Adult Education and Family Literacy Act Program

Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education (IELCE) is an important offering to California adult immigrant learners. WIOA defines Integrated English literacy and Civics as:

Education services provided to English language learners (ELLs) who are adults, including professionals with degrees and credentials in their native countries that enable such adults to achieve competency in the English language and acquire the basic and more advanced skills needed to function effectively as parents, workers, and citizens in the United States. Such services shall include instruction in literacy and English language acquisition and instruction on the rights and responsibilities of citizenship and civic participation, and may include workforce training.

California provides IELCE in three focus areas: Citizenship Preparation, Civic Participation, and IET. Learning gains are documented using academic pretests and post–tests along with performance–based additional assessments. In addition to pretests and post–tests, adult learners enrolled in Citizenship Preparation take the written Government and History for Citizenship test and the oral Citizenship Interview Test.

1.      Citizenship Preparation has a primary focus to help adults obtain United States citizenship. Students benefit by preparing for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services citizenship test. In addition, the CDE has added an oral practice test. It was determined that lack of English proficiency was a major obstacle for immigrants to pass the interview portion of the citizenship process. By adding the oral interview practice test, the adult learners are more comfortable and confident and better able to respond to questions.

2.      Civic Participation has a primary focus on civic involvement. Agencies conduct community and student assessments and teach the language and literacy objectives that (1) best match their students’ identified needs, and (2) will assist them in attaining mastery of a specific civic objective. Civic objectives meet the following criteria:

·       Integrate English language and literacy instruction into civics education

·       Focus on content that helps students understand the government and history of the United States; understand their rights and responsibilities as citizens; and participate effectively in the education, employment, and civic opportunities this country has to offer

·       Integrate active participation of the students in community activities

3.      IET within the IELCE program has a primary focus to prepare ELLs for, and placement in, unsubsidized employment in in-demand industries and occupations that lead to economic self-sufficiency; and integrate with the local workforce development system and its functions to carry out the activities of the program.

IET is a service approach that provides (1) adult education and literacy activities concurrently and contextually with (2) workforce preparation activities and (3) workforce training for a specific occupation or occupational cluster for the purpose of educational and career advancement. “Concurrently and contextually” means that, within the overall scope of the Integrated English Literacy (EL) Civics program, adult education, workforce preparation, and workforce training activities must:

·       Be of sufficient intensity and quality, and based on the most rigorous research available;

·       Occur simultaneously; and

·       Use occupationally relevant instructional materials.

To meet the IET requirements when designing the curriculum of an IELCE program, the program must:

·       Have a single set of learning objectives and activities organized to function cooperatively;

·       Be aligned with the state’s content standards for adult education; and

·       Be part of a career pathway.

 Students in an IELCE program must have the opportunity to be enrolled in both an adult education and literacy program and a workforce training program. Co-enrollment in the IELCE program may include one or more of the following options:

·       ELLs are co-enrolled in a workforce training program provided through an AJCC.

·       ELLs are co-enrolled in the provider’s workforce training program, such as Career Technical Education.

·      ELLs are co-enrolled in a series of workforce training courses within a career pathway offered by multiple providers designed to lead to employment.

·       ELLs are working directly with an employer through apprenticeship, pre- apprenticeship, or on-the-job training.

Detailed information and descriptions of the language and literacy objectives used for the IELCE program can be found by visiting www.casas.org or by using the following link: California EL Civics. Each objective consists of a Civic Objective, Language and Literacy Objective, and an Additional Assessment Plan. Agencies annually select objectives based upon a preliminary needs assessment through a survey of their students. Agencies have the opportunity to develop new objectives as needs evolve.

Describe how the State will fund, in accordance with the requirements of title II, subtitle C, Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education services and how the funds will be used for those services.

For the grant years of 2020–23, the CDE will distributed the AEFLA grant funding for sections 225, 231, and/or 243 in an open, competitive application process through an official RFA. The RFA will detail the grant requirements and the thirteen considerations specified in the WIOA, Title II: AEFLA. In the application process, eligible providers addressed the thirteen considerations and showed evidence of demonstrated effectiveness in program areas for which they were applying. The competitive grant application set forth clear screening criteria for review. The CDE will issue a GAN to successful applicants. Unsuccessful applicants will be given a period to appeal. The competitive application process will be followed by an annual progress report process. A new RFA will be issued on a three year cycle.

As a condition of being awarded Section 243 IELCE funds, recipients are required to submit an annual Integrated Education and Training Plan that outlines their progress in developing and implementing service approaches that provide adult education and literacy activities concurrently and contextually with workforce preparation activities and workforce training for a specific occupation or occupational cluster for the purpose of educational and career advancement.

The CDE requires all eligible providers for sections 225, 231, and/or 243 to use the same application process. This ensures that all applications are evaluated using the same rubric and scoring criteria. Statewide leadership activities are provided through contracted service providers in compliance with state contracting requirements. The CDE has also developed interagency agreements with the CDCR, Department of Developmental Services (DDS), and the CYA to provide the appropriate and necessary services for institutionalized adults.