Adult Education and Family Literacy Act Program

The purpose of Title II funding is to provide adult education and literacy activities that: (1) assist adults to become literate and obtain the knowledge and skills necessary for employment and economic self—sufficiency; (2) assist adults who are parents or family members to obtain the education and skills necessary to support their children’s educational development and lead to sustainable improvements in the economic opportunities for their family; (3) assist adults to attain a secondary credential or diploma and transition into post—secondary education and training, including career pathways; and (4) assist immigrants and other individuals who are English language learners to improve their reading, writing, speaking and comprehension skills in English and mathematics skills and to acquire an understanding of the American system of Government, individual freedom and the responsibilities of citizenship. To achieve these goals, in 2013 DDOE Adult and Prison Education adopted the Common Core College and Career Readiness and Nex Gen Science Standards. These standards are the same standards that the State adopted in 2011 (Common Core Standards) and 2013 (Nex Gen Science Standards) for K—12 content instruction in English Language Arts, Mathematics and Science. The implementation of CCRS has been multi—faceted: (1) program administrators reviewed and approved adoption of the standards; (2) state staff received training as leaders in CCRS content area implementation; (3) teams of state staff and teachers reviewed currently provided ABE instruction and Certificate of Attainment (COA) writing requirements to determine alignment with the new standards and to revise as needed; and (4) professional development and technical assistance regarding “unpacking the standards” and delivery of standards based instruction was provided to staff from all programs through in person and web—based activities. The state team monitors standards implementation through site visits and desktop audits of COA applications. In 2017, Delaware also adopted the English Language Proficiency Standards. State staff conducted trainings that introduced the standards and began aligning current instruction to the new standards. Following the same process as used previously for CCRS and NGSS standards, state and local program staff worked together to understand new processes and develop lessons that could be shared and replicated statewide. The state team will monitor implementation of the standards through site visits and ESL program meetings. A "Standards" course on the statewide learning management system, Schoology, has been developed to act as a repository for all standards resources. It is accessible to all Title II funded program staff and administrators. This site is continuously updated with new PD opportunities, both in person and distance formats;model lessons; and CCRS based content videos. Discussion boards for teachers to communicate asynchronously has been created and there are plans for synchronous live chats opportunities in the near future.