy #1
LBCC launched the Center for Community and Industry Partnerships in 2019 and has amassed almost 200 industry partners that have committed to engagement activities including speaking to a class, hosting career services workshops, hiring interns, speaking on panels and a variety of other activities. In addition, in 2020 we launched the Labor Center which engages our union partners to come on campus and speak with students about union jobs, apprenticeships, outline and help with applications and interview preparation and other activities. All these relationships and activities are tracked in the LBCC customer relationship management system – SalesForce – and are aligned with individual career pathways. In addition, related student activities are also tracked. This work is going to now be leveraged on behalf of our noncredit students in the region providing them access to local employers and unions for the first time. In addition, the LBCC program director sits on the local WIB board and works to provide co-enrollment opportunities for noncredit students so they may take advantage of WIOA funded services. Lastly, LBCC has contracted with the City Library Services Department to offer noncredit classes in parts of the city that are under resourced and challenging to travel to campus from. This will provide noncredit training in the community while also introducing students to the resources available through the library system.

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.
In the coming year we will focus on reengaging students, regaining lost enrollment and supporting ongoing distance learning. In addition, work has begun between LBSA and LBCC regarding robust co-enrollment and transitions. Several strategies have been rolled out for fall. For students completing at LBSA throughout the year, instructors will provide a “warm” introduction on behalf of those students to the dedicated LBCC Outreach and Enrollment staff. It will be that person’s responsibility to follow up with those students, track them in our database and provide them with one on one case management until matriculation to LBCC’s credit or noncredit programs is complete. In addition, staff will refer students to an LBCC counselor for educational planning and career exploration when needed. This counseling resource has been identified, part of their caseload is dedicated to LBSA students. All staff have been briefed in the demographics of the students and their educational programming at LBSA. Professional Development - Throughout the current three year plan, the LBAE Consortium is investing in professional development on equity and inclusion, implicit bias, identity and racial justice for faculty and staff of consortium members as well as for community partners. Consortium Website – A key activity outlined to support the three year goals, and also strongly supported by the LBAEP community partners, was the creation of a new consortium website. This was completed and the next phase of this work will include information for adult education students regarding support service resources available from LBCC, LBSA, and community partners.Long Beach School for Adults will continue to offer four levels of ESL, High School Diploma, HiSET Prep and Distance learning, Animal Care, C.N.A. and Custodial Class. Given the success of last years social media campaign we will continue that this year as well as email outreach and will continue to open classes to meet waitlist demand. We will continue to accommodate students without the ability to participate in on-line classes with “to go” instructional packets and instructor feedback and assessment to keep these students connected until we can return to full in-person instruction. We will continue to further assist ESL students with technology workshops to help improve their computer skills and a citizenship class for interested ESL students. Our students are communicating that they are ready to be back in the classroom but with social distancing we will be only able to enroll 18 students in an in-person class. All students who are enrolled after 18 will need to have a distance learning option available to them. As students drop from a class, distance learning students will be able to move in. We also plan on continuing to offer our new workshop classes in technology, citizenship and conversation to meet the needs of interested students. Long Beach City College - LBCC will have 30% to 40% of in person classes this year and we will continue to increase community outreach and information sessions to help orient potential students to the new online courses and tools to support online learning. Partners - LBCC has increased the number of offsite partners to 10 locations throughout the region and will expand virtual classes as well as in person classes when possible to serve their clients. These locations include K-12 schools, direct service providers, libraries, and nonprofits. Staff Support - LBCC has on-boarded additional outreach and enrollment staff who will better serve on and off-site adult education programs in ESL, CTE, and basic skills. These individuals will help with community outreach for new student enrollment as well as matriculation to new courses. Additional Admissions and Registration staff has also been on-boarded and will help with efficiencies in enrollment such as batch enrolling for cohorts as well as identifying certificate completions. IITS (technology) staff has also been hired to improve the online enrollment and registration process including creation of virtual orientations. Marketing - LBCC will fund a part time web developer to improve the online information available to students and the general public including about noncredit programs as well as partner resources in the community such as support for housing and food insecurities. LBCC will continue to engage in social media marketing for noncredit courses. Workforce Needs – LBCC is leveraging Workforce Development resources and reviewing labor market data to ensure that program offerings align with labor market needs and employment opportunities. LBCC is exploring leveraging Career Center resources in the coming year that will help ensure that adult learners are supported through to the final outcome of securing employment.
An approach to incorporating remaining carry-over funds from prior year(s) into strategies planned for 2021-22.
The remaining carry-over funds have been allocated to projects that are in alignment with the 2021-22 strategic plan and meet the four major goals established by LBAEC and will be paid in full by December 31st, 2021: 1. Leveraging consortium resources and partnerships to strategically recruit students. 2. Creating diverse programming to meet the community’s needs. 3. Meet the workforce demands of a changing economy. 4. Streamline access to services provided by consortium partners and community members to ensure seamless transitions and support for students.

Certification

Long Beach CCD - Member Representative

Approved by Melisssa Infusino

08/12/2021 02:21 PM PDT

Long Beach Unified - Member Representative

Approved by Debbie Broadway

08/13/2021 07:21 AM PDT