CAEP
Annual Plan

Produced: Aug 22, 2023, 08:11 PM UTC - By Debbie Vanschoelandt

62 South Orange County Regional Consortium (SOCRC)
CONSORTIUM APPROVED

2023-24

Plans & Goals

Executive Summary

The South Orange County Regional Consortium’s vision for collaborative regional service provision in the first year of the three-year (2022-2025) plan served the community well as the area recovered from the two-year pandemic closures and restrictions. Wanting to emphasize the regional approach to service delivery, the consortium held a career pathways fair at Saddleback College in October 2022 with over 400 community members attending. Each school district in the consortium participated in or promoted the event to their families.

All of the service-providing agencies within the SOCRC had gains in student enrollment and student persistence in the 2022/23 program year. The student population trended younger than prior years with 28 percent of participants in the 18-29 age group and 50 percent in the 30-49 age group. The population of participants in AE who are over 60 years of age decreased to 12 percent from a high of 20 percent in previous years. Over 75 percent of the students enrolled in CAEP programs through SOCRC agencies are English language learners seeking to improve their reading, writing and communication skills. English literacy gains and the receipt of a high school diploma or equivalent will support the region’s economic recovery by providing a new pipeline of employees to fill entry and technical-level jobs. 

SOCRC members provide a wide variety of programs to community members. As stated earlier, ESL and Civics courses account for 78% of the enrollment; 10,532 served in all ESL programs. Most service provider agencies offer some ESL courses, The exception, College and Career Advantage, focuses solely on providing short-term career skill training that is concentrated on technical level positions in the health care industry. High school diploma and equivalency programs are offered by Tustin and Irvine Unified School District Adult Schools, while Saddleback College provides instruction in preparation for high school equivalency exams. Saddleback College also offers programs for adults with disabilities and short-term career skill training.  

Some of the biggest successes experienced by the SOCRC members are as follows: College and Career Advantage conducted a successful return to class campaign by calling and emailing former and potential students, as well as having an Open House Event for the public with classroom tours of the CTE facilities. They also addressed career interests for students during registration appointments and hosted Saddleback College staff for transition information workshops. Laguna Beach Unified School District partnered with local government agencies to provide online classes for the community in ESL, high school equivalency preparation and digital literacy.  This resulted in a 200 percent increase in enrollment over the previous program year. Irvine Adult School (IAS) who hired a college and career specialist in the 2021/22 school year showed remarkable gains in support services offered to students and surpassed their goal of two percent increase in student enrollment and retention. In addition, IAS was able to create a new Adult Education learning area in an adjacent space to the former campus with three designated portables and will add two more in the coming program year. Tustin Adult School (TAS) had great success this past year with student enrollment bouncing back from a decline of over fifty percent during the pandemic by partnering with two community-based organizations (Tustin Family and Youth Center and St. Paul’s Church) to secure classroom space in local neighborhoods. The Family and Youth Center also provided child care for the adult learners. TAS who focused on student support had over 100 students complete their high school diploma or pass an equivalency exam.  The Irvine Valley College team was busy developing new courses for their highly successful contextualized ESL program for Fall 2022: English for Parents: Elementary School and English for Career Search, and for Spring 2023: English for Parents: High School and English for Child Development, as well as English for Computer Information Management. They were able to see a growth in unduplicated student enrollment of 67% from pre-pandemic levels with over 4,000 unduplicated students and over 400 AESL Certificates of Competency awarded in the 2022/23 academic year. IVC was able to hire two full time faculty members in AESL and the college took the lead along with faculty from Saddleback College (SC) in developing and implementing consortium-wide professional development events. The SC team focused on student support and transition from adult education to Saddleback College, where nearly 200 students took advantage of the SB 554 Adult Dual Enrollment program. They were able to hire student success coaches and transition staff with a blended funding model so that students receive counseling and support from high school equivalency courses to credit certificate and degree programs at the college.

Regional Planning Overview

The South Orange County Regional Consortium solicited information from and included all members in assessing consortium programs, identifying what would be needed in the second year of the three-year implementation cycle and how/if the pandemic related shift to online learning will impact operations into the future. SOCRC started with a review of the three-year plan to assess how well the consortium met their planning goals for year one. Members also reviewed and reported on their fiscal information throughout the year, as well as student enrollments and faculty/staffing for AE programs. Since one of the regional needs for year one was to develop and implement a system to evaluate member effectiveness, the tools and data garnered from the year-long development process were used as baseline information for this report. In all, the consortium was able to deliver three tools to assess differing aspects of member effectiveness and progress towards meeting State requirements for maximum annual consortium carryover. The three tools include: 1) the quarterly fiscal reporting template; 2) the facilities, classrooms, equipment and technology assessment; and 3) the member effectiveness self-evaluation rubric. Particular focus was placed on how the tools would measure progress towards fiscal, academic and legislative aspects of adult education program delivery, while also determining what worked for students, teachers and agencies during the facility closures, how that currently affects education needs in the region, and what, if anything, from the past two years should continue into the second year of the three-year plan as a goal or objective for consortium members.

Because not all service providers for the consortium offer the same programs, there will be some variance to how or how much the individual agencies engage with meeting each of the regional needs and participates in the activities designed to address those identified needs. Consortium members selected several initiatives that should remain at the top of the consortium's list of priorities for the upcoming year. These priorities contain activities in more than one of the three main categories of educational needs, program integration and transitions, and improving the effectiveness of AE programs. In the 2023/24 academic year, the SOCRC will focus on the six goals identified in the annual plan: 1) Recruit and retain students through strong curriculum programs and student supports; 2) Evaluate classrooms and facilities to see if they meet the demands for programs and services; 3) Align and articulate programs between agencies of the SOCRC; 4) Support student success through retention, program completion and transition to post AE opportunities; 5) Utilize and refine new system to evaluate member effectiveness; and 6) Ensure the consortium website and social media platforms remain updated and relevant. 

All of the activities listed in the current annual report align with the medium-term objectives to activities in the three-year plan. This differs from last year’s report because there are less activities associated with research and planning that was done in the 2022-23 program year and have moved into the medium-term implementation and assessment activities.  The consortium is also focusing more effort on the development of the integrated ELL Healthcare Pathways, although another funding source will be used for some of those activities, the CAEP funding supported short-term career skill development prior to the release of the new funding in 2023.

There are also expectations that service provider members will engage more with data collection and usage to track student achievement and outcomes, and to better assess student, instructor and program needs into the future. Once the annual plan has been certified, each member of the consortium will receive an electronic copy of the document. The goals, objectives and activities will be reviewed on a quarterly basis with the service provider members' quarterly budget and expenditure reports. This will keep the focus on achievement of goals and objectives, as well as funding spent by each agency to meet the goals, objectives and activities outlined in the three-year and annual plans.


Meeting Regional Needs

Regional Need #1

Gaps in Service / Regional Needs

Regional Need 1: Recruit and retain students through strong curriculum programs and student supports

This is the first broad overarching regional need that encompasses several of the strategies and activities identified and outlined in the three-year plan and this annual plan. This regional need is updated from the previous program year because the focus addresses the need to inform the community about the offerings in adult education to broaden the base from which students come into adult education programs, not just to regain students lost during the pandemic. South Orange County has had many recent international immigrants who were professionals in their home country but need to gain English skills for employment in the United States. Having outreach campaigns in many languages and providing support staff who speak many different languages will assist not only in bringing students into the programs, but will help retain them through program completion.

SOCRC members emphasized the need to maintain current program offerings as all of the service providing agencies were successful in increasing enrollment and having students persist to program participants in the 2022/23 program year.  It is still necessary to evaluate the types of programs the consortium members are offering in order to sustain momentum in serving the community, but also to build capacity within the service provider agencies. Expansion and diversification of instructional program offerings was identified as an educational need in the three-year plan. Agencies will take a critical look at gaps in educational opportunities for students, enrollment, retention and completion data, and workforce need in the community to evaluate the type and quantity of programs offered within their subject or departmental area. Changes to program offerings may be necessary to meet the needs of adult education students, such as offering more evening or weekend courses, decreasing the length of time it takes to complete programs or expanding offerings in contextualized math or language courses that partner with career education courses. Irvine Valley College had great success with their contextualized ESL offerings for parents assisting students in elementary school or middle/high school.  They plan on adding career focused subject areas to the contextualized courses in AESL to increase students’ workplace terminology capacity and increase employment opportunities. Digital literacy was an area that students continued to seek and where the curriculum could be updated or expanded to offer certificate programs in the use of common software and social media platforms in the workplace. Tustin Adult School's Continuous Improvement Plan focuses on increasing students' digital literacy skills for transition to community college programs, the workforce, and for adults to work with children towards student success. The school surveyed students to determine what skills instructors should focus on in the digital literacy workshops or incorporate into classroom lessons in ESL or high school diploma/equivalency courses. Digital literacy skills that were identified included using an email system including how to attach and send documents, how to search the internet and get the information you want, and the proper use of video conferencing platforms. Finally, to tie in student supports for the strong programs, consortium members will continue their work on agency and program road maps. In order to provide a more coordinated approach to adult education programming and clearly define program options for students, a broad overview or big picture roadmap for the consortium will be created to show how students can enter and exit the various programs and institutions. Program maps for each agency will also be developed and used for recruiting, retention and transition forums for students. Roadmaps may include individual program requirements, employment and career pathway opportunities, signify transition points to post-secondary education and indicate skill gains students can expect in each course or program.

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

SOCRC members have spent the past year analyzing their own and peer consortium members’ performance in alignment with the three-year and annual plans. Sources used to determine needs were the goals selected for previous three-year and annual plans. Initial research and planning was completed for the identified needs but implementation was not fully achieved within the time frame. For example, Irvine Valley College completed the development of new contextualized courses and sent them through the college and Chancellor’s Office approval system, but the courses cannot be offered until the approval process is complete.

Additionally, while 78% of the consortium’s courses are offered in ESL and associated programs there is still a need for more capacity, as many agencies had waiting lists to get into classes. Using student and instructor surveys, as well as student enrollment, retention and completion data for AESL and HSD/HSE courses, patterns emerged that indicated the need to continue online offerings for specific courses and program levels, where beginning skill development students may need more in-person instruction and support methods. In addition, the consortium data sheets indicated pockets of potential new students that could be served through adult education if they were informed of current offerings, or if new offerings were available to meet community and employment needs.

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

Progress towards achieving this goal will be measured by the number of students who are enrolled in courses at each of the service-providing agencies of SOCRC.  In addition, the consortium will measure the number of students who came to registration events but did not register for classes, registered for classes but did not show up and registered for classes but dropped out before becoming a participant or completing the course.  The consortium will also look at the number of students who are on waiting lists at all agencies to determine how to increase capacity at the various sites. Effectiveness will also be measured by the number of students entering or returning to adult education programs who indicate that they heard about the programs through one or more of the regional marketing campaigns. Finally, looking at the number of students who access support services, including informational, orientation and registration events, as well as counseling and transition services.

Regional Need #2

Gaps in Service / Regional Needs

Regional Need 2: Evaluate classrooms and facilities to see if they meet the demands for programs and associated student services.

As the desire for adult education programs increases across the south Orange County region, there is a need to ensure that there are adequate classrooms to serve students and that the classrooms used for adult education are in parity with classrooms that serve other populations of students (high school students at the K-12 districts and credit students at the community colleges) in the same area. Administrators will work with their instructors and support staff to conduct assessments of classroom locations and conditions for each adult education program. The assessments will include a list of the classrooms at each location, the location of the classrooms on the campus (for accessibility), the contents of the classroom including digital photographs for detail if necessary and a list of equipment or technology that is available to the classroom, but not necessarily housed in the classroom. The evaluation may include anticipated changes to classroom locations, the impact of changing operational space on the ability to deliver adult education programs and services, anticipated need for new equipment or technology to provide current and relevant career skill training, and anticipated cost to lease or purchase classroom space or equipment. The assessments may be shared at a General Membership meeting of SOCRC consortium members and can be used as inspiration for other members or to request one-time funding, if available in the upcoming program year. Where agencies have identified that they do not have classroom or equipment capacity, funds may be used to lease or upgrade classrooms and equipment to meet increased capacity or changing educational requirements.

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

Recently, there have been last minute changes to space identified for adult education use or the amount charged to lease space at both the local education agency level and at the community college level. This has required service provider agencies to relocate programs without adequate planning time or to provide reduced class offerings or student services based on limited capacity at the program site. This has happened to more than one agency, which is why the need for classroom/equipment assessment is written in a broad capacity to include all of the service provider agencies. This need was also identified as a long-term planning tool during the discussions about changes to the carryover funding limits and how this may impact technology and equipment acquisition in future budget years. Consortium members agreed that having planning tools would help them to explain the need for carryover to cover one-time expenditures, and would keep classrooms, technology and equipment more current.

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

The consortium will measure their effectiveness of implementation by how many members complete the Facility, Classroom, Technology and Equipment Assessment form for their programs and share that information at the General Membership in March 2024.  The consortium will also consider how the information is used to make classroom environments better for teachers and students, as well as using the forms to assess upcoming financial needs for individual members and programs.

Regional Need #3

Gaps in Service / Regional Needs

Regional Need 3: Align and articulate programs between agencies of the SOCRC

The SOCRC has long recognized the need to align curriculum within each agency and across agencies that included program mapping and natural transitions as students complete adult education programs and transition to community college credit certificate and degree programs or seek employment with skills learned in the short-term career training programs. Consortium members have diligently worked on mapping programs at their individual agencies and now need to complete mapping pathways for student transitions between agencies. The need is for print and digital resources for students and community members that show a distinct pattern of progression through a specific program and from one program to another for each adult education discipline. The transition to the next step will be multi-faceted to show both academic and career options available. Maps will also show the distinct connection between each agency and the consortium so that the community will understand the interconnectedness of the curriculum and the agencies. Having these tools or resources are very important when students meet with teachers, success coaches and counselors.

In addition, this year the consortium will be taking on the development and implementation of the ELL Healthcare Pathway initiative.  Consortium members look forward to working across disciplines and aligning ESL curriculum and supports with short term career courses at the two ROP agencies.  Saddleback College started this work within their agency last program year (2022/23) and will expand their efforts with additional health care programs. The work will include mapping and contextualizing English language acquisition lessons with skill development units in the career education courses. This work will be done with the separate ELL Healthcare funding but has implications for application in other career focused areas such as Computer Information Systems Management, the Finance, Insurance and Real Estate industry and Hospitality which is an important economic driver in the area.

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

During General Membership meetings, surveys for the annual plan and consortium planning sessions, members indicated the need to have clear and concise information for students about how to enter into adult education programs and what is needed in terms of courses and support to complete the programs. In addition, over the past five years, as programs changed and were better aligned between agencies, the need increased to have presentations and materials available for instructors and students at each agency that show how students can transition from one program to another. Consortium agencies also conducted cohort surveys in which students indicated the need to have clear pathways to achieving employment or entering degree and certificate programs at the local community colleges. This topic was also studied and discussed at monthly Executive Committee meetings, during professional development activities, and through partnerships with external consortium leads.

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

Success will be demonstrated by the quantity and quality of maps and resources that are completed by each agency and program, as well as for the consortium. The goal is to have an overall adult education program map for each service provider agency by the end of June 2025, and at least one program specific map with transitions to post-adult education opportunities in that same timeframe.  Materials will be available at each consortium agency, on the consortium’s website and for partner organizations throughout the community.

Regional Need #4

Gaps in Service / Regional Needs

Regional Need 4: Support student success through retention, program completion and transition to post AE opportunities.

There is a gap in support services for students who attend adult schools in comparison to community college programs. The colleges are able to provide counseling, academic and non-academic supports and assist students in transitioning to credit programs on campus. Adult schools may be able to provide some of these services such as part time counselors or academic advisors on campus and some tutorial services, but students may not have information on the programs offered at partner colleges and may not know how to enroll in the community college system.  Consortium members indicated that having site-based informational sessions regarding adult education program options as well as transition points to post-secondary credit programs or entry-level careers would be helpful for their students. Assigned staff from student support teams at the colleges can provide the informational sessions for adult school students and connect them with student success personnel who are familiar with adult education, non-credit and credit programs, as well as student support services on campus and can guide students through the transition process. This will make the regional adult education system more efficient and potentially more effective in their goal of student success.

Program maps created by each agency can be used as a visual tool to help inform students of the matriculation patterns and program requirements, as well as provide a checklist for students interested in completing the various adult education programs. Having staff members that can also connect students to workforce development resources both on and off campus and community resources available to inform students of career opportunities in the region, job search activities and support, and job application services and support will help students transition to postsecondary employment opportunities as well.

Consortium members will need to work collaboratively to develop and implement a student success and transition plan that serves all agencies within the consortium. The plan may contain strategies to disseminate post-secondary academic and employment resources, strategies to share student support resources where applicable, strategies to collect and utilize student success data to inform future support practices and determining how the consortium will define transition success.

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

Data on how many students who participate in adult school programs who transition to programs at the community colleges was very limited. Because the use of social security numbers to determine identity is very limited in adult education student data must be collected by hand in many instances making it difficult to track when student enter into and complete programs on the college campuses. Additionally, where the consortium did have information there were very few students who matriculated from non-credit adult education programs at the college to the credit programs.

Consortium members indicated that their faculty or staff members did not know all of the opportunities available to students after completing their adult education program, and the students would benefit from having regular seminars or workshops, both in-person and online that would outline the information, procedures and resources available to assist students through the transition to post-adult education opportunities. During the 2022/23 program year, several workshops were given at the adult schools in ESL and HSD classes.  Administrators of the programs indicated that they were well received.

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

This initiative will be successful when the consortium has a student support, retention and completion plan that addresses the needs of students at all agencies. Additionally, data needs to be collected on whether the transition workshops result in higher student enrollment in community college credit programs for workshop participants.

Regional Need #5

Gaps in Service / Regional Needs

Regional Need 5: Utilize and refine new system to evaluate member effectiveness

SOCRC members determined that creating a system of tools to evaluate member effectiveness was of the utmost importance in the 2022/23 program year. The SOCRC had previously identified the determinants for member effectiveness in their bylaws, but the consortium had not established a system to evaluate whether or not a member was effective or how to assist the member in becoming an effective participant in the event that they were deemed ineffective. After AB 1491 was passed by the California legislators, the Executive Committee for SOCRC solicited participants for a subcommittee to develop the evaluation tools to address the tenets of program or agency effectiveness as outlined in adult education legislation, program guidance and fiduciary guidance documents. The evaluation system was developed, vetted and approved by consortium members at several General Membership meetings throughout the year. The three tools are the member effectiveness self-evaluation that covers the bylaws, the annual plan and the three-year plan goals and objectives, the quarterly fiscal reporting template that is used to present expenditure and program data at General Membership meetings four times per year and finally, the Facilities, Classroom, Equipment and Technology assessment template that is done annually each winter.

As the general membership discovered during the course of the year, the tools need to be evaluated as well to ensure that they are measuring what they are supposed to and that they are useful for the agencies completing them. Only the Quarterly Fiscal Reporting Template has been implemented, therefore the consortium needs to continue to work on and evaluate the tools that will measure member effectiveness and hopefully provide early intervention and support to agencies of the consortium who may not meet effectiveness standards. Assessing the evaluation tools will be a joint effort of the general membership and a subcommittee may be necessary to make edits to the tools used to determine member effectiveness.

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

Prior to 2022/23 the SOCRC did not have a system or tools to measure member effectiveness. Updates to current adult education legislation through amendments such as AB1491, have created the necessity to have a system in place to evaluate how members of the SOCRC are participating within the consortium and completing program and fiduciary responsibilities as outlined in legislation and consortium by-laws. There is also the need to have a system that outlines the corrective action necessary to become compliant with the standards, as lack of member effectiveness may impact both consortium funding and individual agency funding in the future.

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

This initiative will be deemed successful when all three of the member effectiveness tools have been implemented, reviewed, revised and determined to be useful in measuring progress towards consortium goals and achievement of fiscal responsibilities.

Address Educational Needs

2023-24 Strategies

Enhance and Expand current instructional programs and student support services

Activity that Applies to this Strategy

Evaluate section offerings in A/ESL programs

Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy

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

Service provider agencies will evaluate the gaps in educational services for their students such as waiting lists, contextualized course content, and support mechanisms for English learners to succeed in the US education system by looking at student data, course content data, student support structures and other consortium agencies with like populations. The research will be used to update course content, develop new courses where needed and provide new supports for students to succeed.


Evaluate and expand current short-term and non-credit career skill training programs

Activity that Applies to this Strategy

Assess Career Education Offerings

Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy

  • All: Adults who Became Participants (AE 202 - Overall)
  • All: Number of Adults Served (AE 200 - Overall)
  • Employment and Earnings: Median Change in Earnings (AE 801 - Overall)

In deference to recent legislation that requires adult education programs to show labor market needs for new short-term career offerings, SOCRC members will evaluate current career education offerings on a regular basis using information from recent labor market studies, local workforce development boards, chambers of commerce and other economic influencers in the region.  This information will be used to update current program offerings to meet industry standards and validate the need for new programs or expansion of current programs to meet market demands. 


Create roadmaps that identify consortium programs, services and transition points

Activity that Applies to this Strategy

Develop Roadmaps for Transition between agencies

Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy

  • All: Number of Adults Served (AE 200 - Overall)
  • Transition: Participants with Transition to Postsecondary (CTE) (AE 636 - Overall)
  • Transition: Participants with Transition to Postsecondary (credit college) (AE 637 - Overall)

The annual plan will support administrators, instructors and support staff working together to create a concise visual and descriptive reference document or map of how a student progresses through pathways or programs at each agency and transitions to post-secondary opportunities including employment.  The maps will also indicate what supports are available to students at each agency and for each program. The plan also supports the use of outside agencies to provide graphic design and production services for materials that will be made available at the various service provider agencies. 


Recruit and retain highly qualified instructors

Activity that Applies to this Strategy

Develop student retention and support plan

Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy

  • All: Adults who Became Participants (AE 202 - Overall)
  • All: Number of Adults Served (AE 200 - Overall)
  • Progress: Participants with Educational Functioning Levels Gains ESL (AE 400 - ESL)
  • Student Barriers: English Language Learner (AE 305 - Overall)
  • Success: Participants Who Earn a High School Diploma or Equivalency (AE 633 - Overall)

In order to address the number of openings for instructors across all programs in adult education, this plan will support a coordinated effort of the consortium to advertise openings for instructors, conduct outreach events to inform the public about opportunities to teach i adult education and provide support for newly hired instructors so that they will be successful in attaining tenure and achieving their instructional goals. By having a large pool of highly qualified instructors all consortium agencies will be able to offer the sections needed for students to enter classes and instructional strategies and supports for students to complete programs.


Address Digital Literacy skills needed by students and instructors to be proficient in the workplace

Activity that Applies to this Strategy

Conduct student/teacher digital literacy surveys

Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy

  • All: Adults who Became Participants (AE 202 - Overall)
  • All: Number of Adults Served (AE 200 - Overall)

Consortium members will work together to develop and implement a survey to determine digital literacy and technology needs of students and teachers.  Results of the surveys will be used to update current curriculum and develop new modules or courses to address the gaps in software program proficiency and use of various types of technology to perform academic, employment and community engagement tasks. 


Evaluate current classroom locations, capacity, equipment and technology

Activity that Applies to this Strategy

Evaluate facility capacity/classroom functionality

Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy

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

Consortium members will implement the Facility, Classroom, Equipment and Technology Assessment and present their findings at a General Membership meeting in spring 2024.  The findings will be used to determine if the facilities and classrooms are adequate for the type of instructional programs being held and to recommend a plan of action if they are not adequate.  The findings will also be used to create a list of equipment and technology that is needed to perform basic instructional tasks or train students to proficiently perform job duties in local company and business settings.

Improve Integration of Services & Transitions

2023-24 Strategies

Address student retention, completion and transition through system-wide supports

Activity that Applies to this Strategy

Develop student retention and support plan

Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy

  • All: Adults who Became Participants (AE 202 - Overall)
  • Progress: Participants with Educational Functioning Levels Gains ESL (AE 400 - ESL)
  • Success: Participants Who Earn a High School Diploma or Equivalency (AE 633 - Overall)

Consortium members will utilize MIS, TopsPro or other student matriculation and success data to develop a student retention and support plan.  The plan should indicate why students are not continuing in programs and make recommendations for how to support student retention and completion. Student support strategies should clearly identify what is needed in terms of personnel, instructional and non-instructional measures that contribute to student completion and transition.


Promote opportunities for dual enrollment and transition to credit for HSD/HSE students

Activity that Applies to this Strategy

Promote SB554 Opportunities for students

Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy

  • All: Number of Adults Served (AE 200 - Overall)
  • Success: Participants Who Earn a High School Diploma or Equivalency (AE 633 - Overall)
  • Transition: Participants with Transition to Postsecondary (CTE) (AE 636 - Overall)
  • Transition: Participants with Transition to Postsecondary (credit college) (AE 637 - Overall)

Saddleback College has developed a comprehensive multi-departmental team for their SB554 program that will conduct outreach to all agencies that provide HSD and HSE programs to inform students of the dual enrollment opportunities.  Saddleback College team members will work together to identify potential students for the dual enrollment program, assist students with applying to the college, assist students with determining an education plan, provide assistance if needed to register for classes, provide academic and non-academic supports, and provide guidance on next steps for transition to post-secondary credit and CTE programs. Team members will evaluate student data to determine what strategies work best for the dual enrollment program.


Create and implement contextualized ESL/CTE programs and immigrant integration opportunities

Activity that Applies to this Strategy

Research contextualized and integrated curriculum

Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy

  • All: Adults who Became Participants (AE 202 - Overall)
  • All: Number of Adults Served (AE 200 - Overall)
  • Employment and Earnings: Median Change in Earnings (AE 801 - Overall)
  • Progress: Participants with Educational Functioning Levels Gains ESL (AE 400 - ESL)

Instructors will work within and across agencies to research and develop curriculum that incorporates the strategies of contextualized English language acquisition and integrating career education skill development with English language acquisition, and to research and develop programs that support immigrant success in the adult education environment.  


Align and articulate programs and courses across and between consortium agencies

Activity that Applies to this Strategy

Develop Roadmaps for Transition between agencies

Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy

  • All: Adults who Became Participants (AE 202 - Overall)
  • All: Number of Adults Served (AE 200 - Overall)
  • Transition: Participants with Transition to Postsecondary (CTE) (AE 636 - Overall)
  • Transition: Participants with Transition to Postsecondary (credit college) (AE 637 - Overall)

Consortium members will discuss and assess course offering commonalities and differences.  They will align curriculum so that students can move easily from one program to the next.  Instructors and support staff will work together to design program maps that clearly and concisely guide students from program entry through program completion.  Maps will have both a visual and descriptive component. The maps will be developed for both a single agency program and also show transition points to both postsecondary education and employment opportunities. An outside graphic design service may be used to assist with the visual representation of program progression, completion and transition.


Strengthen partnerships with local businesses, economic boards and community organizations

Activity that Applies to this Strategy

Actively engage in community partnerships

Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy

  • All: Adults who Became Participants (AE 202 - Overall)
  • All: Number of Adults Served (AE 200 - Overall)

SOCRC agency leaders will actively seek out and build relationships with local business owners, governmental officials and community organization partners to better serve students in adult education programs through expanded services and community resources. This may include participation on the Orange County workforce development board or other group that serves similar populations in adult education programs.

Improve Effectiveness of Services

2023-24 Strategies

Provide training on the use of student data and data collection systems

Activity that Applies to this Strategy

Evaluate Member Effectiveness

Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy

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

The Executive Committee will work with consortium members to determine their level of understanding of MIS and TopsPro Enterprise reports that contain important information regarding student demographics, student participation and student success in adult education programs. Training will be provided on data requirements for CAEP programs, how to effectively collect data, how to read report information and how to use the data to positively impact program outcomes.  Training may be provided in-house or through outside experts.


Research program acceleration models to determine applicability to consortium programs

Activity that Applies to this Strategy

Research compressed course/program completion

Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy

  • All: Adults who Became Participants (AE 202 - Overall)
  • All: Number of Adults Served (AE 200 - Overall)

Faculty and staff will research program acceleration models as defined in the ELL Healthcare Pathways fund to determine which of the models, if any, are applicable to current and future consortium programs.  With particular focus on serving the immigrant population for both English language development and career skill training consortium members will contact outside agencies who have successfully implemented acceleration models that look promising for immigrant integration and collect information that can be shared with all interested program coordinators and instructors in the consortium.  The group will determine if or how key aspects of the acceleration models can be incorporated into current programs. 


Assess student support services offered by each agency

Activity that Applies to this Strategy

Assess support service offerings

Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy

  • All: Adults who Became Participants (AE 202 - Overall)
  • All: Number of Adults Served (AE 200 - Overall)

SOCRC agencies will conduct internal surveys with students, instructors and staff members to determine when and how students request and access support services through adult education. They will also look at whether the services provided through adult education increase enrollment, retention and program completion. An inventory of services will be documented and shared with SOCRC members and on the consortium’s website.  The services will also be included in the program maps for each agency, as well as the transition maps.


Implement and analyze system to evaluate member effectiveness

Activity that Applies to this Strategy

Evaluate Member Effectiveness

Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy

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

SOCRC members will continue the work of the subcommittee on member effectiveness by fully implementing the three tools developed in year one of the three-year plan.  This includes providing detailed instructions on how to use the tools, sharing results of the tools at General Membership Meetings, evaluating the agency outcomes to determine whether the tools produced information needed to support agencies or guide consortium practice.


Effectively utilize consortium website and social media platforms

Activity that Applies to this Strategy

Design and Implement Multi-media outreach campaign

Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy

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

Members of the SOCRC will discuss and evaluate tools on the website that assist community members, partners and businesses in accessing information about adult education programs, services and purpose. Evaluation will include how the tools can be used to connect students and other interested parties to the right agency or program to meet their academic and employment training needs. The consortium will create and establish methodology to evaluate the effectiveness of the website and will conduct an evaluation at least once per program year. 

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.

The SOCRC converted to a Direct Funding fiscal model from the Fiscal Agent model in May 2021. This change allowed the consortium to redistribute funds previously allocated to the fiscal agent to service-provider agencies to fund positions needed to provide an adequate level of service to students. It also prompted discussion about how the consortium functions as a collective body, as well as the sum of each of the individual agency's efforts. Once the change to direct funding was made and the fiscal agent funds were redistributed, the baseline allocations for each agency were updated indicating the new percentage to total funding. The Cost-of-Living Adjustment will be distributed to each funded member’s new baseline allocation. No member received less than the previous year funding.

During the process of changing fiscal administration models, consortium members discussed how the allocations were tied directly to the services provided by each agency and the importance of ensuring that the money was spent for the purposes outlined in the annual and three-year plans. Each agency's annual budget will incorporate more detail about how the agency plans to utilize their funding allocation. The goals of the SOCRC for the 2023/24 fiscal year are to: 1. Maintain and enhance current programs in ESL, civics and citizenship, as well as high school diploma and equivalency preparation to address the minimum job skills and qualifications needed for employment in the area and to serve immigrant populations who want to learn English to better assimilate in their new community. 2. To review, develop, maintain and enhance programs in short-term career skill development that are directly tied to the workforce and economic needs of the region. 3. To recruit and retain highly qualified instructors at all agencies. 4. To increase student support while enrolled in adult education and non-credit programs of CAEP, and through the transition process to credit programs at partner community colleges or through job search and employment. 5. To increase awareness of adult education programs offered by agencies within the SOCRC through strong website information and communication, strong social media presence and strong outreach programs in a variety of languages. 6. To provide consistent, clean, safe, well-equipped and updated classroom facilities to ensure that there is a positive learning environment for both students and instructors.

The consortium has established a system for funded members to share fiscal and program information, and progress toward annual plan goals on a quarterly basis at the General Membership meetings. The new Quarterly Fiscal Reporting Templates will provide a tool for accountability while the consortium becomes more transparent in their sharing of fiscal information. This process was incorporated into the bylaws in fall 2023 and will be updated to include new State legislation that may impact fiscal operations of the consortium. CAEP technical assistance and staff members are consulted, when appropriate, to ensure that expenditures meet State and program guidelines.

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

Since the transition from Fiscal Agent to Direct Funding and the indication that the State legislature was moving in the direction of limiting the amount of carryover funding, SOCRC members have discussed and agreed upon a method to redistribute funds from members who have excessive carryover or to redirect funds to members who have a one-time need that exceeds their allocation for the year. This change started in the 2021/22 program year during the three-year planning process when SOCRC members frequently discussed the need to reduce agency carryover amounts to ensure that the flow of funding reaches classrooms and students each year, and agreed that agency allocations should truly reflect the amount of money needed by each agency to provide the services outlined in the annual plan and budget.

In anticipation of the passage of AB 1491, one agency in the consortium offered one-time funding to the other service providers to be spent in the 2022-23 fiscal year. Members discussed and agreed to a process wherein agencies request one time funding for a project or equipment. The agency must demonstrate how the funding will be used to meet the goals of the consortium, the agency, and the annual/three-year plans. Members approved each agency's funding request at the March General Membership meeting ahead of the approval of the CFAD in April and the money was reallocated prior to the end of the 2022-23 fiscal year. This type of recognition of need and action to reallocate and expend funds ensures that the consortium will move forward with a plan to incorporate and use carryover funding for the good of the region's programs. This is one of the reasons the consortium felt so strongly about developing the assessment for Facilities/Classroom/Technology/Equipment that would determine the need for one time funding ahead of any discussions on redistribution.

Another tool to prevent excessive carryover is the Quarterly Fiscal Reporting Template that is used by funded members during the General Membership meetings that align with the quarterly reporting of expenditures to the State. The template was designed to assist members with gathering and reporting key information to indicate that their expenditures align with the strategies, objectives and activities outlined in the three-year plan. This will also help to identify early on if an agency is not meeting its expenditure obligations and allow the member agencies to work with the school district to address fiscal concerns. Changes to how carryover and fiscal policy adherence is addressed were included in the updates to the consortium's bylaws in fall 2022 and will be the subject of a consortium member retreat in fall 2023.

Certification

Capistrano Unified - Member Representative

Approved by Brittany Casey

08/16/2023 07:24 AM PDT

Coastline ROP - Member Representative

Approved by Dr. Brian Dozer

08/17/2023 11:33 AM PDT

College and Career Advantage - Member Representative

Approved by Dr Paul Weir

08/18/2023 08:27 AM PDT

Irvine Unified - Member Representative

Approved by Dr. Rebecca Roberts

08/16/2023 09:23 AM PDT

Irvine Valley College - Member Representative

  • Dean, Career & Continuing Education, and Integrated Design, Engineering and Automation
  • dvanschoelandt@ivc.edu
  • (949) 367-8310
Approved by Debbie Vanschoelandt

08/22/2023 01:10 PM PDT

Laguna Beach Unified - Member Representative

Approved by Dr. Chad Mabery

08/17/2023 11:16 AM PDT

Orange County Department of Education - Member Representative

Approved by Fatinah Judeh

08/16/2023 06:26 AM PDT

Saddleback College - Member Representative

Approved by Dr. Karima Feldhus

08/16/2023 07:45 AM PDT

Saddleback Valley Unified - Member Representative

Approved by Kim Thomason

08/17/2023 12:11 PM PDT

Tustin Unified - Member Representative

Approved by William Neddersen

08/17/2023 11:21 AM PDT