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CAEP Annual Plan: 2020-21 20 San Diego East Region Adult Education

Status: Consortium Approved

California Adult Education Program : Annual Plan : 2020-21 Produced: Aug 14, 2020, 09:13 PM UTC Kathy Granger

20 San Diego East Region Adult Education

Plans & Goals - Consortium Approved

Executive Summary
ERAE moves forward through unprecedented times, we remain committed to Education that Works, Transitions that Matter, & Students Who Succeed. The consortium’s plan stresses the need to address two pandemics, COVID-19 and racism, and to focus on education & training of adults from all walks of life, as a means to strengthen the community we live in, to provide resources to those most in need, and to prepare for changing demographics and economic realities. ERAE’s three members provide adult education and training opportunities as well as wrap-around support services for more than 10,000 adult learners, previously at over 25 sites and since late March 2020 remotely, in medical & non-medical CTE, ESL, Citizenship, Dig. Literacy, HSD/E Programs, and ABE. The consortium’s members have some unique characteristics that play a role in how we allocate available CAEP funding. (For more information, please see the consortium’s 3-year plan.) To reach goals set, members developed articulation agreements to foster smooth transitions (Med. Terminology, CompTIA A+, Culinary, Collision Repair); strengthened IET offerings (Collision Repair, Intro to Medical Careers/Personal Aide); integrated work-readiness modules and career & education fairs into the curriculum; created a system for college counselors to hold weekly office hours at GAE sites; premiered a monthly business roundtable that brings together representatives from industry sectors having an impact on the region; engaged in initial planning with Mt. Empire’s tribal communities; went from 97% in person programs to 99% remote learning; developed 98 CANVAS courses with 50 teachers between March and June 2020; and strengthened outreach and local marketing in an effort to raise awareness for educational and community resources and open more doors to meaningful careers to more adults. Through these efforts, we were able to graduate 86 students (an increase of 52% over the previous year), saw an increase of 88% in the number of students who achieved EFL gains with a post-secondary outcome, and supported 746 students (53%) in achieving EFL gains. 95 students matriculated to GCCCD, another 7 matriculated to other colleges & universities. The increase in EFL gains and transitions to post-secondary programs speaks to the importance of providing academic advising upfront & holistic services (students were supported by a transition specialist and a business engagement coordinator) throughout, and to the benefit of classes that integrate academic, language, & career training instruction. The rapid transition to remote learning posed a challenge, of course, but also opportunities: Overall, the number of students we served decreased by 19% (n=1,779), partially because of a strong labor market before February 2020, and partially because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our ESL program saw a decrease in participation, especially at lower levels. Teachers worked tirelessly, though, and those who engaged students in synchronous daily activities (e.g., via Zoom) were successful in reaching students and easing them into asynchronous work on Canvas. Instructors in academic programs utilized various learning platforms, in some cases provided 1:1 instruction via smart phones, and started a Chrome book lending initiative. Our medical career programs deliver high-quality training with a certification rate above 85% consistently; between March and July, instructors and staff in medical career programs proved their mettle by reorganizing curriculum, moving instruction online and postponing necessary lab work until late May/early June. Partial re-openings allowed staff to set up in-class instruction (with safety measures put in place), so that students were able to complete training; new online classes enabled CNAs to complete CEUs just-in-time, and new partnerships with regional healthcare providers will facilitate smooth transitions into an industry that needs our highly-qualified students. Switching to remote learning reinforced our conviction that early as well as consistent engagement with students builds relationships, a sense of trust, commitment, and success. Over the last 6 months, transition specialists facilitated “high-touch” onboarding processes through virtual townhall and 1:1 meetings that enabled more than 700 new and returning students to make informed choices, plan across programs, and identify next career steps and goals aligned to their skills and interests and regardless of entry point or level; and despite the current state of instabilities. Not always were transition specialists able to connect students to actual training right away, but students were connected to the ERAE community, introduced to digital tools “just-in-time." Offering classes and services remotely opened the doors for new students; and the swift pivot to remote programming strengthened the partnership with the SDWP and regional AJCCs. We saw an increase in co-enrollment by 51 % (13 new students).
Regional Planning Overview
The consortium’s core values, as put forth in the strategic plan have served us well throughout the health pandemic. The 6 strategic goals identified in 2019 remain as relevant as ever. In light of more recent changes, we identified certain competencies that need to be addressed in each class and all professional learning opportunities we offer. We will continue to align curriculum with changing workforce needs (e.g., a renewed and stronger focus on applied digital skills), best practices in case-management approaches, and evidence-based practices such as contextualization, acceleration, and culturally responsive learning. We will strengthen our roles as education leaders and mentors through a professional learning series and increased leveraging of resources. In doing so, we will ensure student success. Primary goals for this program year will focus on student success measured by: Increased number of HSD graduates, increased number of ESL students moving to next levels, of students matriculating to college, of students transferring to post-secondary programs and employment.With the beginning of the new academic year, we will engage in several exciting, rigorous, and relevant efforts to reach next milestones toward our six identified strategic goals. We are making a renewed commitment to anti-racism and equity. On a monthly basis, consortium stakeholders will come together for professional learning workshops within a series that is grounded in anti-racism, racial equity, and andragogy as foundational principles, designed along three major tracks (cultural responsiveness, backward design, and assessment). The series strives to advance culturally affirming and equity-minded listening and learning. At the end of the first eight sessions, participants will have become contributors, developed their own learning portfolios, and set the stage for the next eight sessions in year two of the series. Zoom and Canvas will be both conduits and catalysts for mobilizing voices and addressing the need for institutional change and action steps that meet the needs of our highly diverse communities (19% foreign-born, 7% Black, 1% Native-American, 87% White and most likely including three quarters of East County’s refugee population), in times when the unemployment rate has risen exponentially (from 4.6% in March 2020 to 19.5% in May 2020), especially for tribal community members and community members of color (with an unemployment rate of approximately 36%).Aligned with regional needs for skilled (and essential) workers, we will continue to develop six clearly mapped training and education paths. We will implement three foundational classes, “Career Essentials,” that accelerate students to Career and College Readiness-level targeted skills and fast-track students for transitions to post-secondary CTE classes such as CNA, VN, and Pharmacy Tech; and Office Professional and Finance Clerk. “Career Essentials: Health, Business, Digital Literacy” will be offered remotely, with the option for blended learning, and extended to business partners in need of re-training their workforce fast and effectively. Combined with several IET classes, these new offerings will accelerate student success within remote and blended learning environments in a more efficient and fiscally responsible manner. Mt. Empire’s community needs will also be addressed through two additional efforts: A HS diploma class will support the Campo tribal education program, and a virtual CTE class will be developed to reach students living remotely in an already remote area. For all classes offered, we will implement measurements of accountability beyond those mandated by the state. In partnership with GCCCD we will introduce a data protocol and data dialog that allows us to disaggregate data to reveal specific hidden patterns of inequity and use data from some individual students, classes, and program areas to make decisions about instructional practices. Partnerships envisioned in our strategic plan and developed and/or strengthened in 2019-20 will support the consortium in all its efforts. The GCCCD’s Dept. of Institutional Research and Effectiveness, the San Diego Regional Chamber of Business and the East County Chamber of Commerce, and partners at SDSU will provide insight and tools for the development of an equity framework and for anti-racism work; college faculty and GAE instructors will collaborate further on the development of articulation agreements, and points of contact and procedures have been established with regional social service organizations that support the consortium’s Transition Services in helping adult learners succeed. To successfully implement strategies and meet our goals, the consortium’s strategic plan work groups will continue to ensure that activities will be implemented effectively for Education That Works, Transitions That Matter, and Students Who Succeed. The consortium will communicate milestones to ERAE’s Governing Board quarterly.

Meeting Regional Needs

Regional Need #1

Gaps in Service / Regional Needs
Regional Economic Disparity Continues. In times when the unemployment rate has risen exponentially (from 4.6 percent in March 2020 to 19.5 percent in May 2020), tribal and Mt. Empire’s rural communities and community members of color have been impacted especially hard (with an unemployment rate of approximately percent). The more granular look still complicates the picture: Within approximately 10 city blocks of El Cajon, in which 41 percent of the population are foreign-born, the poverty rate increases by an additional 12 percent, and the unemployment rate by 16 percent.
How do you know? What resources did you use to identify these gaps?
With the support of regional partners (SANDAG, San Diego Workforce Partnership, Centers of Excellence) and utilizing data available through Launchboard, BLS, The Casey Family Foundation, the Institute for Immigration Research, the Refugee Processing Center, the consortium conducted a thorough needs analysis. In addition, we aggregated data through our attendance management system, TopsPRO and - importantly - through staff and student surveys. (For detailed information, please consult our Three-Year Comprehensive Plan.)
How will you measure effectiveness / progress towards meeting this need?
More students transition with ERAE to additional adult education programs, community college or other training or education programs. More student work in jobs in their field, with better wages. Students increase wages. More students earn a living wage. Quality Indicators: Paths characteristics and design features. Evaluating participation (length, duration, certification availability, targeted population, industry focus; academic goals) and effectiveness of key elements (sequence, use of skill assessments, role of support services, approach to curriculum design and delivery, employer engagement) Participant characteristics. Evaluating the effectiveness of targeted programming. Implementation metrics. Evaluating the effectiveness of introducing innovative pedagogy and methodology (also professional development) Shared performance metrics. Education, training and labor market outcomes- Braided services for WIOA Title 1 and Title 2 recipients

Regional Need #2

Gaps in Service / Regional Needs
Low Wages. For our region, realities haven’t changed much between 2014 and 2019. El Cajon and the East Region overall still have one of the highest poverty rates in San Diego County (26.7% reported for 2016). Poverty is foremost experienced among American Indians and Hispanics but also among many community members who are considered English Language Learners (ELL). Many of them work in low-income jobs, with very little opportunity for advancement. In addition, Grossmont Union High School District’s student population has been in declining enrollment for the past six years, but the number of students identified in significant subgroups (low income, English learners, foster and homeless youth) has been rising. Again, this will have a direct impact on our adult education programs, which most likely will have to increase focus on support for students who are transitioning out of high school without a diploma and in adult learners who need re-training or “up-skilling” when recession changes labor market dynamics. Over the same time span, the real hourly wage for all of San Diego County has also declined, while housing costs have not.
How do you know? What resources did you use to identify these gaps?
With the support of regional partners (SANDAG, San Diego Workforce Partnership, Centers of Excellence) and utilizing data available through Launchboard, BLS, The Casey Family Foundation, the Institute for Immigration Research, the Refugee Processing Center, the consortium conducted a thorough needs analysis. In addition, we aggregated data through our attendance management system, TopsPRO and - importantly - through staff and student surveys. (For detailed information, please consult our Three-Year Comprehensive Plan.)
How will you measure effectiveness / progress towards meeting this need?
More students transition with ERAE to additional adult education programs, community college or other training or education programs. More student work in jobs in their field, with better wages. Students increase wages. More students earn a living wage. Quality Indicators: Paths characteristics and design features. Evaluating participation (length, duration, certification availability, targeted population, industry focus; academic goals) and effectiveness of key elements (sequence, use of skill assessments, role of support services, approach to curriculum design and delivery, employer engagement) Participant characteristics. Evaluating the effectiveness of targeted programming. Implementation metrics. Evaluating the effectiveness of introducing innovative pedagogy and methodology (also professional development) Shared performance metrics. Placement into living-wage employment. Braided services for WIOA Title 1 and Title 2 recipients. Transition metrics. Data for participants enrolled in adult ed. before taking classes, before and after transitioning to postsecondary programs or employment, retention rates. Did enrollment and retention increase by providing orientation (also in multiple languages)? -Did barriers decrease for disproportionally impacted students? Did outreach and orientation increase? Increase in EFLs

Regional Need #3

Gaps in Service / Regional Needs
Skilled and Highly-skilled Workers in Low-skills Jobs. When employers require HS Diploma/GED as a minimum qualification, many of our consortium’s students are at a disadvantage. Approximately one-third of East County residents are foreign-born. The city of El Cajon has a large Iraqi immigrant population (consisting of both Arabs and Chaldeans); the East Region more generally has been among the largest refugee resettlement areas in the country. Though we are experiencing a major decline in the number of refugee newcomers, our region is still home to a very high number of refugees. There are approximately 773,100 immigrants living in San Diego County (customized data provided by the Institute for Immigration Research, March 2019); 86,099 residents in the East Region are foreign-born. More than 47,000 of East Region residents can be considered English Language Learners (ELLs). Overall, the East Region has welcomed more than 20,000 refugees and the majority have arrived in the last ten years. Often not in possession of an American HS diploma, or state/board-recognized licenses and certifications, refugee newcomers have been facing additional obstacles when looking for work. Through refugee resettlement and CalWORKs programs, many of them have been placed in employment within nine months upon arrival and thus were supported into taking first steps into self-sufficiency. However, many of them were also placed into low-income jobs, without much support for gaining English language competencies or for career development. In a labor market in which most employers desire a certificate, associate degree from a community college or a bachelor’s degree and require experience of more than two years in a related field, refugee newcomers and many of ERAE’s current and potential students are at a disadvantage.
How do you know? What resources did you use to identify these gaps?
With the support of regional partners (SANDAG, San Diego Workforce Partnership, Centers of Excellence) and utilizing data available through Launchboard, BLS, The Casey Family Foundation, the Institute for Immigration Research, the Refugee Processing Center, the consortium conducted a thorough needs analysis. In addition, we aggregated data through our attendance management system, TopsPRO and - importantly - through staff and student surveys. (For detailed information, please consult our Three-Year Comprehensive Plan.)
How will you measure effectiveness / progress towards meeting this need?
More students transition with ERAE to additional adult education programs, community college or other training or education programs. More student work in jobs in their field, with better wages. Students increase wages. More students earn a living wage. Quality Indicators: Paths characteristics and design features – Evaluating participation (length, duration, certification availability, targeted population, industry focus; academic goals) and effectiveness of key elements (sequence, use of skill assessments, role of support services, approach to curriculum design and delivery, employer engagement)Participant characteristics – Evaluating the effectiveness of targeted programming. Implementation metrics – evaluating the effectiveness of introducing innovative pedagogy and methodology (also professional development) Shared performance metrics. Placement into living-wage employment. Braided services for WIOA Title 1 and Title 2 recipients. Transition metrics. Data for participants enrolled in adult ed. before taking classes, before and after transitioning to postsecondary programs or employment, retention rates. Did enrollment and retention increase by providing orientation (also in multiple languages)? Did barriers decrease for disproportionally impacted students? Did outreach and orientation increase? Increase in EFLs

Regional Need #4

Gaps in Service / Regional Needs
Small Businesses are the Majority. In 2019, San Diego’s East County had approximately 75 businesses with less than 100 employees; 62 percent of them had less than 50 employees. Many of these small businesses will not survive. Overall, bigger employers understand the need for re-training, especially to close skills gaps related to changing technologies, workplace effectiveness and interpersonal skills. However, bigger employers also seem reluctant to use external training and education professionals, given extremely limited resources. Employers in the region are generally open to exploring apprenticeship and internship models. Our consortium, therefore, has an opportunity to train their incumbent workers and develop alternative training models that might include work-based learning models such as mentoring, tailored training, and job shadowing.
How do you know? What resources did you use to identify these gaps?
With the support of regional partners (SANDAG, San Diego Workforce Partnership, Centers of Excellence) and utilizing data available through Launchboard, BLS, The Casey Family Foundation, the Institute for Immigration Research, the Refugee Processing Center, the consortium conducted a thorough needs analysis. In addition, we aggregated data through our attendance management system, TopsPRO and - importantly - through staff and student surveys. (For detailed information, please consult our Three-Year Comprehensive Plan.)
How will you measure effectiveness / progress towards meeting this need?
Program effectiveness. Did participants increase English language skills because of a specific class/path (e.g., IET)? Did participants experience wage increases 180 days after completing a certification through training? What was the magnitude of these changes on average? As a result of training, did participants feel more qualified to compete in the labor market? Did participants feel more empowered to drive their own career progress? Did they have a better understanding of what to look for in a quality job? Did employers find value in this program? Implementation: Is this plan responsive to the unique needs of our students and business community members? Has the number of certificates recognized by regional businesses increased?

Regional Need #5

Gaps in Service / Regional Needs
Lack of Employment Opportunities. More than in 2019, there are now many more qualified workers in most occupations than there are jobs for them in the East Region, demonstrated by the number of occupations with net outflows. This means that many residents commute to other areas of San Diego for work. This is very important to communicate to students, but should not deter us to train individuals, as there are likely to be opportunities in other parts of the county. Further, annual openings are still projected to occur within the region over the next several years. On average, less than one percent of priority occupation jobs are within rural areas.
How do you know? What resources did you use to identify these gaps?
With the support of regional partners (SANDAG, San Diego Workforce Partnership, Centers of Excellence) and utilizing data available through Launchboard, BLS, The Casey Family Foundation, the Institute for Immigration Research, the Refugee Processing Center, the consortium conducted a thorough needs analysis. In addition, we aggregated data through our attendance management system, TopsPRO and - importantly - through staff and student surveys. (For detailed information, please consult our Three-Year Comprehensive Plan.)
How will you measure effectiveness / progress towards meeting this need?
More students transition with ERAE to additional adult education programs, community college or other training or education programs. More student work in jobs in their field, with better wages. Students increase wages. More students earn a living wage. Quality Indicators: Paths characteristics and design features – Evaluating participation (length, duration, certification availability, targeted population, industry focus; academic goals) and effectiveness of key elements (sequence, use of skill assessments, role of support services, approach to curriculum design and delivery, employer engagement)Participant characteristics – Evaluating the effectiveness of targeted programming. Implementation metrics – evaluating the effectiveness of introducing innovative pedagogy and methodology (also professional development) Shared performance metrics. Placement into living-wage employment. Braided services for WIOA Title 1 and Title 2 recipients. Transition metrics. Data for participants enrolled in adult ed. before taking classes, before and after transitioning to postsecondary programs or employment, retention rates. Did enrollment and retention increase by providing orientation (also in multiple languages)? Did barriers decrease for disproportionally impacted students?

Regional Need #6

Gaps in Service / Regional Needs
Lack of Access to High-Quality Programs for Individuals with Recognized and Unrecognized Barriers to Employment. We must respond to unprecedented pressures to focus on the education of adults as a means to strengthen the economy, build sustainable communities, and ensure that resources exist to serve those most in need. Inadequate attention to the education of adults will compromise the attainment of all of these goals. We are striving for equality of opportunity and practices in a transformed system and equity in outcomes that allows for education and training to become a lifelong practice; we have to develop better structures to increase access to high-quality programs for individuals with recognized and (still) unrecognized barriers to employment and successful careers
How do you know? What resources did you use to identify these gaps?
With the support of regional partners (SANDAG, San Diego Workforce Partnership, Centers of Excellence) and utilizing data available through Launchboard, BLS, The Casey Family Foundation, the Institute for Immigration Research, the Refugee Processing Center, the consortium conducted a thorough needs analysis. In addition, we aggregated data through our attendance management system, TopsPRO and - importantly - through staff and student surveys. (For detailed information, please consult our Three-Year Comprehensive Plan.)
How will you measure effectiveness / progress towards meeting this need?
Program effectiveness. Transition metrics. Data for participants enrolled in adult ed. before taking classes, before and after transitioning to postsecondary programs or employment, retention rates. Did enrollment and retention increase by providing orientation (also in multiple languages)? - Did barriers decrease for disproportionally impacted students? Did participants increase needed skills because of a specific class/path (e.g., IET)? As a result of training, did participants feel more qualified to compete in the labor market? Did participants feel more empowered to drive their own career progress? Did they have a better understanding of what to look for in a quality job? Did students and employers find value in this program?

Gaps In Service

New Strategies

Strategy #1
Improve Integration of Services through Professional Learning: Implement and evaluate the first iteration of the PL series, toward a sustainable learning and working/professional development environment for consortium members, teachers, and staff.
Strategy #2
Improve Integration of Services through Holistic Assessment of New Students, Outreach and Engagement: Implement “high-touch” onboarding processes for remote, blended, and in-person environments, designed to support first-time students make informed choices, plan across programs, and identify next career steps and goals aligned to their skills and interests and regardless of entry point or level.
Strategy #3
Identify desired and needed transitions and facilitate such transitions in a manner that enables the student to transition further on their own.
Strategy #4
Improve Transitions through Business Engagement and Alignment with industry and community-based organizations: Explore and implement opportunities for re-training of workforce, in remote and blended learning environments. Strengthen the network for partnership and collaboration to provide students with opportunities for internship, in addition to employment.
Strategy #5
Improve Integration of Services through Outreach and Inclusion: Expand internal as well as external social media strategies to raise awareness of opportunities and practices in an adult education system that allows for education and training to become lifelong practices.

Seamless Transitions

New Strategies

Strategy #1
Introduce “high-touch” virtual on-boarding that clarifies programs and expectations, identifies critical milestones, highlights necessary strategies for success and promotes self-agency:
Strategy #2
Integrate online orientation modules customized to specific paths and cohorts.
Strategy #3
Implement students-transition specialists’ meetings for initial orientation and intake.
Strategy #4
Begin implementation of assessment of prior work and life experience and multiple measures.
Strategy #5
Develop at least two new “Career Essentials” and CTE/IET classes, align with college programs.
Strategy #6
Full customization of early alert/retention system

Student Acceleration

New Strategies

Strategy #1
Finalize Two paths (of six paths that become the foundation for a system that can respond just-in-time to the needs of employers and the community and is aligned with the Guided Pathways initiative).
Strategy #2
Map paths and design detailed maps for at least 4 CTE programs.
Strategy #3
Implement two new IET and modules for language, academic and digital competency aligned with paths.
Strategy #4
Design one new HSD and one CTE program for Mt Empire community.
Strategy #5
Customize Canvas and educational technology tools for paths.
Strategy #6
Develop at least 2 more articulation agreements.
Strategy #7
Develop and implement cohort-specific assessment tools.
Strategy #8
Develop engagement strategies for the Mt Empire region.

Professional Development

New Strategies

Strategy #1
Evaluate blueprints for a systematic Professional Learning model
Strategy #2
Implement Canvas/phase 3: systematic training and integration of blended learning classes into each program
Strategy #3
Foster the development of data literacy
Strategy #4
Maintain six consortium-wide workgroups that coordinate efforts with members’ PLC activities
Strategy #5
Engage GCCCD Institutional Effectiveness departments and Chamber of Commerce teams in development of data protocols and routines across institutions.

Leveraging Resources

New Strategies

Strategy #1
Improve Transitions through Partnership and Business Engagement: Develop a partnership and collaboration network to provide students with opportunities for employment and professional growth across the region. When our students have opportunities to enroll in programs and classes with high employment potential, education works. In addition to the established CAEP metrics (improved literacy, completion of HSD/HSE, completion of post-secondary certification/degrees/training programs, placement into employment, increased wages), ERAE program performance and progress will be measured against business metrics and identified regional and local priority sectors and occupations.
Strategy #2
Maintain and expand business roundtable to inform program development.
Strategy #3
Collaborate with industry and workforce development to provide re-training, work-based opportunities and services.
Strategy #4
Collaborate with industry and workforce development to provide re-training, work-based opportunities and services.
Strategy #5
Host bi-annual virtual job and apprenticeship fairs, employment related workshops and a job board.
Strategy #6
Expand the partnerships with regional Strong Workforce Initiative and regional career centers to increase visibility and utilization of adult education

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.
Allocations solely support our student-centered programs and services. Accordingly, and based on the needs analysis, the consortium members agreed to allocate funding in ways that allow us to close equity gaps (through more IET classes, new CTE classes for MEUSD and work-based learning, for example) and to provide on-boarding and support services. The colleges' CAEP funding goes to staff working directly with GUHSD and MEUSD students. All budget decisions are made through a collaborative process and unanimously and reviewed by the consortium's governing board.
An approach to incorporating remaining carry-over funds from prior year(s) into strategies planned for 2020-21.
Carry-over funds will be allocated to the implementation of a system of professional learning, extended student support services, and full integration of the Learning Management System (CANVAS) across GAE and MEUSD .

Certification

Grossmont Union High - Member Representative

Approved by Theresa Kemper

08/14/2020 12:48 PM PDT

Grossmont-Cuyamaca CCD - Member Representative

Approved by Cynthia Nagura

08/14/2020 12:38 PM PDT

Mountain Empire Unified - Member Representative

Approved by Dr. Kathy Granger

08/14/2020 02:13 PM PDT