nova-logo-final2

CAEP Annual Plan: 2020-21 67 West Hills College Consortium

Status: Consortium Approved

California Adult Education Program : Annual Plan : 2020-21 Produced: Aug 15, 2020, 02:28 AM UTC Armida Espinoza

67 West Hills College Consortium

Plans & Goals - Consortium Approved

Executive Summary
The West Hills Adult Education Consortium (WHAEC) will continue to enhance educational programs and expand course offerings through its partnerships with educational institutions, workforce development organizations, employers, and community members while focusing on student success and completion. During fiscal year (FY) 2019-2020, WHAEC members demonstrated growth in partnerships with community organizations to extend student services and leveraging of resources. During FY 19-20, the consortium served 1,543 students. Currently, six of nine consortium members offer Adult Secondary Education (ASE) programs for high school diploma, of which two are ACS/WASC accredited adult schools (Accrediting Commission for Schools, Western Association of Schools and Colleges). Three members now offer High School Equivalency (HSE) preparation courses at six sites in our service area. This past year these ASE/HSE courses graduated 92 students.Additionally, four members provide Adult Basic Education (ABE) courses to address the gaps in high school attainment. All consortium members offering English as Second Language (ESL) courses and have implemented CASAS pre-and post-testing. All members track the ESL enrollments, and demographic information is entered into the CASAS/TOPSpro database as mandated by the State of California Adult Education Program. ESL/Citizenship courses expanded as demand continues to grow in the service area. Consortium-wide, we had 25 students who learned sufficient English, passed the citizenship exam, and became US citizens. WHAEC members expanded their Career Technical Education (CTE) training, which includes basic computer skills, forklift certifications, truck driving, medical Spanish, and residential electrical. WHAEC had 313 participants who completed these skills training. Plans are underway to increase CTE course offerings in areas such as health, computer literacy, manufacturing, and office technologies, as well as others, based upon identified labor market demand.The colleges will continue to offer Non-Credit ESL Certificates of Achievement, which will provide a pathway into advanced CTE and/or College Academic degree programs. A consortium goal for FY 20-21 is to strengthen students’ transition to post-secondary education and solidify the pathways to post-secondary education. WHAEC members received extra funding to provide direct post-secondary transitional services to their students to support our goals. WHAEC members will refer their college-ready students to meet with a college advisor to discuss further information on career options and for the development of the college educational plan. As a result of the COVID 19 pandemic, the members migrated ESL, Citizenship, ABE, HSE, and computer literacy courses to a virtual modality to comply with the State of California COVID 19 Health and Safe recommendations and instruction has been provided via zoom to continue to meet the students learning needs. CAEP staff is working remotely and is providing virtual services to students. Teachers and faculty received the necessary technology to continue teaching classes effectively virtually. A WHAEC goal is to resume all classes to face-to-face when permitted by the state. WHAEC members will continue to work with employers to identify local job demand needs to expanded high demand short-term CTE courses based on local need to fill identified gaps in service within our region. In addition, WHAEC staff and instructors will work with students to identify their needs and connect them with technology resources in our colleges, school districts, and community. Due to the shift to online instruction, orientations will be held to ensure that learners have the necessary technology, skills, and access to continue to participate in synchronous online instruction. Computer skills and access continue to be an area for improvement for WHAEC’s population of learners and means to fill this gap will a focus in the coming year.The WHAEC consortium is addressing systemic racial injustices within its members and partners by ensuring equitable services are provided to all students. All WHAEC members have bi-lingual (English/Spanish) staff to provide equitable services to students. In addition, WHAEC consortium members will continue to collaborate on the planning of their courses and use the TOPSpro reports to identify students’ barriers and connect them to additional services in the service area. Lastly, WHAEC director will review the Data Integrity Report quarterly with members to identify levels of performance for continuous improvement of CAEP programs. The WHAEC quarterly data review meetings will provide members the opportunity to review their agency performance data and create a performance action plan if necessary. Data-driven meetings will assist members in understanding their current performance goals and recognize growth. Members will continue to share best practices for continuous improvement.
Regional Planning Overview
The WHAEC has implemented regional strategies to improve program performance and address the academic/training needs of our rural communities. WHAEC will analyze local labor market information data to determine vocational training needs in the region. WHAEC will expand/implement a regional marketing plan to further increase outreach to rural communities in our service area.

Meeting Regional Needs

Regional Need #1

Gaps in Service / Regional Needs
Need for additional day and evening ABE/ASE/HSE classes availability.
How do you know? What resources did you use to identify these gaps?
These findings are based on data from Hanover Research, CASAS, TOPSPro, Census data, and community/student feedback. According to Census data, 33% of residents in our region lack a high school diploma or its equivalent that results in limited job opportunities.
How will you measure effectiveness / progress towards meeting this need?
Student progress is measured through CASAS post-test results, number of students enrolled, High School Diploma/Equivalency graduation rates, increased achievement scores, and the number of students obtaining or retraining employment.

Regional Need #2

Gaps in Service / Regional Needs
Need for expanded courses for adult learners/immigrants, including VESL, ESL, Computer Technology, ESL/Citizenship classes, course for adults to develop knowledge and skills to assist k-12 children to succeed academically and CTE skill-building courses.
How do you know? What resources did you use to identify these gaps?
Research provided by Hanover Research Company, student surveys, and input from consortium members in the region, informed gaps. Based on information from multiple agencies, local employers, and follow up interviews with enrolled students, the gaps previously identified are still relative. Additionally, we have experienced increased requests for short-term vocational ESL and CTE courses. CASAS testing of students continues to identify computer literacy/technology skills.
How will you measure effectiveness / progress towards meeting this need?
Monitor the increase in ESL, VESL, Computer/Technology, CTE, course for adults to develop knowledge and skills to assist k-12 children to succeed academically and Citizenship course offerings and track student enrollment, progress, persistence, completion, and continued education and/or job outcomes.

Regional Need #3

Gaps in Service / Regional Needs
Improved CTE pathways, education options, and informed scheduling options for students.
How do you know? What resources did you use to identify these gaps?
This gap was identified via individual student interviews, Members Data Integrity Report (DIR), marketing items, labor market report by the CCCO center of excellence, and the WHAEC website. Based on the FY 19-20, DIR data students are not transitioning to post-secondary education.
How will you measure effectiveness / progress towards meeting this need?
Effectiveness and progress are measured by reporting the number of students who enroll in post-secondary and follow up with students and colleges to ensure students transitioned successfully. Members will continue to review DIR to measure post-secondary transition performance outcomes.

Gaps In Service

New Strategies

Strategy #1
Provide additional ABE/ASE/HSD/HSE courses/programs in all rural areas. New course sections offered with expanded schedules to include morning, evening, and weekend scheduling options to improve student access, ability to complete pathways, and improve student success. Continue to expand local partnerships to take advantage of all available student support services to increase outreach, course persistence, student services, and completion rates.
Strategy #2
Continue expanding courses for adult learners, including VESL, ESL, Computer Technology and Citizenship, CTE classes, and courses for adults to develop knowledge and skills to assist k-12 children to succeed academically. Continue expanding the pool of ESL faculty/teachers. Collaborate with community organizations to offer additional ESL/Citizenship courses and services. Expand the number of evening and weekend course offerings.
Strategy #3
Assure all adult learners receive career guidance services and to clearly understand available career options, academic pathways, as well as scheduling options. Expand marketing flyers in two languages (English and Spanish) to promote multiple pathways from ESL to post-secondary and understanding of career options, pathways, and opportunities. Each member provides multiple pathway information such as ESL to post-secondary programs, HSE to career, etc. This information will be disseminated to students at each course orientation, each school site, and online. Expand newly created non-credit certificate programs based on local job demand needs.

Seamless Transitions

New Strategies

Strategy #1
During FY 20-21, WHAEC members will implement an expanded list of student support systems, whether attending Adult Ed, not-for-credit, or non-credit programs. Additionally, members will connect CAEP college-ready students with the community colleges’ Counselors and academic advising specialists to receive advice on career options, develop an educational plan, inform on requirements/pre-requisites, set long-term goals, financial aid information, and student support services.
Strategy #2
During FY 20-21, partner community colleges will identify academic advising specialists or a student services assistant dedicated to Adult Learners. These specialists will focus on recruitment of learners into Non-Credit programs, as well as assisting K-12 partners and consortium learners with accessing resources at the colleges.

Student Acceleration

New Strategies

Strategy #1
Course schedules will be better aligned with times of year that allow agricultural seasonal workers to enroll in CAEP and CTE classes. The class schedule will be well planned to eliminate dates and times conflicts. The use of the CANVAS learning management system will allow more hybrid offerings, utilize computer-based instruction, and will prepare students to transition to college. Continue implementation of block scheduling to match seasonal work hours and provide supplemental instruction to small groups and one-on-one support. Pre-testing assures student placement is optimal to reduce any duplication of instruction.

Professional Development

New Strategies

Strategy #1
WHAEC director and support staff will facilitate TOPSpro training for instructors and staff to enter student attendance and data effectively. WHAEC director and staff will continue to inform members, teachers, faculty, and staff of State and Local training, including CCAOE, COABE, CAEP AEP, CASAS training, and other professional development opportunities. CTE instructors are encouraged to attend local and regional CTE conferences and workshops to connect with additional business and industry partners and gain insight to the latest equipment, skills needs, and labor trends. In addition, WHAEC directors will coordinate adult education pathways training for members, staff, and instructors.

Leveraging Resources

New Strategies

Strategy #1
WHAEC will continue to leverage the WHCCD High School Equivalency resources with the High School Equivalency Program and the WHCL GED program to extend the availability of the classes in the service area. In addition, all WHAEC members will leverage the colleges’ counseling and advising resources to connect CAEP students with CTE programs. Lastly, WHAEC members will leverage Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act job readiness services, vocational skills training services, and supportive services to expand services to students.

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.
All WHAEC agencies have an approved consortium-voting member to ensure they have an equal voice in the distribution of funding to meet their prospective programs. The programs are a culmination of information from each member and include consortium-wide goals to develop both annual and 3-year plans. This format assures all are informed and have a clear direction for consistent expenditure alignment with overall CAEP goals toward addressing gaps in services in our region. All members are on schedule to expand course offerings with no concerns about utilizing the funds in the allotted timelines.
An approach to incorporating remaining carry-over funds from prior year(s) into strategies planned for 2020-21.
The WHAEC members are on track to use all the carryover from FY 18-19 by December 2020. Due to COVID 19 constraints, consortium members anticipate a carryover of FY 19-20 funds as well. However, the consortium has a plan in place to reinstate all their classes when they receive approval from the State of California. This area is addressed by expanding courses/programs and are prepared to expend FY 18-19 funding well within guidelines. Most members plan to increase the number of CTE course offerings and outreach activities to fill those offerings within the communities they serve.

Certification

Armona Union Elementary - Member Representative

Approved by Laurie Blue

08/14/2020 01:21 PM PDT

Coalinga-Huron Unified - Member Representative

Approved by Coalinga-Huron Unified School District Luci Rogers

08/14/2020 01:19 PM PDT

Firebaugh-Las Deltas Unified - Member Representative

Approved by Terry Anderson

08/14/2020 01:20 PM PDT

Golden Plains Unified - Member Representative

Approved by Armida Espinoza

08/14/2020 07:28 PM PDT

Lemoore Union High - Member Representative

Approved by Chuck Gent

08/14/2020 01:25 PM PDT

Mendota Unified - Member Representative

Approved by Rebecca Gamez

08/14/2020 02:26 PM PDT

Reef-Sunset Unified - Member Representative

Approved by Estela Jimenez

08/14/2020 04:37 PM PDT

West Hills CCD - Member Representative

Approved by Cecilio Mora

08/14/2020 01:18 PM PDT

West Hills College Coalinga - Member Representative

Approved by Javier Cazares

08/14/2020 01:21 PM PDT

West Hills College Lemoore - Member Representative

Approved by Kris Costa

08/14/2020 01:48 PM PDT