CAEP
Annual Plan

Produced: Aug 17, 2023, 06:13 PM UTC - By Marlyn Garcia

61 Sonoma County Adult Education Consortium
CONSORTIUM APPROVED

2023-24

Plans & Goals

Executive Summary

The Sonoma County Adult Education Consortium (SCAEC) has six member agencies; three are funded service providers and three are unfunded members. The funded services providers are Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC), Sonoma County Office of Education (SCOE), and Petaluma Adult School (PAS). The three unfunded members are Windsor Unified School District, Santa Rosa City Schools, and Sonoma Valley Unified School District.


As indicated in the three-year plan, SCAEC is direct-funded based on a consensus of the service providers. Allocations for each service provider vary depending on the amount of the grant award, but the percentage of the award allotted to each agency has remained consistent for several years: 38-39% to SRJC, slightly more than 53% to PAS, and almost 8% to SCOE. These percentages will be applied to the full amount allocated for 2023-24. In addition, each service provider is expected to spend down the majority of carryover by the end of Program Year 2.


SCAEC’s vision is to improve the quality of life for Sonoma County residents who experience barriers to living wage employment and post-secondary education. These barriers can include an inability to communicate effectively in English, a lack of a high school diploma or its equivalent, not being a legal citizen, and having a disability. To address the career and educational goals of these populations, SCAEC offers courses that enable students to improve their English language skills, learn basic academic skills, acquire a high school diploma or its equivalent, obtain citizenship status, and receive workforce preparation and training skills. In addition, SCAEC connects its adult education students to support services and assistance programs offered by service providers as well as community partners.


SCAEC accomplished much in Program Year 1 (2022-23):

  • expanded outreach efforts;
  • increased enrollment across the three education service providers;
  • opened 77 new sections of adult education classes at SRJC to meet increased demand;
  • instituted an ESL Leadership at PAS which incorporated curriculum to empower self-advocacy, networking and connection to community agencies;
  • hired 14 new ESL instructors at SRJC to meet demand;
  • reinstituted in-person construction classes at SCOE;
  • offered 35 sections of adult education classes through SRJC at seven off-site locations;
  • increased number of students earning an HSD from 34 in 2021-22 to 56 in 2202-23;
  • expanded HSD program to the Graton Rancheria and Sonoma County Juvenile Detention Center, with the latter serving 18- to 25-year-olds;
  • increased the number of enrollees with pre- and post-test CASAS scores;
  • increased number of EFL gains achieved by almost 350% at SRJC;
  • met or slightly exceeded State goals for EFL gains achieved for all ESL levels, except Low-Advanced, at SRJC;
  • increased counseling services for adult education students at SRJC;
  • expanded Family Resource Center wrap-around services in Petaluma to include Sonoma Family Meals, Sonoma County Regional Parks, Secure Families Collaborative (mental health services in English and Spanish and access to immigration support seeking asylum), Petaluma Health Center Mobile Clinic (vaccinations for children and parents);
  • held four professional development trainings for SRJC adult education faculty, plus a four-session Community of Practice for noncredit ESL faculty; and
  • sent key faculty and staff from SRJC and PAS to offsite trainings and conferences.

SCAEC’s primary goals for Program Year 2 (2023-24) include:

  • continue to expand outreach efforts for all three service providers;
  • continue to increase enrollment;
  • increase the number of ESL and HSD/HSE certificate completers at both PAS and SRJC;
  • increase the number of students participating in the adult dual enrollment program for SRJC and PAS;
  • hold a minimum of four professional development trainings each for SRJC ESL, CTE and HSE faculty; and
  • implement the WASC goal of increased data collection and study through PAS.
Regional Planning Overview

SCAEC’s Three-Year Plan is focused on providing educational and workforce training programs in multiple modalities in an effort to (1) grow back in-person classes, (2) retain online course offerings where it makes pedagogical sense and there is demand, and (3) offer hybrid courses so that students can get the hands-on, in-person instruction they need without having to travel to class multiple times a week. Enrollment continues to be closely monitored to gauge student interest and needs so that adjustments can be made as necessary.


Expanding outreach efforts to increase enrollment is a key strategy all SCAEC educational service providers have and will continue to pursue. The SCAEC has an established online presence with its website and social media. It has also relied on posting flyers in key locations, such as markets, libraries, clinics, laundromats, and churches. In 2022-23, SCEAC expanded its distribution of flyers to include parents of children who attend schools where adult education classes were scheduled. SCAEC educational service providers have always worked with their community partners, but in 2022-23, the Outreach Specialists were able to once again participate in in-person tabling events where they talked with prospective students about available programs. In 2023-24, SCAEC will replace the costly use of radio and newspaper advertising with direct mailing which has proven to be highly successful. All outreach materials are developed in English and Spanish in order to reach the greatest number of potential students.


To increase enrollment, SCAEC will continue to offer classes in multiple modalities and at a variety of locations in Sonoma County. SRJC offered 35 sections of its adult education classes at seven offsite locations; two more locations are being added in 2023-24. When SCOE returned to in-person instruction, it began offering classes in Santa Rosa and (the City of) Sonoma. Class enrollment will be closely monitored and adjustments to modality, number of sections offered, and location will be made as necessary. PAS offers 31 sections of adult education classes (including ESL, Citizenship, Leadership, ESL computers, conversation/pronunciation, parent education, high school diploma and HiSET test prep) in four cities at six locations. The Family Resource Center provides wrap-around services to decrease barriers to goal attainment as well as outreach services for adult students and their families, making referrals to PAS and community programs and services.


As the largest educational service provider, SRJC is committed to increasing transfer rates. One strategy that has already been implemented but will be expanded is to have academic counselors deliver more in-class presentations and counsel students in evening classes at off-site locations during class. The second strategy is to grow the Adult Dual Enrollment Program that was launched in May 2023. Seven students qualified for dual enrollment in Summer 2023, and with a dedicated Adult Dual Enrollment Coordinator, SCAEC only expects this number to grow. Third, SRJC will assign of the permanent Outreach Specialists to track ESL and HSE certificate completers and assisting students with the application process if necessary. Another SRJC Outreach Specialist is assigned to PAS and will continue to transition students to SRJC as well as support Adult Dual Enrollment for PAS students.


Finally, SCAEC will continue with its professional development plans to provide opportunities to improve instructional consistency. Four professional development opportunities will occur each year, two per semester for both SRJC’s ESL and Adult Education/College Skills Departments. The Adult Education Director will continue to work with the chairs of these departments to identify training topics, conferences to attend, and possible CALPRO workshops that will improve instruction and student success. Introducing ESL faculty to the new CASAS test STEPS is one training that will definitely take place in 2023-24 so that instructors are prepared when the test rolls out in 2024-25. SCAEC training plans will include PAS administration and faculty. PAS will independently continue to send staff to CCAE, CAEAA, CASAS SI and CAEP.


Meeting Regional Needs

Regional Need #1

Gaps in Service / Regional Needs

SCAEC educational service providers offer programs for English language learners, those lacking a high school diploma or its equivalent, and adults with disabilities. The latter program is provided through partnerships that SRJC has with community-based organizations to provide direct services to students with disabilities. In the CAEP Three-Year Plan, SCAEC data showed that only a small percentage of the County’s population who could benefit from adult education coursework in ESL, HSD/HSE, and/or short-term CTE programs actually enrolled in such classes.


As the region’s largest educational service provider, SRJC is committed to increasing enrollment by:

  • offering more hybrid and in-person classes while continuing with remote-only options;
  • partnering with local community service agencies to provide off-campus classes;
  • expanding outreach efforts;
  • holding large-scale registration and orientation events; and
  • increasing the number of enrollees, certificate completers, and transferees in ESL and HSD/HSE program areas by having direct and sustained communication with students.

SRJC was successful in implementing most of these strategies and increased enrollment across all program areas by 45%, far exceeding the original goal of 10%; however, there are still thousands of Sonoma County residents within the target populations who could benefit from taking classes but are not.


PAS will continue to increase outreach to the ESL and parent community to increase enrollment in their in-person classes which are widely preferred to online classes. HSD/HSE classes will be advertised through flyers and communication from their program manager to local high schools, alternative education sites, counseling groups, direct partnerships, such as Graton Rancheria and Juvenile Hall, and through the PAS and SCAEC websites.

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

For the CAEP Three-Year Plan, the SCAEC surveyed and met with adult education stakeholders and students to gather information to evaluate, assess, and identify needs and gaps in educational and workforce services. In addition, data from the U.S. Census, Launchboard’s Adult Education Pipeline, and SRJC’s Student Information System were analyzed to both identify new and confirm anecdotal education and workforce service gaps. Data from the U.S. Census, clearly demonstrated Sonoma County’s need for ESL, HSD/HSE, AWD, and short-term CTE program area classes.


Of 188,958 households and 488,863 residents:

  • 25.9% of households speak a language other than English as home;
  • 11.9% of residents 25 or over lack a high school diploma or its equivalent;
  • 7.6% of residents under age 65 have a disability; and
  • 7.8% of residents live in poverty.

For purposes of the 2023-24 Annual Plan, the SCAEC relied mostly on data from SRJC’s Student Information System and TOPSpro Enterprise (TE).

How will you measure effectiveness / progress towards meeting this need?

In the CAEP Three-Year Plan, the SCAEC indicated that program effectiveness/progress would be measured using key data points that had been uploaded from TE to Launchboard; however, the most current data available on Launchboard is from 2021-22. Instead, data available from TE will be used to measure effectiveness/progress as all three educational service providers use this software to record, manage, track, and analyze student data.


In addition, SRJC will use data from its Student Information System to supplement TE data as not all adult education students attending SRJC classes are tracked in TE. The Student Information System shows that student enrollment increased 45% (from 5,972 to 8,633) across all three of SRJC’s adult education program areas between 2021-22 and 2022-23. PAS will use its attendance system, ASAP in conjunction with TE to follow data regarding attendance and enrollment. These data sources indicate a 16% increase in total enrollment with PAS from 2021-2022 to 2022-2023 (a 97% increase for ESL alone).

Address Educational Needs

2023-24 Strategies

Expand Outreach Efforts

Activity that Applies to this Strategy

Direct and sustained contact with students

Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy

  • All: Adults who Became Participants (AE 202 - Overall)

The first step to increase enrollment is to expand outreach efforts. The Outreach Specialists have successfully used social media since the inception of SCAEC and were able to build on this foundation during the pandemic by posting on Facebook and on community group pages, recording and posting Adult Ed Educational Gossip videos, and hosting Facebook live events. The SCAEC’s website has also been a great platform to promote classes offered by the three educational service providers. This website is updated three times a year to reflect current class offerings. The Outreach Specialists have supplemented SCAEC’s online presence with presentations to online and in-person classes and distributions of flyers in key locations. Prior to 2022-23, outreach efforts were focused on building enrollment in the short-term CTE programs; beginning in 2022-23, these strategies were applied to SRJC’s ESL and HSE programs as well.


The SRJC outreach specialists have worked with community partners to inform their clients of the non-credit classes offered at SRJC, PAS and SCOE. With a return to in-person community events, the outreach specialists were able to participate in tabling events where they talked with attendees about the non-credit programs at SRJC, PAS and SCOE, a successful strategy prior to COVID. During the PY 2022-23, the Adult Education Outreach Specialists participated in eleven tabling events and 20 presentations, most of them in-person. The Adult Ed team plans to continue participating in tabling events and doing presentations both in person and online to promote the noncredit programs in PY 2023-24.

 

The SRJC Adult Ed Program also created two mailers to promote the noncredit programs (short-term CTE, HSE and ESL) at SRJC. One mailer was distributed in late 2022 to promote Spring 2023 classes; the other was distributed in May 2023 to promote Summer 2023 and Fall 2023 classes. PAS has a long history of effectively using bi-annual brochures in bulk mailings to reach the Petaluma community; it relies on the SCAEC website and other means to advertise HSD classes in the county. The Adult Ed Outreach Specialists also created program and class flyers that were sent to school districts and other partners. In early July 2023, program flyers were shared through Peachjar in different school districts throughout the County. These flyers were also posted at key locations, such as laundromats, libraries, grocery stores, clinics, and churches throughout Sonoma County in late July 2023. The Adult Ed program is planning on doing another mailer in late fall 2023 to promote Spring 2024 semester classes. Mailers are expensive, but they are very effective.

 

The SRJC Adult Ed Program also promoted noncredit classes on local and digital (Pandora and Spotify) radio stations in both English and Spanish during the Fall 2022 and Spring 2023 semesters. Advertisements were also placed in the local newspapers: The Press Democrat in English and La Prensa in Spanish. Because radio and newspaper advertising is not as effective as social media and is very expensive, the SRJC Adult Ed Program is discontinuing this practice in PY 2023-24. Nexo Media has produced a promotional video for PAS to advertise its HiSET test prep program.

 

The SRJC Adult Ed Program started promoting the CTE, HSE and ESL classes at the DMV office in Petaluma in early July 2023. The success of this promotion will be evaluated to determine whether to continue or discontinue advertising at this location.

 

SRJC’s Adult Dual Enrollment program was launched in late Spring 2023. The Adult Dual Enrollment Coordinator has conducted numerous presentations since she was hired in May 2023. Presentations were made in HSE classes in Spring 2023 and high-intermediate and low-advanced ESL classes in Summer 2023. More presentations are planned in HSE and ESL classes in Fall 2023 so students can dual enroll in Spring 2024. Similarly, presentations will be made in Spring 2024 so that students can dual enroll for Summer and/or Fall 2024. PAS will continue to work with their assigned Outreach Specialist to support Adult Dual Enrollment for PAS and SRJC.

 

SCOE also expanded its outreach efforts in the 2022-23 school year in an effort to increase enrollment numbers, which suffered a significant decline and subsequent cancellation of classes during the pandemic. Staff worked with community and agency partners to identify ways to get programming information into the communities that they hoped to serve. SCOE plans to continue with the increased and expanded outreach efforts that they found successful in the 2022-23 school year. These include identifying and working with not only SRJC, but targeted outreach in the communities in which they would like to offer classes.


All outreach materials are created in English and Spanish and the outreach is provided in English and Spanish, as the students served by the consortium are largely native Spanish speakers.


Optimize instructional modalities, course offerings, & locations to meet student demand & interest

Activity that Applies to this Strategy

Direct and sustained contact with students

Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy

  • Student Barriers: English Language Learner (AE 305 - Overall)

SCAEC’s three service providers returned to face-to-face instruction in PY 2022-23 after two years of mostly remote instruction. For SRJC, classes were offered at all three campuses (Santa Rosa, Petaluma and Roseland [formerly known as the Southwest Center]), as well as at several off-site locations (Cloverdale High School, Healdsburg Community Center, Rancho Cotate High School in Rohnert Park, Windsor High School, Sonoma Valley High School, and Meadow View Elementary in Santa Rosa) in the community. Online options remained for students who prefer that modality. SRJC’s goal was to retain students gained when instruction went online, as well as to recover those lost during the pandemic. For PAS classes were offered at the McDowell School hub (ESL, FRC, parent education, HSE) and in Windsor, Santa Rosa, Sonoma and Petaluma (HSD).


Summer 2021 was the last semester SRJC offered 100% of its classes online. In Fall 2021, SRJC began offering in-person classes again, but only 5% of the classes were offered in this modality, with the remaining 95% continuing to be offered online. In Spring 2022, SRJC increased in-person classes to 23%, with the remaining 77% being offered online. In Summer 2022, SRJC increased the percentage of in-person classes to 38% and in Fall 2022, it was increased to 63%. Spring 2023 was similar to Fall with 62% of classes being offered in person. After evaluating enrollment trends by modality, more than half (55%) of the Summer 2023 classes were offered online and almost half (49%) of Fall 2023 classes will be held online to meet the students’ needs and interests. The Adult Education Director and Adult Education/College Skills and ESL Department Chairs have worked and will continue to work together to monitor enrollment and make adjustments to course modalities and locations as necessary.


SRJC will continue to offer classes in person and online. SRJC added two new off-site locations for Fall 2023: Cesar Chavez Language Academy and Monroe Elementary School in Santa Rosa. Additional off-site locations in Santa Rosa are planned for the Spring 2024 semester due to the reduction of classroom space at SRJC Roseland, which is currently undergoing a major reconstruction so as to add classroom space. In the meantime, however, classroom space there has been and will continue to be greatly reduced.


SCOE will continue to offer construction courses in two areas of the county: Sonoma and Santa Rosa. Offerings will include Essential Carpentry/Construction courses, complemented by skill-specific clinics each semester. When possible, these courses will be scheduled so that students completing SRJC coursework can matriculate into the SCOE courses. Courses will continue to be held in both Sonoma and Santa Rosa to serve students in or near the community in which they live. Planning is underway that would allow for expansion of course offerings into the northern part of Sonoma County. Unfortunately, SCOE is not able to offer these courses online since they are hands-on and are very difficult to teach in an online format.


PAS will continue to offer in-person classes for HSD, HSE, parent education, and ESL/Citizenship.  There will be three online ESL classes (in-person is much more in demand) and hybrid options available for all HSD and HSE sites and classes.



Scheduling of large-scale group registration and orientation events

Activity that Applies to this Strategy

Direct and sustained contact with students

Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy

  • Student Barriers: English Language Learner (AE 305 - Overall)

SRJC has helped students enroll in their noncredit courses by having the Adult Education Program and SRJC Roseland staff assist students in completing the SRJC application and registering for noncredit courses. During most of PY 2022-23, this was done in person, over the phone, and on Zoom in one-on-one sessions or small group registration workshops.


The SRJC Adult Education Program organized four registration fairs in partnerships with Job Link and community organizations in June 2023. One of these registration fairs was held at the Healdsburg Community Center where they had over 40 attendees. Another registration fair was held at La Luz Center in Sonoma where they had over 20 attendees. The third event was held at the Job Link offices in Santa Rosa. This event had low attendance, but the Adult Ed team was able to meet with the Job Link counselors and share flyers and other outreach materials. The last registration fair was held in the parking lot of the Adult Education office in Santa Rosa where there were about 30 attendees. In addition, a total of eight online registration events were held to accommodate students who were unable to attend the in-person events. SRJC Roseland staff will continue offering registration workshops at their site on a weekly basis. They will also have registration workshops at all the off-site locations where classes will be held in the fall semester. They will have workshops prior to the first day of class and during the first or second week of the semester to make sure all those interested in taking classes can register.

 

The Adult Education and SRJC Roseland teams will continue offering small and large registration events to promote the noncredit programs at SRJC and to help people register for these classes. Registration fairs will be held at the same locales as in PY 2022-23, with new locations throughout Sonoma County being added for 2023-24.

 

The Adult Education Program scheduled two orientations for students registered in any HSE class at SRJC. The purpose of the orientations was to provide students with information about the HSE program and its classes, the differences between the GED and HiSET exams, how to register to take the GED or HiSET exam, counseling, Adult Dual Enrollment, and the GED/HiSET test voucher incentive program. These orientations were held both in-person and online, as well as in English and Spanish. Because both events were well-attended, the plan is to hold similar orientations every fall and spring.


PAS only offers online registration for their HSD program. This is conducted through a mandatory orientation/registration process that includes CASAS testing. The Program Manager for Adult Secondary Education and other staff have tables at events such as the job fair at Graton Rancheria, community events held at the Hanna Boys Center and Job Link. Recruitment for parent education programs, which increasingly have waiting lists, is done through flyers, website and door-to-door visits and canvassing in lower-income neighborhoods. Lastly, ESL recruitment is done through having tables at community events, such as St. Vincent's Church in Petaluma, as well as through school welcome back activities presented through Petaluma City Schools. Additionally, their Family Resource Center hosts a wide variety of events where attendees learn about all the programs offered by PAS.


Having direct and continued contact with students prior to the start of and throughout the semester

Activity that Applies to this Strategy

Direct and sustained contact with students

Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy

  • All: Adults who Became Participants (AE 202 - Overall)

Support services staff will leverage the use of mobile applications, such as Remind, to help students get to class on the first day. In addition, SRJC’s Adult Education Program hired a part-time STNC Outreach Specialist and a student worker to assist the three permanent full-time Outreach Specialists with contacting students who are absent from class. Such one-on-one contact provides students with opportunities to share why they are having trouble attending class and get them the support services they need to continue their education.


PAS has a Family Resource Center located on the McDowell School campus which provides a wide variety of wrap-around services to support the school community and adult students to overcome barriers such as childcare, applying for state and federal benefits, food bank, mental health resources, immigration services and others. PAS staff in all programs use Remind and some also use WhatsApp with great success. For parent education, the program parent educator closely monitors student attendance and reaches out to families struggling with attendance by connecting them to the FRC to reduce barriers. Their ASE program manager closely monitors attendance, providing weekly reports to teachers with the expectation they will reach out to absent students in HSD. The HSE lead teacher and the Learning Center Coordinator work closely together to monitor attendance and reach out to students. Lastly, ESL teachers monitor attendance and do their own outreach to students who stop out.

Improve Integration of Services & Transitions

2023-24 Strategies

Improve transition rates

Activity that Applies to this Strategy

Direct and sustained contact with students

Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy

  • Student Barriers: English Language Learner (AE 305 - Overall)

SCEAC adult education students are not transitioning at an acceptable rate. As the largest educational service provider, SRJC laid the groundwork for improving transition rates during 2022-23 and expects to see a small uptick in 2023-24. The success of these strategies will be analyzed to expand the practice of those that work and make modifications to or discontinue those that are less successful.


In-class visits from counselors is one strategy that was implemented immediately. Counselors visit classrooms to inform students of the range of noncredit programs at SRJC, and to discuss education plans, credit programs, how to transfer to credit, and the availability and type of student support services that aid academic success. These presentations end with a question and answer period. Learning the purpose of academic counseling and engaging with a counselor in a familiar environment encourages students to schedule an appointment. With an increase in time dedicated to adult education students, counselors have been able to visit evening classes at off-site locations to deliver their presentations and meet with students individually during class time. In 2023-24, SRJC plans to increase the number of in-class visits by counselors.


A second strategy is the expansion and implementation of the Adult Dual Enrollment program. Under an existing agreement, SRJC was able to provide free credit classes for six of PAS’ qualifying HSD students in Summer 2023; SRJC implemented Adult Dual Enrollment with their HSE program and had one student participant in Summer 2023. SCAEC currently estimates that over twenty students will be dual-enrolled for Fall 2023. SRJC’s Adult Education Program hired a temporary, part-time Adult Dual Enrollment Coordinator to manage this program and increase enrollment. Taking a credit class at minimal cost while still a noncredit student, allows students to experience the similarities and differences between credit and noncredit coursework, access support services to assist in their success, and hopefully dispel any fears they may have about their ability to be successful in a credit environment.


A third strategy is to expand the level and types of support services dedicated to noncredit programs at SRJC. While a range of support services are available to noncredit students on SRJC’s Santa Rosa, Roseland, and Petaluma campuses, support services staff are not necessarily familiar with the needs of nontraditional, noncredit adult education students. In 2022-23, SRJC took the first step in implementing this strategy as described in the Annual Plan: to identify its noncredit stakeholders and establish a noncredit stakeholders committee. The Committee met four times in 2022-23 but will meet monthly during the fall and spring semesters (eight times per calendar year) in 2023-24 and 2024-25. The Adult Education Director and Director of SRJC Roseland have also started establishing relationships and meeting individually with the administrators and managers who are responsible for providing student support services so that their staff can better support the noncredit, adult education student population.


SRJC was not able to fully implement the final strategy identified in the 2022-23 Annual Plan: for the Adult Education Program’s Outreach Specialists to track ESL and HSE students’ progress towards certificate completion in these two program areas and assist students with the application process as necessary, a practice that was successfully employed in the short-term CTE program. The lack of adequate staffing made this impossible. Therefore, the ESL Department will hire a part-time, temporary Outreach Specialist who will take on this responsibility, in addition to others. Similarly, the Adult Education Program’s new Adult Dual Enrollment Coordinator will have this responsibility for HSE students.


PAS, with its varied programs and classes, utilizes a variety of strategies to support transitions to education and employment. For parent-education, students are encouraged to take other classes, such as ESL, Citizenship, Leadership, Conversation/Pronunciation, HiSET test prep, computers along with their parent-education classes. ESL students who progress through their classes, make EFL gains, and eventually take the Bridges and Transitions class can transfer to higher non-credit or lower level credit classes at SRJC. To support CTE and career transitions, the FRC assists students with resumé building and support in applying for jobs. HSD students complete a mandatory five-credit career exploration elective which allows them to explore and compare different careers, and they are also connected to SRJC’s Outreach Specialists and counselors to transition to SRJC. Finally, a partnership with CALRegional medical training allows students who complete an HSD/HSE with PAS to benefit from a scholarship for phlebotomy and/or clinical medical assisting courses.

Improve Effectiveness of Services

2023-24 Strategies

Provide Professional Development

Activity that Applies to this Strategy

Professional Development

Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy

  • All: Number of Adults Served (AE 200 - Overall)

Ongoing professional development is a key component of effective adult education and workforce programs. Targeted professional development improves the quality of instruction which can result in higher levels of student attendance and persistence, and the achievement of more educational outcomes. In the CAEP Three-Year and Annual Plans, SRJC indicated that it would fund instructional training that has a positive impact in the classroom and on students. Towards this end, SRJC provided training on the following topics in 2022-23:


  • using common writing assessments for noncredit ESL classes;
  • using CASAS scores to inform ESL instruction;
  • integrating vocabulary instruction for ESL students on Canvas;
  • using Jamboard to increase ESL student engagement;
  • using student learning outcomes in the Course Outlines of Record in Adult Education and College Skills classes;
  • understanding hourly assignments as defined and described in the All Faculty Association contract; and
  • applying syllabus requirements per SRJC policy.


In addition, SRJC funded a four-session Community of Practice focused on best instructional practices for noncredit ESL faculty. Topics covered included:


  • using Canvas in beginning ESL level classes;
  • scaffolding the reading process for beginning level English language learners;
  • teaching writing as a process;
  • learning English through songs; and
  • using the Oxford English Picture Dictionary Teacher Resource Center.


SCAEC hosted a WestEd training on creating pathways for students to transition to college and/or living wage jobs. SJRC, PAS and SCOE sent instructors, key administrators, and staff to this training. SRJC also sent three instructors and one of its Adult Education Outreach Specialists to the GED Conference in New York. The instructors and the Outreach Specialist who attended the GED Conference this summer will be sharing what they learned with their colleagues at a professional development training this fall.


SRJC plans to continue funding professional development opportunities that promote quality instruction and result in greater learning outcomes for students. The Adult Education Program Director will work with the Adult Education/College Skills and ESL Department Chairs as well as the PAS Principal and SCOE administrator to identify and prioritize professional development opportunities for each program area.


CASAS is rolling out a new test (STEPS) for English language learners that becomes effective in 2024-25. Because the CASAS reading and listening tests are an important tool for measuring student progress, SCAEC will provide funds for trainings that will introduce SRJC and PAS faculty to the new test, its similarities to and differences from the old test, and ways to modify instruction to encourage student success.

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.

SCAEC is comprised of six members, three of which are service providers. SCAEC is direct-funded, and it is the goal to continue with this model as all the service providers agree that this model works well, and they are not interested in reverting back to the fiscal agent model. The allocation percentage for the three agencies has remained consistent over the past eight years, with approximately 38-39% going to SRJC, a little over 53% going to PAS, and close to 8% going to SCOE. Since SCOE was not able to offer the number of classes they had planned during the pandemic, they were unable to spend their funds as expected. Therefore, SCOE gave up 50% of their PY 2023-24 allocated funds. These funds were split evenly between SRJC and PAS.

 

SRJC will use most of its CAEP funds to pay for a full-time Adult Education Program Director; three full-time Outreach Specialists; one full-time Testing Technician; one full-time Administrative Assistant; half of the salary of a full-time SRJC Roseland Director; one part-time STNC Outreach Specialist; two part-time permanent Testing Technicians; one to three student employees; curriculum and professional development for noncredit ESL, CTE and HSE instructors; program and classroom supplies; marketing; and equipment, such as laptops, keyboards, and mice.


PAS will use most of its funds to pay for a FT Principal, Assistant Principal and .6 Program Manager for ASE as well as 2.5 certificated teachers and 23 hourly teachers. With regard to classified staff, PAS will fund a FT senior secretary, registrar, .5 learning center coordinator, FT FRC bilingual family mentor, other PT FRC staff and parent education and childcare staff, some with PT regular assignments and others hired as substitute childcare assistants. Books, supplies, educational software, copier licenses, professional memberships, conferences, and indirect costs are also funded through CAEP.

 

With the 2023-2024 allocated funds, PAS will continue to offer ESL and Citizenship classes in person and restore the full number of hours for each class and section to pre-pandemic times. PAS will expand the hours, days and locations for their HSD and HSE (English and Spanish) to include a new site at the Hanna Boys Center in Sonoma, bringing the total ASE sites to six located in four Sonoma County cities. They will continue to offer HiSET testing and recently added three more test sections to meet the demand. Instruction will continue primarily in person with additional virtual classes to support learners who benefit from online instruction. With regard to parent education (K12 Success), PAS will continue to offer and expand the hours/days for AVANCE, Pasitos, Primeros Pasitos, Ready for Kindergarten and Abriendo Puertas.

 

Their award-winning Family Resource Center will concentrate on wrap-around services and supports for their Sonoma County students as well as developing collaborations with multiple business and social service partners. A new area of education development for the current and upcoming years is English and Newcomer classes for the refugee populations in our area, including Afghans and Ukrainians.


With the 2023-24 allocated funds, SCOE will continue to offer construction courses in two areas of the county: Sonoma and Santa Rosa. Offerings will include Essential Carpentry/Construction courses, complemented by skill-specific clinics each semester. When possible, these courses will be scheduled so that students completing SRJC coursework can matriculate into the SCOE courses. Courses will continue to be held in both Sonoma and Santa Rosa to serve students in or near the community in which they live. Planning is underway that would allow for expansion of course offerings into the northern part of Sonoma County.

An approach to incorporating remaining carry-over funds from prior year(s) into strategies planned for 2023-24.

The three funded service providers will use any carry-over funds to meet their agency’s responsibilities for the provision of consortium supported programs and services. CAEP funds not spent within the year they are allocated are rolled into the subsequent year’s budget to ensure continuity of staffing and services to adult education students. The director of the SCAEC reviews the financial reports for the 3 services providers on a quarterly basis to monitor the rate of expenditure to make sure that all allocated funds are spent in a timely manner and adequate carryover funds are available for subsequent years.


The SCAEC Oversight Committee will monitor overall consortium spending and the spending of all members with the submission of quarterly fiscal reports and by reviewing the FIFO data. If a member is not spending their allocation per state guidelines and as a result, the Consortium is in danger of exceeding the 20% carryover limit, the consortium director will work with this member to create a plan to reduce their carry over.


The SCAEC does NOT currently have any bylaws that govern carryover, but this will be added to the bylaws this year (2023-24).

Certification

Petaluma Joint Union High - Member Representative

Approved by Nancy Emanuele 7784633

08/11/2023 01:27 PM PDT

Santa Rosa City Schools - Member Representative

Approved by Samuelito Martinez

08/11/2023 04:26 PM PDT

Sonoma Co. Office of Education - Member Representative

  • Internal Fiscal Services Analyst
  • spost@scoe.org
  • (707) 524-2630
Approved by Georgia Ioakimedes

08/11/2023 02:57 PM PDT

Sonoma County CCD - Member Representative

Approved by Daniela Kingwill

08/11/2023 01:03 PM PDT

Sonoma Valley Unified - Member Representative

Approved by Liz Liscum

08/11/2023 01:41 PM PDT

Windsor Unified - Member Representative

  • Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services
  • sferrer@wusd.org
  • (707) 837-7700 ext: 1012
Approved by Marlyn Garcia Santa Rosa Junior College

08/17/2023 11:13 AM PDT