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CAEP Annual Plan: 2020-21 63 South Bay Adult Education Consortium/Southwestern

Status: Consortium Approved

California Adult Education Program : Annual Plan : 2020-21 Produced: Aug 15, 2020, 04:24 AM UTC Joe Fulcher

63 South Bay Adult Education Consortium/Southwestern

Plans & Goals - Consortium Approved

Executive Summary
Vision: The South Bay Adult Education Consortium/Southwestern is committed to an ongoing effort to strengthen and enhance adult learner access, persistence and success. Members offer well-aligned educational programs that provide the region's adults with equitable access to educational services that will prepare them for citizenship, for completion of a high school diploma or equivalent, to gain skills for high demand jobs, and to transition to postsecondary institutions and/or the workforce. Accomplishments made during the prior Program Year include the following: 1) Members delivered ongoing CAEP noncredit and adult education courses in the areas of ESL, Citizenship, ABE, ASE, CTE, and Workforce (Re) Entry, to over 12,000 students, 2) Phase 1 of our consortium-wide project to establish and close gaps in transitions and data sharing began, 3) Southwestern College (SWC) delivered Noncredit Retraining Readiness courses to over forty Sweetwater adult school students, which included an orientation and tour of SWC and prepared them for success in postsecondary transition, 4) SUHSD and Coronado Adult School (CAS) students attended SWC’s annual Career Education Expo that increased their awareness and provided opportunities for enrollment in a wide variety of certificate and degree programs available, 5) SUHSD instructors/counselors/admin participated in PD around student pathway formation, 6) SUHSD expanded their IET program (ESL support) to include all CTE programs, 7) SUHSD, SWC and CAS instructors/admin participated in multiple industry panelist discussions and industry advisory committee meetings to garner better insight on the training needs of local employers, and 8) Admin from SWC and SUHSD participated in the newly established Regional Strong Workforce Workgroup 1b (adult ed/noncredit pathway formation), to develop ways to incorporate noncredit and adult education students into the existing Strong Workforce structure. Our primary goals for the upcoming year are to: 1) continue to strive to meet the community of need by advertising and maximizing course offerings and student services, 2) continue to evaluate and revise current educational pathways to align better to student goals and community needs which includes increasing community engagement, and 3) find viable avenues to share data among members. The findings of our completed consortium research project will inform us how to best move forward with improving student transitions and acceleration. All planned allocations align with the 3 year plan, in that they support the goals and strategies as described by all workgroups during strategic planning. Recently, our nation and state have undergone 3 seismic events that have impacted how students are served: the COVID-19 epidemic, budget reductions, and systemic racial injustices. In response to COVID-19, all members have shifted to serving students in a distance learning environment, while also meeting the needs of staff, teachers, and faculty. Members are utilizing a variety of online platforms to deliver instruction (Canvas, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google), and have provided students, teachers, and faculty with devices, as needed, to deliver and receive instruction. Members have also provided PD for teachers/faculty on the delivery of online instruction, including DEFT (Distance Education Faculty Training) at SWC, and holding weekly teacher teams at SUHSD. Existing student supports and referrals in relation to food, employment, clothing, health, shelter, and public assistance continue to be available to Consortia students. The COVID-19 epidemic has also drastically changed California's budget outlook, resulting in the need for member allocations to be strategic and responsive to the changes in the economy and to the impacts on adult ed programs and students. CAEP budgets will remain focused on maintaining the integrity of CAEP programs and services, and a commitment from members to utilize available data to inform programmatic changes. In response to systemic racial injustices, CAEP has a role in, and the ability to make a difference as our regional funding formula is based on community need - no high school diploma, limited English proficiency, low income, low-literacy, and unemployment. Unfortunately, these need categories impact people of color disproportionately. While continuing with our consortium data and transitions project in 20-21, we will examine the students journey further, by demographics. By doing so, we will address the following questions: Are some groups progressing and succeeding faster than other groups? If yes, why? What strategies and student supports can the consortium and members use to ensure equitable student progress and success? The work of the consortium data and transitions project is expected to uncover and address some aspects of systemic racial injustices, and is done via leveraging of funds and resources to maximize services under the current budget crisis.
Regional Planning Overview
During strategic planning for our 3 year plan, all workgroups identified a common need to: 1) improve data sharing efforts and 2) transition services for all students. In the beginning of the 19-20 school year, we determined that the best course of action was to dedicate a research project to these two topics. We started Phase 1 of this project in 19-20, and plan to complete the project in 20-21. We expect the findings of this project to inform several aspects of how we will move forward with data sharing and transitioning of students. In response to the continued stay at home orders due to COVID-19, all members will continue to provide programs and services for students remotely at the start of 20-21. The consortium and members recognize that students, staff, teacher, and faculty needs, as well as the local labor market, have significantly changed since our current 3 year plan was drafted. The consortium and its members are committed to adapting curriculum, instruction, services, and professional development accordingly as we continue to adjust to our new reality under the global pandemic. Budget reductions as a result of COVID-19 will dictate how the implementation of strategies will materialize. The consortium and members recognize that the CAEP budget and other funding sources may still be in flux as we start the 20-21 school year, and as such we are not planning to make significant expenditures at the start of 20-21, until we have a more solid idea of what our 20-21 CAEP budget will be. We did not explicitly target systemic racial injustices in our 3 year plan, but we now plan to include more demographic information into our data-driven decision-making. This will allow us to begin focusing on CAEP student progress by demographic group.

Meeting Regional Needs

Regional Need #1

Gaps in Service / Regional Needs
Maximizing course offerings in all CAEP program areas continues to be a major need in our consortium due to the large community of need that we serve in San Diego’s South Bay.
How do you know? What resources did you use to identify these gaps?
The analysis of our community data via our consortium and the Centers of Excellence continue to show tens of thousands of adults within our boundaries in need of ESL, ABE, ASE, and CTE.
How will you measure effectiveness / progress towards meeting this need?
Our community profile allows us to drive down into specific neighborhoods to target the highest need. Our members are committed to focusing resources to those neighborhoods with the most need. An increase in course offerings in target areas is a local indicator of progress.

Regional Need #2

Gaps in Service / Regional Needs
Due to the current pandemic and resulting economic fallout, we have a need to determine how to best deliver relevant programs to our student community from a distance.
How do you know? What resources did you use to identify these gaps?
All spring 2020 classes were converted to online/remote delivery in March due to physical distancing protocols. All members expect to continue this trend for summer and fall 2020. Professional development in regards to online/remote teaching and learning has been, and will continue to be at the forefront of consortia work. In regards to the economic fallout, unemployment has increased dramatically around the region, county, state, and country. Shifting/developing programs that meet the needs of the current economy and the job-seeking student, as well as maintaining programs intended to boost students' basic skills will be of the utmost importance. In alignment with the focus of the Strong Workforce initiative, consortia members will focus on reskilling and upskilling the workforce through short term (4-12 week) certificate programs. For example, COVID-19’s economic impact resulted in the immediate lay-offs in the hospitality and retail industry sectors in our region, which relies heavily upon an immigrant workforce. Impacted adults would be excellent candidates for CAEP programs and services, gaining new skills to re-enter the workforce. Consortium and member engagement with local employers, and a commitment to continually evaluating labor market information, allows us to keep current with relevant employment trends in our community.
How will you measure effectiveness / progress towards meeting this need?
Steady enrollment and maintaining or improving the level of CAEP indicators of progress as in previous years (i.e. educational functioning level increases in ESL and ABE, high school diploma attainment, student completion of courses, and student transition to postsecondary and the workforce), are all indicators of effectiveness related to successful delivery of remote instruction.

Gaps In Service

New Strategies

Strategy #1
In the 2019-2020 school year, Phase I Discovery of the Data and Transitions Consortia Research Project was partially completed. In 2020-2021, we will first need to reevaluate the data that was collected during Phase I, as this data was collected pre-COVID-19. In addition, we will include student demographics for the student journey to be able to collect data on how different student demographic groups progress through our programs. After Phase I Discovery is complete, we will move to Phase II Design, then Phase II Implementation, and finally Phase IV Evaluation. We expect Phase IV to be completed by the end of the 2020-2021 school year. This project is designed to give us insight into the gaps in data and services along the student journey from adult school to community college, and provide recommendations on how to best close those gaps. All members are participating in this project, with Southwestern College as the lead. Consortium-level funds were allocated to Southwestern College in 2019-2020, and will carry over to 2020-2021, for the purpose of completing this project.
Strategy #2
SUHSD will roll out new services for Adults with Disabilities with dedicated staff to support students in identifying disabilities, as well as to offer classroom support.
Strategy #3
CAS will develop a new Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) training program during 20-21. Local Education Agencies have reported the need for individuals trained and certified to meet the changing needs of students with special needs, specifically those in need of behavior support in instructional settings. CAS will develop a training program, aligned with requirements outlined by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board. After completion of this course, candidates will be eligible and prepared to sit for and pass the RBT exam.

Seamless Transitions

New Strategies

Strategy #1
Update articulations between adult school Career Technical Education programs and Southwestern College Career Education programs, and explore ways to better inform current and potential students of these established pathways.
Strategy #2
Following upcoming guidance from the Chancellor's Office, begin implementation of SB 554, which allows adult school students enrolled in high school diploma and high school equivalency programs to take credit community college courses tuition-free.
Strategy #3
Explore program mapping and student support services based on consortium data/transitions project findings.
Strategy #4
SUHSD will roll out two new student services related to seamless transitions with dedicated staff for both: 1) Workability II, to provide enhanced, coordinated vocational services for adults, to help them obtain meaningful employment, and 2) one counselor assigned to all 4 adult schools to focus on creating or strengthening pathways for students to transition to higher education and the workforce.

Student Acceleration

New Strategies

Strategy #1
Continue to build on pathway formation and corresponding student support services. In fall 2020, SUHSD will implement three distinct ESL pathways: Academic ESL, Workplace ESL, and Community ESL. Similarly, SWC will roll out three different strands of noncredit ESL to include: college preparatory ESL, workplace readiness ESL, and community literacy ESL. CAS will also pursue the formation of ESL strands similar to SUHSD and SWC during 20-21. In addition, SUHSD will expand their IET programs (CTE programs with ESL support) in 20-21. SUHSD, SWC, and CAS will inform the consortium on the implementation progress of these new ESL pathways and IET programs. The consortium expects to utilize the progress of all three members, findings from the consortium data and transitions project, and faculty cross observations and workgroups to determine the most appropriate manner of expanding pathway formation and corresponding student support services to other program areas.
Strategy #2
SWC will continue to work with the existing noncredit CDCP (Career Development and College Preparation) course inventory as well as develop new CDCP course offerings throughout 20-21 and beyond.
Strategy #3
SWC will continue efforts to develop progress indicators in noncredit courses where appropriate, to help students document their progress as they transition to the credit program, complete CDCP certificates, or transition to the workforce. Progress indicators will show on the student transcript.

Professional Development

New Strategies

Strategy #1
All members will attend the 2020 virtual CAEP Summit in October.
Strategy #2
In response to COVID-19, members will participate in professional development that address remote instruction, student support services, counseling, and topics for classified staff.
Strategy #3
The consortium and members will rely on professional development considerations that are revealed thru the findings of the consortium data and transitions project, Professional development related to student support services and counseling to include increasing awareness of and addressing systemic racism.
Strategy #4
Consortium members will participate in the San Diego/Imperial County Super Region effort to develop an equity framework across adult ed providers to combat systemic racism via professional development. Members will also participate in district and program level professional development targeting this issue.

Leveraging Resources

New Strategies

Strategy #1
Our consortium, along with the other consortia in San Diego and Imperial Counties, will continue to participate in the San Diego/Imperial County Strong Workforce Workgroup 1b. This workgroup is designed to incorporate the noncredit and adult ed voice into the San Diego & Imperial Counties Regional Strong Workforce goals and strategies. Activities planned for 20-21 include the creation of a repository for articulation agreements and a program finder tool that includes noncredit and adult ed programs. This workgroup also plans to leverage the work currently being done in the statewide WestEd mapping project.
Strategy #2
As a result of the economic impact of COVID-19, more and more students will be in need of job readiness skills. Our consortium has identified three paths that students can utilize in order to gain job readiness skills. First is the completion of the Goodwill Job Readiness Certificate Program. SWC college plans to incorporate this certificate program into their noncredit adults with disabilities program, and SUHSD plans to incorporate this certificate program into their Workplace ESL program. Second is to further utilize SWC short term noncredit workforce prep courses as well as the Career Center, which continues to provide services at a distance. Third, is to further utilize the TRIO EOC (Educational Opportunity Center) counselors co-located at the SUHSD adult schools for their career counseling services, who are also continuing to provide services at a distance.
Strategy #3
With the acknowledgement that the community may be unaware of the degree to which noncredit and adult education programs and services continue in the region as a result of COVID-19, the consortium plans to create and mail a postcard to the community before fall classes resume in August, outlining what will be available and how to enroll.
Strategy #4
The consortium will continue to explore ways to engage stakeholders, including employers. This process begins with members reporting and updating the consortium on their current and upcoming stakeholder engagement efforts.
Strategy #5
Consortium members will participate in the San Diego/Imperial Super Region effort to develop a proposal to recommend alternatives to measure student learning gains, rather than relying on standardized testing alone (i.e. CASAS testing). Initial steps to be taken by the Super Region include 1) Researching what Washington state adult education is using to measure outcomes, 2) Focusing on alignment between CAEP and WIOA, 3) Considering alignment with Community College student learning outcomes, 4) Vetting with other CAEP consortia, and 5) Presenting to the CAEP office, Chancellor’s Office, and CDE.

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 planned allocations for 20-21 are consistent with the annual plan, which is based on our CAEP three year plan, in that all three members will continue to provide programs and services outlined in our three year plan, and are committed to following through on the strategies outlined in the 20-21 plan.
An approach to incorporating remaining carry-over funds from prior year(s) into strategies planned for 2020-21.
A reduction in funding is expected from 19-20 to 20-21. Remaining carryover funds from members will be incorporated into member budgets and workplans for 20-21. We will focus remaining carryover funds at the consortium level for marketing and outreach activities.

Certification

Coronado Unified - Member Representative

Approved by Dr. Megan Battle

08/13/2020 04:57 PM PDT

Southwestern CCD - Member Representative

Approved by Minou Spradley

08/13/2020 03:07 PM PDT

Sweetwater Union High - Member Representative

Approved by Joe Fulcher

08/14/2020 09:24 PM PDT