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CAEP Annual Plan: 2022-23 28 Capital Adult Education Regional Consortium

Status: Consortium Approved

California Adult Education Program : Annual Plan : 2022-23 Produced: Aug 19, 2022, 03:41 PM UTC Carey Buchanan

28 Capital Adult Education Regional Consortium

Plans & Goals

Executive Summary

The Capital Adult Education Regional Consortium (CAERC) includes ten school districts, two county offices of education, and four community colleges. The consortium covers metropolitan cities and rural communities with diverse needs, encompassing four counties: Amador, El Dorado, Sacramento, and Yolo. The consortium’s members have been working together to provide education and workforce services to adult members of these communities. CAERC’s goals support the California Adult Education Program (CAEP) policies and guidance while identifying and sharing promising practices that strengthen the region’s adult education programs, services, and outreach.  

The 2022-23 planning period focuses on rebuilding and restoring adult education programs and services across the region. As we continue encountering pandemic-related challenges, the consortium looks for flexible instructional options to help students persist and meet their educational needs and career goals. CAERC’s one-year planning process involved the review of the consortium’s goals and nine regional strategies from the 2022-25 Three-Year Plan, analysis of qualitative and quantitative data, consideration of COVID-19’s impact on the region, and the assessment of the current levels of adult education needs and offerings. Participating members also evaluated the progress of the consortium’s goals and key indicators and made recommendations regarding objectives and regional strategies for the current planning cycle.  

 Key accomplishments from 2021-22 include continued support of adult basic and secondary education (ESL and ABE/ASE) programs across all members. Many members also offered content-specific math classes, reading and writing, and college and career readiness courses. Instruction was accessible in various modalities, including in-person, online, and blended. Career Technical Education and workforce preparation program offerings supported by CAERC members have grown to include over a dozen industry sectors, including Business and Finance, Fire Academy, School Bus Training, Early Childhood Education, and various Medical and Healthcare related pathways.   

Regional Planning Overview

CAERC’s short-term outcomes from the 2022-25 Three-Year Plan will drive the strategies and activities for the 2022-23 Annual Plan. CAERC members will continue to sustain, expand, refine, and offer high-quality courses and services that provide the region’s adult learners with the academic and employability skills needed to identify and meet their personal, educational, and career goals. In support of these objectives, CAERC will align and strengthen the development of courses and curricula to enable transitions and expand career pathways that correspond to high-demand labor needs in the area. CAERC will also focus on support for high-level English learners to transition to secondary programs and career training pathways, as well as enable equitable access to instruction via participation in the California Distance Learning Cooperative. Members will collaborate to strengthen regional partnerships to increase funding and leverage existing structures and expertise to benefit adult learners in the region. Data collection and reporting efforts will continue to improve with the overall goal of aligning outcomes and improving the accuracy of self-reported data.


Meeting Regional Needs

Regional Need #1

Gaps in Service / Regional Needs

Enrollment Recovery

During the CAEP 2022-25 planning process, CAERC members identified student enrollment recovery and outreach as a regional need. Consortium-level TOPSpro data for program year (PY) 2019-20 shows members serving 9,334 adult learners; in PY 2020-21, the number dropped to 5,519. For PY 2021-22, CAERC members served 7,201 adult learners, signifying enrollment recovery and increasing interest in regional adult education programs. In addition, the consortium will expand outreach and marketing to raise awareness of and access to adult education programs and services offered by CAERC members.   

 

How do you know? What resources did you use to identify these gaps?

CAERC leads and members, including administrators, teachers, data managers, and support staff analyzed data necessary to determine mandatory metrics at both the consortium and member levels. The data sources for program years 2019-20, 2020-21, and 2021-22 include the following:

  • CAEP- Summary Tables (TOPSPro Enterprise - TE)
  • CAEP Outcomes Reports (TE)
  • CAEP Enrollees by Hours (TE)
  • CAEP Demographics
  • CAEP Fact Sheet 2021 (data from 2020) https://caladulted.org/2021FactSheets
  • California Adult Education Pipeline: https://www.calpassplus.org/Launchboard/Adult-Education-Pipeline.aspx
  • Valley Vision COVID-19 Resiliency Poll (May 2021)
  • Skills for a Ready Future Workforce (May 2021)
How will you measure effectiveness / progress towards meeting this need?

Progress will be assessed by tracking enrollments as measured by TE data with the goal of increasing this indicator by 5% from the 2021-22 consortium level base. Furthermore, CAERC’s marketing and outreach campaigns will increase visibility and knowledge of adult education programs and be measured by inquiries to agencies and data analytics from agency websites. 

Regional Need #2

Gaps in Service / Regional Needs

Transitions 

CAERC members examined the consortium’s capacity to support member agencies’ adult learners via the self-assessment tool provided by CAEP. Members rated the consortium’s progress across five quality indicators and additional sub-indicators. Areas of growth were identified for the following indicators: Entry, Progress, and Transitions. To address these needs, consortium leads and members have prioritized activities to support student transitions from ESL/ABE to secondary education and strengthen transitions from ASE/CTE to post-secondary education or the workforce. Identifying students ready to transition, coordinating student case management, a Transitions Navigator Resource hub (website), and focused professional development have been adopted as smart goals for the 2022-23 plan. Additionally, the consortium will continue collaborating with the Los Rios Community College District to identify steps to implement dual enrollment.   

How do you know? What resources did you use to identify these gaps?

From October 2021 through March 2022, consortium members met regularly during scheduled Business and Directors working meetings to assess data and program quality. Utilizing the CAEP Assessment Tool, individuals went through the indicators, rated the consortium’s progress, and turned in their ratings. The results were compiled and summarized centrally. Members met to review the ratings; members made recommendations on related indicators and sub-indicators and rated the consortium on a scale of 1 – 5, with five being the highest score, as follows:

  • Capacity: 4.40
  • Connection: 4.00
  • Entry: 3.63
  • Progress: 3.60
  • Completion/Transition: 3.87
How will you measure effectiveness / progress towards meeting this need?

Progress will be measured by student outcomes and transitions to secondary or post-secondary. The goal is to increase these progress indicators by 3% from 2021-22 consortium level base and facilitate the implementation of Canvas Learning Management System (LMS) across the consortium. 

Address Educational Needs

2022-23 Strategies

RS-1: Sustain, expand, and refine adult education course offerings and services

Activity that Applies to this Strategy

Sustain, expand, refine adult education courses

Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy

  • Student Barriers: English Language Learner (AE 305 - Overall)
  • Student Barriers: Low Income (AE 310 - Overall)
  • Student Barriers: Low Literacy (AE 311 - Overall)

To address this objective, CAERC will:

  • Support expansion of course offerings and delivery of instruction and support services as needed
  • Work with members to define and expand support services and develop a common policy for reporting services
  • Facilitate discussions about program or course offerings and expansion including promising practices and supportive services
  • Facilitate discussions about CTE programs, promising practices, and support services to engage member endorsement that enables leveraging of resources and eliminates duplication of services
  • Facilitate the development of a new 1-Year Plan for 2023-24

We expect that once accomplished, these activities will produce (1) high-quality course offerings that meet the needs of our learners; (2) additional support services for learners, and a common method for reporting them.


RS-2: Coordinate and expand marketing and outreach efforts

Activity that Applies to this Strategy

Coordinate/expand marketing and outreach efforts

Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy

  • Student Barriers: English Language Learner (AE 305 - Overall)
  • Student Barriers: Low Income (AE 310 - Overall)
  • Student Barriers: Low Literacy (AE 311 - Overall)

To address this objective, CAERC will:

  • Coordinate and facilitate workgroup meetings to identify and execute specific marketing strategies (targeted social media posts- asset map, etc.) 
  • Maintain a schedule for members’ submissions for promising practices and student success stories 
  • Continue social media presence to promote CAERC adult education 
  • Share and promote guidelines and recommendations for effective social media use 
  • Develop and print promotional materials, including infographics  
  • Develop and publish two issues of the CAERC Community Newsletter   
  • Identify and work with a PR marketing firm for consortium-level promotion
  • Review social-media marketing calendar at Directors Meetings  

We expect these activities will result in an increase in student success story postings on social media, continued contributions of articles to the CAERC Community newsletter, and the launching of a consortium-level promotional campaign.   

 


RS-3: Host, support, and expand the use of and promote the regional asset map

Activity that Applies to this Strategy

Host, support, expand use of Regional Asset Map

Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy

  • Student Barriers: English Language Learner (AE 305 - Overall)
  • Student Barriers: Low Income (AE 310 - Overall)
  • Student Barriers: Low Literacy (AE 311 - Overall)

To address this objective, CAERC will:

  • Update, maintain, support, and host the regional asset map website 
  • Host monthly online office hours for members to update their course offerings and information 
  • Continue providing training to Transition Navigators on the use of asset map 
  • Facilitate monthly/quarterly discussions on course offerings and revise infographics posted on the asset map

We expect these activities will increase the use of the online tool for identifying course and program offerings across the region by navigators and students and produce an updated and improved asset map tool.   

Improve Integration of Services & Transitions

2022-23 Strategies

RS 4: Align and strengthen the development of courses to support transitions from ESL/ ABE to ASE

Activity that Applies to this Strategy

Align & strengthen transitions from ESL/ABE to ASE

Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy

  • Student Barriers: English Language Learner (AE 305 - Overall)
  • Student Barriers: Low Income (AE 310 - Overall)
  • Student Barriers: Low Literacy (AE 311 - Overall)

To address this objective, CAERC will:

  • Support use of Canvas across the consortium  
  • Support members participating in the California Distance Learning Cooperative via workgroup 
  • Identify a Subject Matter Expert to help establish and lead a consortium Canvas workgroup 
  • Explore adult education Canvas shells to facilitate use with member agencies utilizing the LMS 
  • Support and enable member agencies to pilot Canvas with at least one adult education class 
  • Fund additional Canvas instances for members to pilot additional classes 
  • Support CASAS EL Civics Exchange materials  

We expect these activities will produce equitable access to quality content and instruction, increase transitions to secondary, and enable adult learners’ development of college readiness skills. 


RS-5: Strengthen the development of transitional activities and services for all programs

Activity that Applies to this Strategy

Align & strengthen transitions from ESL/ABE to ASE

Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy

  • Student Barriers: English Language Learner (AE 305 - Overall)
  • Student Barriers: Low Income (AE 310 - Overall)
  • Student Barriers: Low Literacy (AE 311 - Overall)

To address this objective, CAERC will:

  • Continue transitions workgroup meetings and engage in activities to share information and develop resources  
  • Provide information and case management support for adult learners transitioning to post-secondary or workforce  
  • Support member institutions to designate staff to support and track students identified as transitional candidates who move along identified pathways within the consortium 
  • Engage workgroup in activities to build consortium-wide capacity 
  • Develop a system to support Transition Navigator case management of adult learners to transition to post-secondary or the workforce 
  • Develop Transition Navigator Resource Hub website and link to capitaladulted.org  
  • Continue collaboration with Los Rios /American River College to identify steps to implement SB554 (Dual Enrollment) 
  • Provide Transition Navigator professional development to align transition support across the consortium

 We expect these activities will result in targeted support services that address the academic needs of students, provide resources to support agencies’ Transition Navigators, and increase knowledge of post-secondary education or employment options.  


RS- 6 Expand career pathway courses to align to high-demand markets in the region

Activity that Applies to this Strategy

Expand career pathway courses

Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy

  • Student Barriers: English Language Learner (AE 305 - Overall)
  • Student Barriers: Low Income (AE 310 - Overall)
  • Student Barriers: Low Literacy (AE 311 - Overall)

To address this objective, CAERC will:

  • Establish a career pathway workgroup to identify industry sectors and continue collaboration with LRCCD 
  • Evaluate available VESL Health Care, Soft Skills, Workforce Readiness, and Business Technology curriculum 
  • Participate in CALPRO IET Clinic or CALPRO Alignment Clinic to develop and align curriculum and a common set of objectives  
  • Continue to collaborate with Los Rios American River Community College Training Grant Project to support curriculum alignment for Public Sector Pathways and Refuge Career Pathways  
  • Contribute to current projects between LRCCD and K12 adult education in the areas of supporting refugees through CTE and ASE 
  • Coordinate Labor Market data training/professional development; CAEP TAP data workshops  

We expect these activities to produce a program of action that results in more adults in the region achieving their educational and employment goals. 

Improve Effectiveness of Services

2022-23 Strategies

RS-7: Offer Professional Development to support regional strategies

Activity that Applies to this Strategy

Offer PD to support regional strategies

Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy

  • Student Barriers: English Language Learner (AE 305 - Overall)
  • Student Barriers: Low Income (AE 310 - Overall)
  • Student Barriers: Low Literacy (AE 311 - Overall)

To address this objective, CAERC will:

  • Facilitate discussions to identify specific consortium-wide professional development topics and activities (for example, effective strategies for hybrid and concurrent models of instruction/teaching for engagement and impact in any setting, quarterly PLCs for teachers by subject area)  
  • Provide PD for administrators on key TE reports (with help from CASAS specialists) using agencies’ during Directors Workgroup meetings Compile a list of trainers on topics of interest for site-level PD (equity, blended learning, etc.)  
  • Coordinate professional development on identified topics, including areas in US Citizenship and Immigrant Integration 
  • Attend professional development to support program development and expansion as well as the implementation of regional strategies; share CAERC’s promising practices   
  • Provide funding for LRCCD to attend conferences and events that support the CAERC regional strategies  
  • Coordinate a Consortium-Wide Professional Development Day   

We expect these activities to produce increased knowledge and understanding of topics related to the consortium’s goals.   


RS-8 Strengthen Regional Partnerships to increase funding and leverage existing structures

Activity that Applies to this Strategy

Strengthen regional partnerships

Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy

  • Student Barriers: English Language Learner (AE 305 - Overall)
  • Student Barriers: Low Income (AE 310 - Overall)
  • Student Barriers: Low Literacy (AE 311 - Overall)

To address this objective, CAERC will:

  • Facilitate discussions and collaboration during meetings 
  • Facilitate the development of new administration onboarding materials 
  • Continue developing and updating fact sheets for each member and consortium as a whole 
  • Facilitate the establishment of a formula for future allocations of new funds as needed 
  • Report to Leadership Oversight Panel through letters and face-to-face meetings (with CAERC Director) and seek guidance 
  • Maintain, update, and host the CAERC website  

We expect these activities will result in joint planning, implementation, and evaluation of program actions to increase services to adult learners in the region. 


RS-9 Strengthen and support data collection and reporting efforts

Activity that Applies to this Strategy

Strengthen/support data collection and reporting

Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy

  • Student Barriers: English Language Learner (AE 305 - Overall)
  • Student Barriers: Low Income (AE 310 - Overall)
  • Student Barriers: Low Literacy (AE 311 - Overall)

To address this objective, CAERC will:

  • Coordinate and facilitate monthly workgroup meetings  
  • Monitor and share information regarding student registration and enrollment  
  • Updated intake tools to more accurately identify student goals and barriers to align to support services across the consortium  
  • Support the development of a common assessment policy to guide both non-WIOA and WIOA members  
  • Explore the use of the new TE “Data Transfer” wizard to share student data between two agencies so that both agencies can claim the outcome(s)/MSG(s) (requires written permission by the student at both agencies and 12+ hours of instruction at each agency)    
  • Refine program year checklist/workflow for data managers and administrators. 
  • Develop Update guidelines to enable consistent data collection and outcomes reporting  
  • Develop and share resources to support the use of CASAS reports to inform classroom instruction and provide training to teachers 
  • Pay annual CASAS support fee, record management fee, and e-tests for non-WIOA members  
  • Provide TE and ASAP site support to CAERC members 
  • Develop monthly CAEP/WIOA deliverables due date reminder E-Newsletter
  • Provide support with WIOA II 2023-27 RFA for current and new applicants

We expect these activities will produce accurate outcomes data that show the value of adult education to legislators, funders, partners, and members.   

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.

CAERC BUDGET ALLOCATION PROCESS  

For each CAEP Fund annual allocation from the state, CAERC first determines the cost for services as a Program Manager and Fiscal Agent. This consortium-level annual budget consists of staff salaries and other associated expenses for the following services:  

  • Facilitating and carrying out consortium business and working meetings 
  • Facilitating and carrying out the work defined by members under annual regional strategies 
  • Facilitating annual and strategic planning processes 
  • Leveraging regional resources and activities for the benefit of the adult learners 
  • Carrying out administrative work in support of the overall activities 

For each CAEP Fund annual allocation from the state, members receive the base allocation from the previous year. Education Code 84914 guides the allocation process for all members as follows.  As a condition of receipt of an apportionment from the program, a consortium shall approve a distribution schedule that includes both of the following: 

  1. The amount of funds to be distributed to each member of the consortium for that fiscal year.  
  2. A narrative justifying how the planned allocations are consistent with the adult education plan.  

For any fiscal year for which the Chancellor and the Superintendent allocate an amount of funds to the consortium greater than the amount allocated in the prior fiscal year, the amount of funds to be distributed to a member of that consortium shall be equal to or greater than the amount distributed in the prior fiscal year, unless the consortium makes at least one of the following findings related to the member for which the distribution would be reduced: 

  1. The member no longer wishes to provide services consistent with the adult education plan.
  2. The member cannot provide services that address the needs identified in the adult education plan. 
  3. The member has been consistently ineffective in providing services that address the needs identified in the adult education plan and reasonable interventions have not resulted in improvements.

 For any year for which the Chancellor and the Superintendent allocate an amount of funds to the consortium less than the amount allocated in the prior year, the amount of funds to be distributed to a member of that consortium shall not be reduced by a percentage greater than the percentage by which the total amount of funds allocated to the consortium.  

For each CAEP Fund annual allocation from the state, the members may opt in or opt out of receiving one-time additional allocations and reallocations of funds as described in the section titled “Reallocation of Unspent Funds Policy”. 

An approach to incorporating remaining carry-over funds from prior year(s) into strategies planned for 2022-23.

The Capital Adult Education Regional Consortium will take a dual-tiered approach to reallocate unspent funds:

TIER 1: CONSORTIUM-LEVEL UNSPENT FUNDS: 

  1. Identify funded strategies that can benefit from an increased allocation and reallocate unspent funds 
  2. Identify unfunded strategies that can be funded and reallocate unspent funds
  3. Reallocated funds must be spent as stated in Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)  

TIER 2: REMAINING CONSORTIUM-LEVEL UNSPENT FUNDS AND MEMBER-LEVEL UNSPENT FUNDS:  

  1. Members who have spent down 100% of their consortium allocation will be eligible for the reallocation funds
  2. Eligible members may opt-in or opt-out of accepting reallocation funds
  3. Distribution will be based on CAERC’s 2015-16 allocation funding formula in proportionate to percentage received with the number of members who opt-in 
  4. Members opting-in can elect to accept funds in full amount or partial amount based on CAERC’s 2015-16 allocation funding formula 
  5.  Reallocated funds must be spent as stated in the original Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) 
  6.  Members must return unspent funds within 30 days of notice 
  7. The consortium will not distribute reallocation funds until all unspent funds are returned
  8. Members who have not returned unspent funds will have all future allocations withheld by the consortium until funds are received

Certification

Amador County Unified - Member Representative

Approved by Kelly Hunkins

08/17/2022 11:00 AM PDT

Davis Joint Unified - Member Representative

Approved by Grace Sauser

08/17/2022 08:57 AM PDT

El Dorado Co. Office of Education - Member Representative

Approved by Carey Buchanan

08/19/2022 08:41 AM PDT

Elk Grove Unified - Member Representative

Approved by Jane Ross

08/17/2022 08:32 AM PDT

Folsom-Cordova Unified - Member Representative

Approved by Rhonda Balmain

08/17/2022 10:06 AM PDT

Galt Joint Union High - Member Representative

Approved by Lisa Pettis

08/18/2022 10:53 AM PDT

Los Rios CCD - Member Representative

Approved by Dr. Jamey Nye

08/17/2022 09:23 AM PDT

Natomas Unified - Member Representative

Approved by David Rodriguez

08/17/2022 08:37 AM PDT

Sacramento City Unified - Member Representative

Approved by Dr. Sue Lytle Gilmore

08/17/2022 08:32 AM PDT

Sacramento Co. Office of Education - Member Representative

Approved by Renee Collins

08/17/2022 08:52 AM PDT

San Juan Unified - Member Representative

Approved by Richard Judge

08/17/2022 08:36 AM PDT

Twin Rivers Unified - Member Representative

Approved by Tanya Praest

08/17/2022 09:03 AM PDT

Washington Unified - Member Representative

Approved by Dr. Jay Berns Ed.D.

08/17/2022 08:40 AM PDT