Adult Education Narrative Report 2018-2019

1. State Leadership Funds (AEFLA Section 223)

Describe how the State has used funds made available under section 223 (State Leadership activities) for each of the following required activities:

Alignment of adult education and literacy activities with other one-stop required partners to implement the strategies in the Unified or Combined State Plan as described in Section 223(1)(a)

Workforce Development Council: Idaho’s Workforce Development Council (WDC) serves as both the State Workforce Development Board and local Workforce Development Board for the entire State of Idaho. The State Administrator for the Idaho Division of Career & Technical Education is a board member on the WDC and represents Adult Education. The State Coordinator for Adult Education attends WDC meetings and works in close collaboration with its partners to ensure successful implementation of the Combined State Plan, shared goals, and WIOA requirements.

WIOA One-Stop committee: The State Coordinator for Adult Education participates in monthly WIOA One-Stop Committee meetings, which include representation from WIOA core programs and one-stop partners. The One-Stop Committee provides guidance and coordination on regional MOUs, infrastructure costs, data sharing and American Job Center branding. The One-Stop Committee partners have been working together on WIOA one-stop implementation since late 2014. The State of Idaho has two service delivery areas with two comprehensive American Job Centers and additional affiliate centers. The State Coordinator’s position is funded with State dollars, and therefore Title II Leadership dollars were not required to support this activity.

WIOA Advisory Group: Idaho’s State Coordinator for Adult Education is part of the Statewide WIOA Advisory group, which includes leadership representatives from the core WIOA partners – including the Idaho Department of Labor, Idaho Vocational Rehabilitation, Idaho Health and Welfare, Idaho Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and the Idaho Commission for Libraries. The purpose of the WIOA Advisory group is to coordinate operational policies and partnerships between programs covered under the Combined State Plan. The Statewide WIOA Advisory group supports the six Regional WIOA advisory groups throughout the State. The local groups support WIOA implementation, coordination, and alignment of policies and partnerships between core programs in their local regions. The Regional WIOA Advisory groups work with other regional service providers to ensure consistency and ease of access for all WIOA participants.

Workforce Data Quality Initiative: Idaho’s State Coordinator for Adult Education is participating in an initiative to determine how to best share data among key WIOA providers for smoother handoffs and partnerships. The initiative aims to support data quality, protect student privacy, and share information on the number of participants who are co-registered in multiple WIOA Title I, II, III, and IV programs to work together to support stronger outcomes.

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Establishment or operation of a high quality professional development program(s) as described in Section 223(1)(b)

Professional development in Idaho centers around two areas. The first is training and staff development in the processes and procedures necessary to work in a federally funded AEFLA program. The State Coordinator hosts two annual Regional Director’s meetings per program year. These regional meetings typically span two days and include various workshops. The topics of discussion range from updates on data collection and policy; federal WIOA policy and regulations; NRS reporting, fiscal and grant management; recruitment, intake and orientation; training in the use of the State’s MIS (Idaho Management & Accountability System ‘IMAS’); new-teacher onboarding; refresher trainings for existing staff; distance learning; and other compliance-related topic. The Regional Director’s meetings also serve as a setting to network and share best practices. These professional development activities are provided by State office staff, and Title II Leadership funds are not used to support these activities.

The second professional development area supported with Leadership funds are activities for the purpose of expanding and elevating the capacity of practitioners to excel in their profession. Each program identifies a staff member, or members, to serve as expert trainers or Regional Professional Development Specialists. The Regional Professional Development Specialists organize trainings for their local program staff based on locally requested, or required, topics and materials. The Specialists are essential to the tracking of training needs, staff training participation, and evaluation and feedback. Leadership funds also support in-state and out-of-state training costs; examples of the activities supported in FY19 are listed below:

 COABE in New Orleans, Louisiana attended by staff from , Lewis Clark State College, College of Southern Idaho  CASAS National Summer Institute in Orange County, California attended by staff from , College of , and Idaho State University  MPAEA in Las Vegas, Nevada attended by staff from Lewis Clark State College and College of Eastern Idaho  ICTE REACH Conference in Boise, Idaho attended by staff from Idaho Department of Corrections  Idaho Conference on Refugees in Boise, Idaho attended by College of Western Idaho staff  National College Transition Network Conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts attended by College of Southern Idaho staff

Provision of technical assistance to funded eligible providers as described in section 223(1)(c)

In Idaho, much of the technical assistance that took place in FY19 took the form of the State Coordinator updating and informing local programs about the updates in statutes, regulations, and reporting elements, as such information became available. The State Coordinator has an open door policy regarding ongoing technical assistance, and programs are in contact with the Coordinator through regular emails, phone calls, and face-to-face meetings. Because the State Coordinator is a position supported with State funds, Title II Leadership dollars are not used to support these activities. In FY19, the State Coordinator supported the following trainings and ongoing technical assistance projects:

GED Roadshow The State of Idaho held a statewide GED roadshow training for adult education leadership and instructors. The roadshow was held at three different locations throughout the State to accommodate

Idaho Adult Education | FY19 Annual Report | Page 2 of 11 the needs of the various GED providers and was open to Adult Education instructors and community partners who provide GED instruction. The GED professional development roadshow focused on the latest insights related to student performance and effective classroom strategies. The trainings took advantage of the expertise of the local Train the Trainers who were able to supplement workshops with their expertise and knowledge of local programs.

Standards in Action (SIA) The State of Idaho held a two-day Standards in Action training. This training focused on supporting efforts to evaluate current standards implementation and ultimately ensure Adult Education administrators and instructors are better equipped to align curriculum and instruction with the College and Career Readiness (CCR) Standards for Adult Education. Local programs had the opportunity to delve into the college and career readiness and gain practical information about key advances in instruction and curriculum. This training will be followed up with additional advanced trainings and ongoing meetings and discussions related to standards implementation.

Monitoring and evaluation of the quality and improvement of adult education activities as described in section 223(1)(d)

Monitoring and evaluation is primarily conducted by State staff, and therefore does not require the support of Title II Leadership funds. Because of the geographic size of Idaho and the limited number of state staff (two), the State office relies on a variety of remote monitoring tools in addition to on-site monitoring, which is conducted on an as-needed basis. In FY19, the State did not conduct any on-site monitoring.

This program year, local programs submitted four quarterly desk audits and one annual performance report to the State office. These documents help the State identify areas in need of improvement and target its technical assistance and site monitoring more effectively. The desk audit includes the reporting of post-test data, student performance data, assessment data, and a draw-down of expenditures. If the report indicates a need for improvement, the program is required to address the intervention(s) they plan to implement in order to improve their outcomes in the identified area(s). These reports and processes provide ongoing means for the State office to identify potential problems and address them in a timely manner. The State provides technical assistance for individual programs based upon their performance, observed data collection, and reporting deficiencies.

The State also employs a dedicated staff member (a Technical Records Specialist - TRS) who collects, researches, resolves, and responds to all data-related inquires. The TRS is accessible to all AEFLA program personnel via phone and email. The TRS also checks the online Management Information System (MIS) regularly to see how individual sites are doing and follows up with the State Coordinator to advise and recommend potential issues and training needs for local programs.

2. Performance Data Analysis

Describe how the adult education program performed in the overall assessment of core programs based on the core indicators of performance. Discuss how the assessment was used to improve quality and effectiveness of the funded eligible providers and any plans to further increase performance in future reporting years.

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In 2018-19 Idaho’s AEFLA providers, which include six community and technical colleges along with Idaho Department of Corrections, served a total of 5,113 participants, a decrease by 417 students from last year. The breakdown of adult learners enrolled in Idaho’s AEFLA programs are shown in the table below. The largest ethnic groups of learners are White and Hispanic. Adult learners are more likely to be female and the largest age group is between 25 and 44 years old.

FY 19 Idaho Adult Education Demographics

16-18 19-24 25-44 45-54 55-59 60+

Female Male

Alaskan Indian or Alaskan Native Asian Black or African American Hispanic/Latino Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander White More than one Race 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500

The overall measurable skill gain rate for Idaho was 35.44% in FY19. Although the State did not meet our goal of 44%, we have identified trends and performance improvement solutions to address the problems.

In examining local annual reports, a couple of trends have emerged which may help identify some causes of low MSG performance:

 The continued low unemployment rate in Idaho continues to be a challenge for retaining adult education students. Idaho just marked two years of an unemployment rate below three percent. Additionally, Adult Education students are balancing classes, childcare, personal, and professional responsibilities. The opportunity cost of attending classes is particularly challenging for many adult education students, as students have significant financial burdens of providing for their families’ immediate needs.  The challenge of adapting to a new assessment was a significant factor for many of the program sites. NIC, LCSC, CSI, and IDOC are continuing to refine curriculum to better align with the TABE assessment.  The limitations of our current statewide database (Idaho Management & Accountability System) has meant program sites are unable to investigate their data in a meaningful way to determine underlying reasons behind the MSG drop. It is challenging for sites to be able to make data-

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informed programming decisions and changes due to the database’s limitations and low data quality.

Improvement strategies/best practices

Outreach

 Lewis Clark State College (LCSC) invited adult education students to participate in the Career Technical Education tour, a showcase of the 19 Career & Technical Education programs available at LCSC with hands on activities and a panel of industry leaders.  Adult education students also participated in the Adult Learner Presentations held by the LCSC Office of Admissions on campus and in outreach locations. These presentations provided information on how to navigate the admission and financial aid process along with information on majors and support services.  LCSC collaborated with the YWCA to do outreach at a back to school event where backpacks are supplied to over 920 local school children, LCSC supplied parents with adult education program information and resources.  Idaho State University (ISU): An outreach site in American Falls collaborated with a local high school to implement a tutoring program where high school seniors tutor ESL students. The ESL program at the American Falls outreach site has been performing well.  Idaho Department of Corrections (IDOC): All incoming inmates are required to complete an Adult Education Intake form and are administered a TABE Locator. This allows staff to quickly identify potential ABE referrals. Identified inmates are then assessed using the TABE Full Battery and interviewed by Case Managers to further assess their educational goals and develop a tailored educational program plan.

Co-Location & Partnerships

(NIC) has built strong partnerships with Advising and Career Services, Center for New Directions, NIC’s Outreach Center Advisor and TRIO. They are focusing on adjusting curriculum into programs that prepare students for career pathways; students complete the “Strong Interest Inventory” to help determine a career path that best suits their interests and talents.  Idaho State University (ISU) opened an outreach site in American Falls co-located with Idaho Department of Labor and Vocational Rehab – a one-stop for WIOA services for students. ISU is looking forward to reporting more on the outcomes of the center in next year’s annual report.  College of Eastern Idaho (CEI) has a strong partnership and presence at the WIOA One-Stop Center where an Adult Education instructor is available part time to provide testing, advising, enrollment, and instruction.  The College & Career Readiness Program Director at CEI sits on the Presidents Executive Council and the VP of Instruction and Student Affairs council which gives the program lots of face time and voice which strengthens referrals and understanding of the program.

Management Information System Procurement

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The state office has begun the process of procuring a new management information system with technical assistance support from NRS staff. An improved management information system will help program sites make data-informed program improvement decisions in real time and will free up a significant amount staff time at both the program sites and in the state office to focus on program improvements.

Career Pathways

Help students make the connection between their AEFLA supported classes and a career pathway that will ultimately increase their income. The state office will be prioritizing professional development around creating contextual, career pathways focused curriculum.

3) Describe how the State Eligible Agency, as the entity responsible for meeting one-stop requirements under 34 CFR part 463 subpart J, carries out or delegates its required one-stop roles to eligible providers. Describe the applicable career services that are provided in the one-stop system. Describe how infrastructures costs are supported through State and local options. As a single area state, Idaho is statutorily required to operate at least one comprehensive one-stop center; the State of Idaho has two. Given Idaho’s large geographic area, the State has established two separate one-stop systems based on service delivery areas or regions, rather than multiple one-stop centers throughout the State. Last year, WIOA partners in Idaho Falls (the College of Eastern Idaho) and Lewiston (Lewis-Clark State College) finalized the negotiation of the MOU and infrastructure cost sharing agreements. In Idaho, the AEFLA providers are technical colleges, and the signatories of the MOU’s are the Deans of the respective colleges. The negotiation authority for the MOU has been delegated to the Deans of the colleges, which coordinate with the local AEFLA Directors. The regional Adult Education Directors receive support and technical assistance on the specific costs and methodologies for the local funding agreement from the State office.

Lewis Clark State College (LCSC) participated in several cross-training meetings to share program information and resources with the Region II American Job Center partners to refine a seamless referral and service system for students/customers. LCSC’s outreach site in Orofino, Idaho is co-located with the Idaho Department of Labor and the Idaho Division of Vocational Rehabilitation; the site serves as a one- stop shop for students. Two Department of Labor offices in Region II closed their physical locations over the summer, so LCSC is in collaborative conversations on the new remote service delivery methods.

College of Eastern Idaho (CEI) continues to explore recruiting strategies along with their One-Stop partners; the Idaho Department of Labor, Vocational Rehabilitation, Community Council of Idaho, Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and Health and Welfare. CEI holds annual trainings with one-stop partners to continue to provide a cohesive experience for students. CEI has continued to fund a part-time instructor/advisor who has an office at the one-stop center. From that office, the instructor does advising, testing, referrals to CEI’s program, and even some instruction of shared clients. The infrastructure costs are currently negotiated in the Resource Sharing Agreements are provided through non-federal State funds.

The College of Eastern Idaho (CEI) and Lewis-Clark State College (LCSC) Adult Education Directors participated in the planning and development of the comprehensive American Job Centers. The local Adult Education Directors meet regularly with staff from the Idaho Department of Labor, and other WIOA partners to refine the referral process and to schedule the cross training for all staff.

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4. Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education (IELCE) Program (AEFLA Section 243)

Describe how the state is using funds under Section 243 to support the following activities under the IELCE program:

 Describe when your State held a competition [the latest competition] for IELCE program funds and the number of grants awarded by your state to support IELCE programs.

The latest competition for IELCE program funds in Idaho was in 2017, the state awarded four Section 243 IELCE grants to:

 College of Southern Idaho (CSI)  College of Western Idaho (CWI)  College of Eastern Idaho (CEI)  Idaho State University (ISU)

Describe your State efforts in meeting the requirement to provide IELCE services in combination with integrated education and training activities;

Describe how the state is progressing toward program goals of preparing and placing IELCE program participants in unsubsidized employment in in-demand industries and occupations that lead to economic self-sufficiency as described in section 243(c)(1) and discuss any performance results, challenges, and lessons learned from implementing those program goals; and

Describe how the State is progressing towards program goals of ensuring that IELCE program activities are integrated with the local workforce development system and its functions as described in section 243(c)(2) and discuss any performance results, challenges, and lessons learned from implementing those program goals.

The four sites receiving IELCE funding have ventured into a number of industries, below are successes, challenges, and lessons learned broken down by industry.

Healthcare

Healthcare is a key sector in Idaho in which opportunities lead to economic self-sufficiency. It is an ideal sector for IELEC services in combination with integrated and training activities because of the many pathways and on-ramps that exist within it.

Certified Nurse Assistant

Three of the four IELCE sites are providing Certified Nurse Assistant preparation courses for language learners. Healthcare continues to be an in-demand industry, and Certified Nurse Assistants are an occupation that leads to a career path with a living wage, resulting in economic self-sufficiency.

College of Eastern Idaho (CEI) – Idaho Falls recently opened a third hospital; the CNA program is meeting an industry demand, increasing skills, and leveraging experience from students’ countries of origin. For example, two students in a recent CNA IELCE class held a PhD in biochemistry and an MD.

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College of Southern Idaho (CSI) hired a part time staff person to market, develop, and coordinate IELCE classes. CSI’s intake process for their CNA program is aligned with skills needed for the class. Oral communication is important in the medical field and in the CNA role, so a short oral interview is conducted as part of the intake process for the CNA program. Intentional recruitment and intake is critical to students’ success in the program.

College of Western Idaho (CWI) partners with a local refugee resettlement agency as well as the Idaho Department of Labor to fund students in their Multicultural CNA class. The class is co-taught by a Workforce Development instructor and an ESL instructor. The workforce development instructor commented that she “will never teach the same way again” after gaining so many valuable instructional strategies from the ESL instructor. The most recent class was comprised exclusively of English Language Learners with a varied degree of student experience in healthcare. All students completed the course, 87% of the class pass the clinical exam to date, and one student is now teaching in the Workforce Development program at CWI.

Environmental Services Technician

CWI’s Environmental Services Pre-Apprenticeship program continues to be a robust partnership between the two regional hospitals and the International Rescue Committee. Because of the pathways that naturally exist in the hospital systems, the high number of employment needs, and the tuition reimbursement and health benefits available, this program has created amazing opportunities for ELL students. In addition, the initial involvement of the content expert from Saint Alphonsus hospital in developing the curriculum using appropriate instructional strategies has created a product that is duplicable. The program is designed to provide an on-ramp for ELL students into a career in healthcare. So far, a number of Environmental Services Pre-Apprenticeship graduates have enrolled in the Multicultural CNA program and will be working toward their CNA licenses while gaining experience in the hospital as Environmental Services Technicians.

Construction

College of Western Idaho (CWI) – The construction industry is challenging due to lack of on-ramps and advancement opportunities. Employers have been hesitant to work with IELCE programs and take an active role in curriculum design. IET/IELCE programs work best when employers and representatives from industry are willing to take an active role in program and curriculum design. Engagement from employers was low during planning of the construction career launcher course. There is great demand for employees in the construction sector in Idaho but not all jobs that are available are necessarily skilled, unsubsidized positions. There are pathways, but not always well-defined or easily accessible. At the state level this need has been recognized and an effort was launched to fill the gap. International Rescue Committee, CWI Basic Skills Education and CWI Workforce Development were all brought to the table with Idaho Associated General Contractors to recruit and assist in curriculum development and instructional delivery with this project. ELL students were recruited, they attended, and completed the course, but the desired outcomes were not achieved at an impressive rate. In addition, NRS assessments weren’t very successful in capturing student MSGs. The promised post-class job fair was poorly attended by employers and the curriculum/teaching model with content instructor and ELL teacher weren’t symbiotic. Efforts were made to improve upon the pilot from last spring and the class began again in October of FY20.

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Manufacturing

Idaho State University (ISU) is currently working with Lamb Weston to support their current employees in achieving promotions and a living wage. ISU has found that providing contextual instruction important; student engagement is higher when the instruction is contextual and specific to a job or industry. ISU works closely with the employer to ensure the vocabulary students are learning will help them achieve promotions. The program is currently working on translating the employee manual at Lamb Weston into Spanish to help employees develop a baseline.

CWI’s Manufacturing IELCE was planned in conjunction with an International Rescue Committee (IRC) grant. The issues with this pilot had more to do with the target audience. Many of the students in this course were already working in manufacturing jobs and the course didn’t provide an additional certification or depth of knowledge for the majority of the students. The culmination of fork-lift certification from CWI was valuable experience for many but fork-lift training is usually an in-house, proprietary training and other credentials aren’t very recognized. We did feel there was benefit in giving students exposure to fork-lift driving and boosting their self-efficacy in this way. To further bolster manufacturing in FY20, CWI will be adding a Safety & Pollution Prevention (SP2) component which will prove more desirable by employers according to industry contacts. In December CWI is running another manufacturing class with IRC and have recruited at a more appropriate language and skill-level in order to better serve students. CWI created a Manufacturing Works course that culminated in a forklift certification. Students successfully completed the course and received a forklift certification, however employment outcomes were low due to low employer participation. Trainings and certifications are often provided in-house in this industry and there is low turnover with key employers in the area.

Summary of lessons learned

 Intentional recruitment and intake is critical  Partnerships with service agencies are helpful for recruitment and retention  Contextual instruction supports retention  Programs have more successful employment outcomes when employers have buy-in and participation in curriculum development  IELCE classes are most effective when coupled with supportive services funding and on-going case management during the class and during job placement

Challenges

A key challenge in implementing IET/IELCE classes is navigating the NRS approved assessments – a big part of the MSG decline is due to assessments that do not measure the additional career/workplace, civic and soft skill content that has been incorporated into the curriculum. The benefit of this content to students is not accurately reflected in program performance.

6. Programs for Corrections Education and the Education of Other Institutionalized Individuals (AEFLA Section 225)

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What was the relative rate of recidivism for criminal offenders served? Please describe the methods and factors used in calculating the rate for this reporting period.

The Idaho Department of Correction (IDOC) is the primary provider for institutionalized individuals in Idaho. IDOC’s research division compiled a very informative report about recidivism among the AEFLA population in its facilities. The definition of recidivism for this study included any new re-incarceration event as a parole violator, Termer or Rider within six months to one and a half years post release. Between January 1, 2018- June 30, 2019, 1,374 individuals participated in ABE programming within IDOC facilities. Of these, 735 were released as of June 30, 2019 and constitute the recidivism FY19 data tracking for ABE Student-Inmates.

These data indicate risk of recidivism declines for those inmates who participated in an ABE program.

ABE PROGRAM NO ABE PROGRAM Total Released Recidivism Rate Total Released Recidivism Rate Total 735 200 4,883 1,550 Percentage 27.2% 31.7%

Reporting on the IDOC general population, slightly less than 50% of inmates enter the correctional system without an HSD or GED. Compared to 90.2% for Idaho and 87.3% for the US, the need for educational program among our prison population is underscored. The IDOC ABE program assists 18.2% of our inmate population achieve a GED. TABE Locator assessments provides a snapshot of the educational levels among our population, with 34% Reading ability and 45% Math ability at or below an 8th grade level. These data highlight the need, even for those Inmate-Students who do not achieve a GED, to gain greater competency in educational areas that can greatly affect success at re-entry into the community.

HSD/GED UPON ENTRY N % No 3,234 46.9% Yes 3,665 53.1% TOTAL 6,899 100.0%

GED IN PRISON N % No 5,643 81.8% Yes 1,256 18.2% TOTAL 6,899 100.0%

READING Frequency Percent Below 6th Grade 837 12.1% 6th - 8th Grade 1,528 22.1% 9th - 12th Grade 3,860 56.0% Out of Range 1 0.0% Total 6,226 90.2%

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Missing 673 9.8% TOTAL 6,899 100.0%

MATH Frequency Percent Below 6th Grade 1,255 18.2% 6th - 8th Grade 1,862 27.0% 9th - 12th Grade 3,108 45.1% Out of Range 1 0.0% Total 6,226 90.2% Missing 673 9.8% TOTAL 6,899 100.0%

Nearly 97% of our inmate population falls between the ages of 18 – 64, the age range generally constituting Idaho’s labor force. These data outline the importance of providing educational opportunities in order to prepare individuals to better meet the demands and challenges associated with entry into the labor market.

AGE Frequency Percent Ages 18-24 584 8.5% Ages 25-34 2,350 34.1% Ages 35-44 1,939 28.1% Ages 45-54 1,131 16.4% Ages 55-64 660 9.6% Ages 65 and older 235 3.4% TOTAL 6,899 100.0%

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