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CAEP Annual Plan: 2021-22 66 Victor Valley Adult Education Regional Consortium

Status: Consortium Approved

California Adult Education Program : Annual Plan : 2021-22 Produced: Aug 17, 2021, 06:47 PM UTC Lorraine Collins

66 Victor Valley Adult Education Regional Consortium

Plans & Goals - Consortium Approved

Executive Summary
Victor Valley Adult Education Regional Consortium (VVAERC) will continue to implement a three-year strategy to enhance Adult Education Programs across all member districts. Our 2019-2022 Three-Year Plan is the foundation for the development of our goals; as such, during our third year of implementation, we will continue to focus on six key goals in FY 2021-2022. These six goals are (1) Improving transitions to post-secondary, (2) Improving transitions to the workforce, (3) Developing a pathway to citizenship, (4) Developing and implementing a continuous quality improvement cycle for curriculum, data, and accountability, (5) Developing a marketing and outreach plan, and (6) offering adult education and noncredit Career Technical Education, (CTE), courses at each school site. These goals allow us to consistently improve and integrate adult education services in the High Desert region of California and outline a roadmap for career success. Throughout FY 2020-2021, amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, the VVAERC focused on addressing gaps in service and seamless transitions, while striving to strengthen our relationship with community partners to leverage existing resources. Two of our member districts, Snowline Adult School and Victor Valley Adult School, became WASC accredited. Victor Valley College (VVC) continued to provide virtual transition counseling services to assist students transitioning from adult school to college, or from noncredit to credit courses; offered noncredit basic skills and math courses and approved the noncredit English boot camp; and submitted HSE curriculum for local approval. Students at Hesperia, Apple Valley, and Lucerne Valley Adult Schools were dual enrolled with VVC under AB554. Apple Valley and Snowline Adult School continued to offer college articulated courses with 27 students earning both high school and college credit. Our newest adult school, Lucerne Valley, increased graduation rates by 50%. With the research conducted for our Three-Year Plan, VVAERC members identified gaps in services and adjusted programs to support career and academic pathways leading to increased wages and/or transitions to post-secondary institutions. The consortium continues to implement a plan of action that will strengthen partnerships within the region and increase access to student services for all adult learners. This plan includes strategic activities designed to ensure our goals are accomplished and to gauge how effectively these goals close gaps in adult education. Strategies have been implemented to provide tools and support for students in their academic progress from adult school, college, and eventually the workforce by leveraging regional resources, aligning our plan with the San Bernardino County Workforce Development Board’s Vision2Succeed initiative, expanding concurrent/dual enrollment opportunities under AB554, and offering college and articulated CTE courses at adult schools. Lastly, VVAERC envisions creating a region-wide, sustainable model providing career guidance and college counseling by creating a focused preliminary educational plan for graduating adults. VVAERC served 2,688 students in 2020-21 (vs 3,101students in 2019-2020) and continues to serve a diverse population with data from the 2020-21 year reflecting that 70% of learners are female; Hispanics make up 67% of program enrollees with 28% being native Spanish speakers. VVAERC, in response to the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic, is prepared to alternate between in-person and distance learning instruction. Our consortium commits to providing students with quality educational and community resources to support student success during the 2021-22 PY. We have expanded the use of online training in support of distance learning provided by the State of California, CAEP, OTAN, and CASAS. The Transition Counselor and member districts provide students information about resources for food, employment, clothing, health, shelter, and public assistance. Additionally, member districts coordinate directly with various community partners to ensure the basic needs of all adult learners are being met. VVAERC will continue to improve services and resources for students to assist with their academic success. VVAERC will continue to monitor CAEP budget and commits to maintaining level funding for all members effectively. The VVAERC Member Districts are committed to creating an environment that fosters access and success for all students no matter their gender, culture, religion, ethnicity, or any other characteristic. In the 2021-2022 PY, members will evaluate demographics and outcomes to identify disproportionately impacted groups as a means to understand and address systemic racial injustices. Our consortium strives to understand how we can address inequities thereby allowing us to provide disproportionately impacted students a level playing field and opportunity to succeed.
Regional Planning Overview
VVAERC is continuously looking towards the future to see how we can best serve the region’s students. Over the past year, the members of the consortium worked diligently to implement the strategies in the Three-year plan while following the guidelines set by the state. The consortium’s implementation plan will focus specifically on the areas that are among VVAERC’s top priorities. VVAERC successfully developed a Three-Year Plan that identified our region’s gaps in services, through which, our members will be able to improve existing programs and create new programs to help support adult education in the region. VVAERC was able to analyze regional WDB and regional LMI data to identify long-term trends in high-growth sectors, and from this, will be able to implement continuous process improvement focusing on closing gaps and working cohesively with community partners to provide high-quality adult education services. Furthermore, during the 2021-2022 FY, our members will continue to collaborate with all stakeholders, including community partners and local businesses, to prioritize strategies, and to identify potential opportunities and partnerships that can help address our adult students’ needs during this time of increased need for distance learning.

Meeting Regional Needs

Regional Need #1

Gaps in Service / Regional Needs
Need to improve adult student transitions to Post-Secondary opportunities.
How do you know? What resources did you use to identify these gaps?
There exists a low transition rate from adult schools to community college or other post-secondary opportunities.
How will you measure effectiveness / progress towards meeting this need?
Through our College Transition Counselor and adult school coordinators, VVAERC will be able to provide more services to students desiring to enroll in college. We should have a way to determine our success in fulfilling this need by tracking the number of students who transition to college.

Regional Need #2

Gaps in Service / Regional Needs
Need to improve adult student transitions to the workforce.
How do you know? What resources did you use to identify these gaps?
BW Research Partnership compiled a report that states our region’s unemployment rate is higher than the state average, and our average salary is below state and national averages. However, our overall employment growth, which is an indicator of economic health, remains higher than the state average. Hence, our region’s adult population could benefit from career-specific training and education to move them into a career pathway and enter the local workforce.
How will you measure effectiveness / progress towards meeting this need?
VVAERC will measure effectiveness and progress by tracking the number of the number of students enrolled in career option workshops or in communication with career counselors, job developers, and transition specialists. We will also track employment rates and continuing education of current and former students.

Regional Need #3

Gaps in Service / Regional Needs
Need to develop a pathway to citizenship.
How do you know? What resources did you use to identify these gaps?
Through the California Community College Chancellor's Office’s Regional Fact Sheet, it has been determined that our region has a high immigrant population and could benefit from not only an increase in introductory ESL classes but also a distinct pathway to citizenship.
How will you measure effectiveness / progress towards meeting this need?
To measure our progress towards meeting this need, VVAERC will create citizenship preparation classes, and/or partner with agencies that provide citizenship preparation classes and offer a VESL course at VVC. We will track enrollment numbers in these courses throughout the year. Furthermore, we will also provide professional development on high-quality citizenship preparation curriculum to our staff to ensure that we are meeting this regional need.

Regional Need #4

Gaps in Service / Regional Needs
Need to increase the number of CTE courses leading to industry-recognized certifications across the region.
How do you know? What resources did you use to identify these gaps?
Through ample data collection and analysis, we have determined that there is a distinct need for more specific, short-term training that leads to career opportunities and/or high-wage attainment for our students. Our resources include Labor Market Information supplied by the San Bernardino Workforce Development Board, our Victor Valley Report prepared by BW Research Partnership, and California Community College Chancellor's Office Economic Indicators and Labor Market Research states that our region has more than 168,600 potential CTE students.
How will you measure effectiveness / progress towards meeting this need?
VVAERC member districts will evaluate effectiveness by increasing our overall number of CTE course offerings to help the successful transition to VVC and/or career. We plan to propose adult education CTE courses for any schools without one by the June of 2022. For existing CTE courses (articulated courses and students dual-enrolled under SB 554), we plan to collect data on enrollment, attendance, student persistence, and program completion.

Gaps In Service

New Strategies

Strategy #1
VVAERC will conduct ESL curriculum alignment by holding quarterly staff meetings between VVC and local Adult Education ESL programs. This will help determine our ESL students’ needs in terms of levels, curriculum, and length of classes to be offered.
Strategy #2
VVAERC will align AENG/ESL programs. At member district request, VVC may provide ESL Levels courses not offered at the adult school to member districts to address gaps as needed. This will ensure all levels of ESL are offered throughout the region.
Strategy #3
VVAERC will develop a marketing and outreach plan which includes: strategies on using social media, radio advertisements, printed marketing collateral, and the use of a consortia level website. These advertisements will be marketed through our WIOA partner agencies, libraries and public transportation in order to better target specific populations.
Strategy #4
VVAERC will implement a strategy to increase articulated CTE courses at all adult schools, which will create more career opportunities for our adult students and make stronger connections with our region’s employers.
Strategy #5
VVAERC will implement a continuous quality improvement cycle for curriculum, data, and accountability by holding quarterly data meetings, and including adult education faculty in curriculum alignment meetings with high school and college faculty.
Strategy #6
VVAERC will provide citizenship preparation classes to increase the number of students undertaking the naturalization process, which should help with increasing employment preparedness, wage gain, and transitioning to post-secondary education.
Strategy #7
VVAERC will offer more Basic Skills programs, including HSD, GED, and HiSET, preparation programs, and testing centers to increase transition opportunities from adult schools to college and/or career. We will also update any software/hardware needed, especially those that help with distance learning.

Seamless Transitions

New Strategies

Strategy #1
VVAERC will implement the services of the VVC Transition Counselor who will schedule to meet with Adult Education students who are interested in becoming a VVC student, where they will understand the steps to enrollment/dual enrollment and the overall matriculation process.
Strategy #2
Students preparing to complete their High School Diploma Program or equivalency will be able to meet with the Transition Counselor to develop their Transition Plan including the enrollment in noncredit Fresh Start Academy and the completion of a Preliminary Educational Plan to discuss college and career goals. The Transition Plan will include identifying special programs such as former Foster Youth, CalWORKS, EOPS, ACCESS, and other specialized student support services.
Strategy #3
VVAERC will promote America’s Job Center of California workshops and services to adult education students to increase employment opportunities.
Strategy #4
VVAERC will track students enrolled in articulated CTE courses to grant them college credit.
Strategy #5
VVAERC will collaborate with the Mountain Desert Career Pathways Region Consortium (MDCP), which facilitates articulation with VVC, as the current MOU states that when a K-12 CTE course is articulated between VVC and the K-12 district, then the same Adult School CTE course is also articulated.
Strategy #6
VVAERC will continue to promote the adult education student pathways to support AB540 and AB705.

Student Acceleration

New Strategies

Strategy #1
VVAERC will expand and encourage dual enrollment opportunities on both the college and adult school campuses. Dual enrollment partnerships provide critical support for underachieving students, those from groups underrepresented in postsecondary education, those who are seeking advanced studies while completing a high school diploma, and those seeking a CTE credential or certificate.
Strategy #2
VVAERC members will expand models of acceleration including blended learning models of instruction.
Strategy #3
VVAERC transition counselor and program specialist will continue to be a resource to adult education students who have transitioned to Victor Valley College.
Strategy #4
VVAERC members will use Google Classroom, Canvas, or similar models of online instruction to deliver individualized instruction to students.

Professional Development

New Strategies

Strategy #1
VVAERC will develop a professional development plan for members including participation in regional and state professional development events. Members will continue the shared delivery of professional development training throughout the consortium to strengthen collaborative efforts.
Strategy #2
Program-specific professional development will include but will not be limited to: digital/computer literacy instruction, CASAS, serving adults with disabilities, Google implementation, distance learning models and implementation, and relevant state initiatives. This strategy supports the State Priorities of Leadership and Program Development/Curriculum/Classroom
Strategy #3
VVAERC Member Districts will participate in regional, state, and national conferences pertaining to the CAEP's identified program areas: ABE/ASE, HSD/HSE, ESL, adults with disabilities, and CTE. These include, but are not limited to CASAS Summer Institute, CCAE, CAEAA, GED Annual Conference, Non-Credit Institute, CWA, COABE, CAROCP, etc. In addition, members will attend regional CAEP consortium and TAP CAEP trainings.

Leveraging Resources

New Strategies

Strategy #1
VVAERC adult schools will continue to attend and promote active student participation in VVC’s Community Resource Fair, college and program tours, and request the support of VVC’s staff including but not limited to counselors, financial aid officers, instructors, and Rambassadors. The consortium will continue to host a joint regional Adult Education graduation ceremony.
Strategy #2
VVAERC will leverage existing relationships with workforce, nonprofits, and Community-Based Organizations to increase entry into ESL and citizenship programs.
Strategy #3
VVAERC will leverage the resources of the MDCP, which has numerous connections with industry. Since three of our adult school administrators participate in this consortium, we will be able to access and utilize this database to help build and/or expand adult school CTE offerings.
Strategy #4
VVAERC will track students who take a CTE course in an adult school and then continues their CTE pathway at VVC. This program will give our consortium an avenue to build and/or expand adult school CTE offerings.
Strategy #5
VVAERC will strengthen the relationship with community partners to improve the access to supportive services for adult learners and participate in any community partner events.
Strategy #6
VVAERC will collaborate with organizations, such as TODEC and Catholic Charities that provide citizenship preparation classes.
Strategy #7
VVAERC will continue to support the transition counselor hired and housed at VVC to provide transition services to all member adult schools.

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.
VVAERC will engage members in the ongoing analysis of program data, outcomes, and budget reports to ensure that allocations and Annual Plan strategies are consistent with both the CAEP Objectives & Program Areas and the consortium's approved Three-Year Plan.
An approach to incorporating remaining carry-over funds from prior year(s) into strategies planned for 2021-22.
Member Districts will participate in meetings to examine budgetary and regional needs and make recommendations to the Executive Board. The Executive member reviews will carry-over funds and make allocations based on individual Member needs

Certification

Apple Valley Unified - Member Representative

Approved by adele mcclain 9857218

08/16/2021 12:40 PM PDT

Hesperia Unified - Member Representative

Approved by Kim Walker

08/16/2021 10:57 AM PDT

Lucerne Valley Unified - Member Representative

Approved by Douglas Beaton

08/16/2021 12:42 PM PDT

Snowline Joint Unified - Member Representative

Approved by Chad Brooks

08/17/2021 07:56 AM PDT

Victor Valley CCD - Member Representative

  • Todd Scott
  • Dean, Health Sciences, Public Safety, and Industrial Technology
  • todd.scott@vvc.edu
  • (760) 245-4271 ext: 2412
Approved by Daniel Walden

08/16/2021 11:44 AM PDT

Victor Valley Union High - Member Representative

Approved by Dr. Lorraine Collins

08/17/2021 11:47 AM PDT