1 MODIFICATIONS TO THE ADULT EDUCATION AND LITERACY ALLOCATIONS 2 IN ACCORDANCE WITH TAC 800.51 3 DISCUSSION PAPER 4 5 Background 6 Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) General Administration rule §800.68 provides that TWC 7 will set performance accountability benchmarks that Adult Education and Literacy (AEL) 8 grantees must meet to access up to 10 percent of their allocated funding, hereafter referred to as 9 “performance allocation.” 10 11 In Program Year 2014–2015 (PY ’14–’15) AEL grantees had three performance accountability 12 benchmarks to achieve 5 percent of their funding. The first of these measures, Measure A (Total 13 Served with 12+ Hours), was waived for all AEL grantees. 14 15 The second and third measures, Measure B (Educational Functioning Levels Gains) and Measure 16 C (Transitions and Career Pathways Enrollment), were awarded after the close of PY ’14–’15. 17 AEL grantees that did not meet one or both of these measures will not have access to all or a 18 portion of their performance allocation; therefore, TWC must take formal action to deobligate 19 and reallocate these funds. 20 21 In addition to deobligation of performance allocation, TWC received a PY ’14–’15 supplement 22 to the adult education state award from the U.S. Department of Education (ED). These funds are 23 the result of unobligated 2014 federal incentive grants, awarded based on the formula in Adult 24 Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) §211. 25 26 Action needs to be taken to have performance allocation funds and associated targets deobligated 27 and deobligated funds, as well as the supplemental grant award from ED, reallocated to other 28 AEL grantees per the guidelines in § 800.51 and §800.80. 29 30 Recommendations 31 32 Deobligation 33 34 On June 9, 2015, TWC’s three-member Commission (Commission) approved a methodology to 35 apply carry-forward targets to AEL grantees that had not served their PY ’14–’15 total served 36 targets. As the performance allocation is being deobligated in PY ’15–’16, staff recommends 37 that AEL grantees’ carry-forward targets be reduced by the amount of the student targets 38 associated with these funds. Further, staff recommends that: 39  the number of students by which the carry-forward targets will be reduced be calculated by 40 dividing the amount of funds being deobligated by the grant recipient’s PY ’14–’15 41 contracted cost per student; and 42  no grant recipient shall have its carry-forward target reduced by more than the target itself. 43 44 45 Reallocation

1DP- Modifications to the Adult Education and Literacy Allocations in accordance with TAC 800.51_Notebook_REVISED_12.15.15 1 Pursuant to §800.80, staff recommends reallocation of deobligated funds to AEL grantees that 2 met performance in PY ’14–’15 in two stages, as follows: 3 Stage 1 4 Twenty percent of the total deobligated performance allocation funds available will be offered 5 first to AEL grantees that met either 100 percent of their total PY ’14–’15 enrollment target or 6 100 percent of PY ’14–’15 performance funding Measures B and C (see Attachment 1): 7  Total amount offered will be, at minimum, an entity’s relative proportion of PY ’15–’16 8 federal AEFLA funds; 9  AEL grantees that accept reallocated funds will receive additional Total Served with 12+ 10 Hours targets, calculated based on the PY ’15–’16 state average cost per student of $608.80, 11 approved by the Commission on August 25, 2015; 12  Additional targets awarded in stage 1 will not be used toward the calculation of the 13 performance funding benchmark on December 31, 2015; and 14  Staff requests the ability to negotiate an entity’s allocation up or down, depending on the 15 entity’s agreement and other entities’ agreement to take funds. 16 Stage 2 17 Funds remaining after stage 1 and the federal supplemental grant award will be offered to AEL 18 grantees that met 95 percent of their PY ’14–’15 Career Pathways target for the purpose of 19 expanding career pathways models, including models for English Language Learner populations 20 as outlined in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (see Attachment 1); 21  Total amount offered will be, at minimum, an entity’s relative proportion of PY ’15–’16 22 federal AEFLA funds; 23  AEL grantees that accept reallocated funds will receive Career Pathways targets, calculated 24 based on a $2,000 per-student cost to support the total costs associated with Career Pathways 25 implementation; 26  AEL grantees are given the option to accept a full or partial amount of the reallocation; and 27  Staff requests the ability to adjust an entity’s reallocation up or down, depending on the 28 entity’s agreement and other entities’ agreement to take funds. 29

2DP- Modifications to the Adult Education and Literacy Allocations in accordance with TAC 800.51_Notebook_REVISED_12.15.15