Produced: Aug 14, 2023, 10:22 PM UTC - By Isabelle Saber
2023-24
Plans & Goals
- 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 Prep, ABE, ASE, and CTE to approximately 10,000 students, 2) phase 2 of our consortium-wide Data and Transitions project completed with 2 cohorts of Sweetwater Adult ASE students transitioning to Southwestern College using special admit status under SB55, 3) continued social media marketing campaign with targeted ads to our community of need promoting all program areas, and 4) ongoing participation in the regional effort to develop a CTE Repository for adult ed and noncredit CTE programs.
Sweetwater has added a VABE component to all CTE programs using the IET model, expanded curricular offerings (Drone Operator and Foundational Literacy), made significant progress toward the goal of articulating all CTE programs with Southwestern College, hosted a regional OTAN professional development event, was awarded a CASAS "Promising Practice" award for IET and a CAEP "Model Program" for ESL Pathways, hosted two community and resource fairs, coordinated with Southwestern College in developing college tours specific to adult school students and in assisting adult school students in registering for the "Using Your Foreign Degree in the US" noncredit course, and Sweetwater's Disability and Access Resource Center (DARC) has increased enrollment for services over the previous year.
Southwestern College has created a coding cross-walk for courses/programs that will feed directly to the noncredit dashboard and and better portray the adult ed journey, started a project to better address the awarding of CDCP certificates and clarify the use of progress indicators, identified placement of noncredit (CAEP) courses and programs into the broader SWC Fields of Study pathways model to increase visibility of educational opportunities and pathways to adult learners, increased the number of CDCP certificate programs in noncredit, and broadened the role of SWC peer advisors to include co-location of services at Adult Ed sites.
Coronado successfully transitioned from paper based to CASAS etesting, and developed and offered new work skills training programs for new and aspiring behavior/health support specialist paraprofessionals and instructional assistants.
The consortium's primary goals for the upcoming year are to: 1) continue to strive to equitably and inclusively 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, 3) find viable avenues to share data among members, and 4) ensure that facilities are equipped with programs and services to meet the needs of the adult education students. All planned allocations are aligned with the 3 year plan, in that they support the goals and strategies as described by all members during strategic planning.
- Regional Planning Overview
Members utilized the data presented and collected at the consortium summit to assist in forming their member metrics and activities. The consortium level metrics and student barriers relied on the same sets of data. The consortium determined that all four available student barriers to employment should be included in this three year plan since our community of need in these subgroups is extensive: English Learners, Low Literacy, Long Term Unemployed, Low Income. When determining the target numbers for the consortium level adults served and student barriers, the consortium agreed to repeat the 2019-2020 figures that are available in NOVA, recognizing that as the most recent dataset before the pandemic.
During strategic planning for our previous three year plan, all workgroups identified a common need to: 1) improve data sharing efforts and 2) provide transition services for all students. At the beginning of the 2019-2020 academic year, we determined that the best course of action would be to dedicate a research project to these two topics. We started Phase 1 of this project in 2019-2020, and completed the project in 2022-2023. Our pilot project included leading a cohort of concurrent enrollment SB554 students from adult ed to Southwestern College. The first cohort of concurrent enrollment SB554 students enrolled at Southwestern College for fall 2022 with three students. The second cohort enrolled at Southwestern College for spring 2023 with fifteen students. The findings of this project will inform several aspects of how we will move forward with data sharing and transitioning of students from adult education to Southwestern College and the workforce.
The consortium and members recognize that students, staff, teacher, and faculty needs, as well as the local labor market, have significantly changed during the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic fallout. 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. The consortium and members recognize that agency operations may still be in flux as we start the 2023-2024 academic year due to various organizational and leadership changes, and we will continue to support each other in navigating a successful 2023-2024. Members continue to utilize a variety of online platforms to deliver instructions (Canvas, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google), and have continued to provide students, teachers, and faculty with devices and support needed to successfully deliver and receive instruction. SUHSD will continue a hyflex instructional delivery (with OWLs) for select courses in 2023-2024. Members have continued to provide professional development for teachers/faculty related to the delivery of online instruction, including DEFT (Distance Education Faculty Training) at SWC, and weekly teacher teams at SUHSD, while also participating in professional development around equity and inclusion. Members also provide increased technical assistance to students such as student onboarding videos at SWC and drop in times for students to ask technical questions at Sweetwater. Existing student supports and referrals in relation to food, employment, clothing, health, shelter, and public assistance continue to be available to consortia 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.
Meeting Regional Needs
Regional Need #1
- Gaps in Service / Regional Needs
The number of participants per program area are as follows:
ABE - 1,563
ASE - 1,326
ESL - 3,032
AWD - 160
CTE - 1,698
The figures above are from the 2021-2022 academic year, which is the most recent complete year of data. Since we were still recovering from the impact of the pandemic during that year, enrollment in all program areas was lower than usual. Preliminary data from 2022-2023 shows an increase in enrollment in all program areas over 2021-2022, but there is still much room for a further increase in enrollment in all program areas due to our large community of need. Linking CAEP programs and services to those that need them remains the most urgent priority. Some workforce services were initiated during the pandemic, and continue on as an essential complement to CAEP program offerings. Sweetwater's Disability and Access Resource Center (DARC) continued a multitude of academic and workforce services to both adults with disabilities and the general adult education population as well, including a Workability II program. Community partner Goodwill Industries of San Diego County continued services around a Job Readiness Certificate program for Southwestern College's noncredit Stepping Stones to Success program (CAEP AWD program), as well as Sweetwater's CTE and Workplace ESL programs. Workforce services continue to expand with this partnership, and most recently include a pathway for students to enter a paid training program.
- How do you know? What resources did you use to identify these gaps?
According to the 2021 CAEP Fact Sheets, the community that our consortium serves contains the following demographics:
Adults with Disabilities: 51,231
Foreign Born: 145,544
Limited English: 42,020
Near Poverty or Less: 62,948
No High School Diploma: 65,926
Unemployed: 24,071
Disconnected Youth: 2,433
According to the Launchboard Adult Education Pipeline, our consortium served 9,285 adults, including 6,014 participants in 2019-2020 in the following program areas:
ESL: 3,316
ABE: 1,366
ASE: 1,180
CTE: 2,044
Adults with Disabilities: 84
In 2020-2021, our consortium served 4,560 adults, including 3,307 participants in the following program areas:
ESL: 1,427
ABE: 631
ASE: 752
CTE: 1,590
Adults with Disabilities: 229
In 2021-2022, our consortium served 7,180 adults, including 4,875 participants in the following program areas:
ESL: 3,032
ABE: 1,563
ASE: 1,326
CTE: 1,698
Adults with Disabilities: 160
Similar to other consortia around the state, our consortium saw a significant drop in enrollment in 2020-2021 due to the pandemic. As we continue to recover enrollments, the fact remains that all program areas should maximize course offering in order to better serve the large community of need. However, adequate transportation and childcare continue to be common challenges shared amongst students. Our student survey uncovered an additional layer of challenges that students face as a result of the pandemic. The pandemic has exacerbated issues associated with work/shift changes, being a caregiver of both older adults and young children during sickness and quarantine, and personal finances. Our consortium is committed to offering a mix of in person, online, and hybrid options in order to maximize the number of students served.
The majority of students in all program areas report at least one barrier to employment. However, the consortium recognizes that the self-reporting nature of adult education data collection may result in an underreporting of student barriers to employment. Along those lines, the adults with disabilities population may be underreported as well, as students many not be fully aware of a potential disability.
- How will you measure effectiveness / progress towards meeting this need?
We will monitor the following consortium metrics:
1) Number of adults served
2) Number of adults who are English language learners
3) Number of adults with low literacy skills
4) Number of adults with low income
5) Number of adults who are long term unemployed
Our three year plan indicates that our goal for 2022-2023 is to return to pre-pandemic levels for each of these metrics, including:
9,285 adults served
4,949 English Learners
6,764 Low Literacy
3,930 Low Income
167 Long Term Unemployed
Preliminary data from 2022-2023 indicates that we may have met our target. Our goal for 2023-2024 is to maintain the pre-pandemic level.
At the consortium level, we will continue a social media marketing campaign that will target these demographic groups. Each member has also identified their own activities to serve these populations.
Address Educational Needs
2023-24 Strategies
SWCCD: Curriculum - Transition to CTE
Activity that Applies to this Strategy
Curriculum
Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy
- All: Adults who Became Participants (AE 202 - Overall)
- All: Number of Adults Served (AE 200 - Overall)
- Student Barriers: English Language Learner (AE 305 - Overall)
- Student Barriers: Long Term Unemployed (AE 309 - Overall)
- Student Barriers: Low Income (AE 310 - Overall)
- Student Barriers: Low Literacy (AE 311 - Overall)
- Transition: Participants with Transition to Postsecondary (CTE) (AE 636 - Overall)
Year one will be focused around initiating work on expanding and updating the curricular offerings in noncredit to better align with employer/labor market demands, to address student skills development needs for short-term training leading to employment, and student preparation for transition to the credit program CTE pathways. Activities may include increasing the number of CDCP certificate programs, exploration of MC3 apprenticeship/pre-apprenticeship opportunities, incorporating contextualized learning into more courses/programs, creating program pathway maps, addressing special population needs. Short term outcomes include expending at least 85% of budget, retrieving enrollments, participants, retention, completions/transitions to pre-pandemic (2019-2020) levels, and beginning the process for curriculum development and approvals (a minimum 1 year process).
Consortium Marketing
Activity that Applies to this Strategy
Consortium Marketing
Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy
- All: Number of Adults Served (AE 200 - Overall)
- Student Barriers: English Language Learner (AE 305 - Overall)
- Student Barriers: Long Term Unemployed (AE 309 - Overall)
- Student Barriers: Low Income (AE 310 - Overall)
- Student Barriers: Low Literacy (AE 311 - Overall)
The consortium will continue to fund a social media marketing campaign in an effort to recover enrollment losses in all program areas due to the pandemic. The marketing campaign is targeted to the consortium community of need, especially those with the following barriers: English Learners, low income, no high school diploma, and the unemployed. Campaigns will focus on specific CTE programs with low enrollment, as well as all CAEP programs in general. By continuing consortium marketing efforts, the number of adults served will recover to 2019-2020 levels, which is 9,285 adults served.
SUHSD: Increase EFL Gains in ASE
Activity that Applies to this Strategy
Increase EFL Gains: ASE
Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy
- All: Adults who Became Participants (AE 202 - Overall)
- Progress: Participants with Educational Functioning Levels Gains ASE (AE 400 - ASE)
- Student Barriers: Low Literacy (AE 311 - Overall)
Sweetwater will increase the number of participants with an Education Functioning Level Gain in ASE by:
1) Providing teacher training on how to interpret CASAS Google Score Sheet, student gains report, instructional hours, pre and post CASAS testing, and paired scores
2) Conducting ongoing data checks by all stakeholders (Data Knights)
3) Providing refresher training to assessment team (Testing Techs)
SUHSD: Increase EFL Gains in ESL
Activity that Applies to this Strategy
Increase EFL Gains: ESL
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)
- Student Barriers: English Language Learner (AE 305 - Overall)
Sweetwater will increase the number of participants with an Educational Functioning Level Gain in ESL by training teachers and testing technicians on how to interpret data listed on the site specific Google CASAS Score Sheet student test data. Students with additional payment point data (EL Civics, Government/History, Citizenship Interview) will be prioritized for a CASAS posttest. By completing all components of the activity, 364 participants will have obtained an EFL gain in ESL.
SUHSD: Complete an EL Civics COAPP
Activity that Applies to this Strategy
Complete an EL Civics COAPP
Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy
- All: Adults who Became Participants (AE 202 - Overall)
- Progress: Participants Who Complete an EL Civics COAPP or Course (AE 411 - Overall)
- Student Barriers: English Language Learner (AE 305 - Overall)
Sweetwater will increase the number of participants who complete an EL Civics COAPP or course by:
1) Making teacher-specific Google assessment forms that will allow teachers to view assessment results to ensure students complete all tasks
2) Providing weekly updates during EL Civics testing week(s) to teachers detailing which students have taken all tasks associated with a particular civic objective
3) Capturing students who passed EL Civics who are missing a CASAS posttest/paired score
4) Training teachers and testing technicians on how to interpret data listed on the site-specific Google sheet student test data. Prioritize students who have additional payment point data (EL Civics, Government/History, Citizenship Interview) for a CASAS posttest
By completing all components of the activity, 602 participants will have completed an EL Civics COAPP or course
SUHSD: Increase EFL Gains in ABE
Activity that Applies to this Strategy
Increase EFL Gains: ABE
Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy
- All: Adults who Became Participants (AE 202 - Overall)
- Progress: Participants with Educational Functioning Levels Gains ABE (AE 400 - ABE)
- Student Barriers: Low Literacy (AE 311 - Overall)
Sweetwater will increase the number of participants with an Educational Functioning Level Gains in ABE by training teachers to:
1) Provide teacher training on how to interpret CASAS Google Score Sheet, student gains report, instructional hours, pre and post CASAS testing, and paired scores
2) Monitor student gains
3) Run their own student gains report
By completing all components of the activity, 169 participants will have obtained an EFL gains in ABE
CUSD: Adjust class dates
Activity that Applies to this Strategy
Adjust class dates
Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy
- All: Adults who Became Participants (AE 202 - Overall)
- Student Barriers: English Language Learner (AE 305 - Overall)
Coronado plans to adjust class dates (decrease the length of time, and where appropriate add a second class during the semester) in hopes of having a larger percentage of students complete their ESL course. By adjusting class dates to maximize student completion of their ESL course, the number of adults who become participants will be 123.
Improve Integration of Services & Transitions
2023-24 Strategies
CUSD: Add IET Support to CTE programs
Activity that Applies to this Strategy
Add IET support
Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy
- All: Adults who Became Participants (AE 202 - Overall)
- Student Barriers: English Language Learner (AE 305 - Overall)
Coronado intends to add an IET program to the Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) and Child Development program to support English Learners in the successful completion of the course. By incorporating IET support into CTE programs, the number of adults who become participants will be 123.
SUHSD: Increase the number of participants who transition to credit college
Activity that Applies to this Strategy
Increase Transitions: Postsecondary Credit College
Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy
- Transition: Participants with Transition to Postsecondary (credit college) (AE 637 - Overall)
Sweetwater will increase the number of participants who transition to postsecondary credit college by:
1) Working closely with consortium partners to improve the enrollment process for Concurrent Enrollment (SB554) students
2) Continuing to recruit students to take advantage of SB554 by sending emails to all eligible students, giving presentations, emailing a video of the presentation to any interested student, posting flyers in the offices and classrooms, and by teachers and counselors speaking to students individually
3) Continuing to collaborate with EOC counselors to ensure that students who are not eligible for SB554 are receiving EOC transition services
By completing the components of the activity, 82 participants will have transitioned to postsecondary credit college via SB554 and various other means of transition to credit college identified by counselors, EOC counselors, and consortium partners.
SWCCD; Collaborative Efforts - CTE
Activity that Applies to this Strategy
Collaborative Efforts
Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy
- All: Adults who Became Participants (AE 202 - Overall)
- All: Number of Adults Served (AE 200 - Overall)
- Student Barriers: English Language Learner (AE 305 - Overall)
- Student Barriers: Long Term Unemployed (AE 309 - Overall)
- Student Barriers: Low Income (AE 310 - Overall)
- Student Barriers: Low Literacy (AE 311 - Overall)
- Transition: Participants with Transition to Postsecondary (CTE) (AE 636 - Overall)
Year two will focus on initiating work on partnerships and collaborative efforts, data management and coding for more accurate inclusion in state and local dashboards, evaluating and improving marketing and outreach to better engage students "where they are" and mobile community efforts, and expansion of student services availability for noncredit CTE students. Outcomes include expending at least 85% of the budget, retrieving enrollments, participants, retention, completions/transitions to pre-pandemic (2019-2020) levels, and beginning the process for curriculum development and approvals (a minimum 1 year process).
SWCCD: Coordination - CTE
Activity that Applies to this Strategy
Coordination
Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy
- All: Adults who Became Participants (AE 202 - Overall)
- All: Number of Adults Served (AE 200 - Overall)
- Student Barriers: English Language Learner (AE 305 - Overall)
- Student Barriers: Long Term Unemployed (AE 309 - Overall)
- Student Barriers: Low Income (AE 310 - Overall)
- Student Barriers: Low Literacy (AE 311 - Overall)
- Transition: Participants with Transition to Postsecondary (CTE) (AE 636 - Overall)
Year two will be focused around initiating work on reviewing and reorganizing administrative/coordination roles connected to CAEP for efficiency and effectiveness, leveraging funds and efforts across district/regional/state initiatives and efforts (e.g. Strong Workforce, Perkins, Guided Pathways), prioritizing post-pandemic re-engagement and expansion of community partnership work, focused professional development activities for faculty and staff, and ensuring equity mindedness is embedded in all planning and implementation of CAEP efforts. Outcomes include expending at least 85% of the budget, retrieving enrollments, participants, retention, completions/transitions to pre-pandemic (2019-2020) levels, and beginning the process for curriculum development and approvals (a minimum 1 year process).
SWCCD - Collaborative Efforts - Credit College
Activity that Applies to this Strategy
Collaborative Efforts
Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy
- All: Adults who Became Participants (AE 202 - Overall)
- All: Number of Adults Served (AE 200 - Overall)
- Student Barriers: English Language Learner (AE 305 - Overall)
- Student Barriers: Long Term Unemployed (AE 309 - Overall)
- Student Barriers: Low Income (AE 310 - Overall)
- Student Barriers: Low Literacy (AE 311 - Overall)
- Transition: Participants with Transition to Postsecondary (credit college) (AE 637 - Overall)
Year two will be focused around initiating work on partnerships and collaborative efforts, data tracking and coding for more accurate inclusion in state and local dashboards, evaluating and improving marketing and outreach to better engage students "where they are" and in the community, expansion of transition services for noncredit students, leveraging funds and efforts across district/regional/state initiatives and efforts (e.g. AB705, SB554, Guided Pathways, SEAP), focused professional development activities for faculty and staff, and ensuring equity mindedness is embedded in all planning and implementation of local CAEP transition efforts. Outcomes include expending at least 85% of the budget and retrieving enrollments, participants, retention, completions/transitions to pre-pandemic (2019-2020) levels.
Improve Effectiveness of Services
2023-24 Strategies
CUSD: Develop mid-term and end of class surveys
Activity that Applies to this Strategy
Mid-term and end of class surveys
Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy
- All: Adults who Became Participants (AE 202 - Overall)
- Student Barriers: English Language Learner (AE 305 - Overall)
Coronado will develop and implement a mid-term and end of class survey to gather more student feedback about the course and curriculum. We expect this will allow us to make appropriate adjustments to help increase student success. By incorporating student feedback survey results into future programming decisions, the number of adults who become participants will increase to 123.
SUHSD: Develop and implement procedures to identify ESL and CTE students for transition to ASE
Activity that Applies to this Strategy
Increase Transitions: ASE
Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy
- Transition: Participants with Transition to ASE (AE 500 - Overall)
SUHSD will develop and implement procedures to identify ESL and CTE students in need of a HSD or equivalency, and create a path to enrollment for those students in the ASE program.
1. ESL students will be encouraged to include ASE completion, as needed, during goal setting activities.
2. Instruct office staff, counselors and CTE teachers to ask if students have a HSD/HSE and if they do not, strongly encourage them to co-enroll into the ASE program area as many employers will require a high school diploma for employment.
3. When CTE courses are closed and a student is unable to enroll at the time, students should be asked if they have a HSD/HSE and if they do not, they may begin working on that while they wait for CTE registration.
SWCCD: Improved coordination for efficiency and effectiveness - credit college
Activity that Applies to this Strategy
Coordination
Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy
- All: Adults who Became Participants (AE 202 - Overall)
- All: Number of Adults Served (AE 200 - Overall)
- Student Barriers: English Language Learner (AE 305 - Overall)
- Student Barriers: Long Term Unemployed (AE 309 - Overall)
- Student Barriers: Low Income (AE 310 - Overall)
- Student Barriers: Low Literacy (AE 311 - Overall)
- Transition: Participants with Transition to Postsecondary (credit college) (AE 637 - Overall)
Year one will be focused around initiating work on reviewing and reorganizing administrative/coordination roles connected to CAEP for efficiency and effectiveness, leveraging funds and efforts across district/regional/state initiatives and efforts (e.g. Guided Pathways, Credit for Prior Learning (CPL)/Competency-based Education (CBE), Vision for Success, articulation and acceleration efforts), prioritizing post-pandemic re-engagement and expansion of community partnership work, focused professional development activities for faculty and staff, and ensuring equity mindedness is embedded in all planning and implementation of CAEP efforts.
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 annual CAEP member allocations closely align with the original allocation percentages determined at the beginning of the first three year planning cycle, and are considered the baseline when discussing annual allocations in support of the CFAD. The consortium plans to continue this allocation process during the 23-24 program year and the remainder of the 3 year cycle. Within Sweetwater Union High School District's allocation exists consortium level funding and includes shared expenses such as salaries/benefits of the Consortium Project Director and Administrative Assistant, shared professional development, and shared consortium activities including consortium marketing efforts. Fiscal agent admin funds are used to cover costs incurred by Sweetwater Union High School District to serve as the fiscal agent of the consortium, and are calculated at 5% of the shared consortium level budget. If a member other than Sweetwater Union High School District is identified to carry out a consortium level activity, a one-time allocation amendment is generated and funded from the shared Consortium budget so that the member may carry out the said activity on behalf of the consortium. Since allocation amendments do not affect a member's baseline funding, allocation amendments are not considered in the following year's CFAD process. Each member has a unique set of leveraged funds that are utilized to fund both their respective CAEP programs and services and any additional activities identified in the 3 year plan or annual plan. Combined leveraged funding sources include CALWORKS, Noncredit apportionment, Perkins, WIOA II, community college supportive services, other state grants, and in kind. Leveraged funding sources and amounts are reported by member in the annual Program Area Reporting tool in NOVA. Members select activities from the annual plan that pertain to their programs and services when building their member budget and workplan; consortium activities are selected by all members.
- An approach to incorporating remaining carry-over funds from prior year(s) into strategies planned for 2023-24.
Remaining carry-over funds from prior year(s) are incorporated into member and consortium budgets for 2023-24. Ongoing costs are budgeted with current year funding, while one-time and/or large purchases are budgeted with carry-over funds. Our consortium intends to review and approve capital outlay expenses in order to ensure that facilities are equipped with programs and services to meet the needs of the adult education students.
Certification
Coronado Unified - Member Representative
Megan Battle - Director of Learning
- megan.battle@coronadousd.net
- (619) 522-8900
Southwestern CCD - Member Representative
Isabelle Saber - VP of Academic Affairs
- isaber@swccd.edu
- (619) 482-6337
Sweetwater Union High - Member Representative
Vernon Moore - Chief of Educational Equity and Support Services
- vernon.moore@sweetwaterschools.org
- (619) 691-5533