Adult Education and Family Literacy Act Program

The Alaska Adult Basic Education (ABE) local activities will consist of those listed in Section 203 of WIOA. • Adult education; • Literacy; • Workplace adult education and literacy activities; • Family literacy activities; • English language acquisition activities; • Integrated English literacy and civics education; • Workforce preparation activities; or • Integrated education and training that— 1. Provides adult education and literacy activities, concurrently and contextually with both, workforce preparation activities, and workforce training for a specific occupation or occupational cluster, and 2. Is for the purpose of educational and career advancement. The activities listed above will be funded directly with Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) funds or with leveraged funding from other sections of WIOA or from other funding sources. For example, due to the limited amount of ABE funding, historically Alaska ABE funds have not supported stand-alone family literacy programs. Rather, ABE regional programs have provided AEFLA-funded adult education instruction in local family literacy programs that were supported with funds other than AEFLA. Scope, Content, and Organization of Local Activities Alaska ABE regional programs [i.e., “eligible providers” in Section 203(5)] will be funded according to their capacity to conduct the activities defined in Section 203 of WIOA and the considerations in 231(e) of WIOA. The Alaska ABE Regional Program Application will require that Regional Program applicants describe in detail the activities that they will conduct to: (a) Meet the regional needs under Section 108 and serve individuals (1) with low levels of literacy skills, including eligible adults with learning disabilities, and (2) who are English language learners. Alaska ABE Regional Program applicants in geographical areas serving Alaskans, mostly Native Alaskans, in villages will be required to describe the activities they will undertake to address the challenges of providing to this population of learners evidence-based instruction that is aligned to the CCR standards and that facilitates learners’ transition to further education or employment; (b) Demonstrate their past experience in delivering ABE services to AEFLA target populations and in improving ABE learners’ skills to meet Alaska’s performance levels for the indicators of performance in Section 116; (c) Form active partnerships with local workforce development providers and align their proposed activities with those described in Section 108 and with the services of Alaska’s one-stop providers in the regions, which may be electronic access in some cases. In some regions the ABE partnership may be with an employment service available through the local Native organization. (d) Form active partnerships with secondary education, higher education, social services, business and industry, vocational rehabilitation, and other partners that can provide supportive services, information, and resources to facilitate adult learners’ participation in and completion of ABE, and transition to further education and employment; (e) Deliver ABE services for a minimum of 30 hours per week, four days per week, and for at least nine months per year; (f) Provide instruction in: (1) mathematics, reading, writing, speaking, and listening instruction using the content and methods from the most current research, as disseminated during the state’s professional development conferences held two times each year and in online resources made available by the State ABE office; (2) reading that includes the key components of reading instruction and is taught using evidence-based methods such as direct instruction, particularly for low-literacy learners; (3) mathematics using the State ABE mathematics courses that are delivered using distance learning combined with local instruction; and (4) English-language development using Cambridge University Press’s Ventures series or other resources that are aligned with evidence-based instruction; (g) Use technology-based products for instruction that are available from regional partners such as career and technical training centers and that the State ABE office disseminates to ABE Regional Programs; (h) Use a career pathways approach in delivering ABE services that includes: (1) Creating a career pathways systems flow chart for the Regional ABE program that specifies the public and private-sector partners with whom the ABE Regional program will coordinate, the target populations of adult learners who will be recruited, the orientation and intake activities that the Regional Program will conduct, including the use of the State ABE Intake Form and the delivery of the Career and College Awareness (CCA) course or a similar career and college awareness activity, the types of instruction that will be offered to prepare learners to earn a GED®, enroll in postsecondary education or training, or obtain employment, and the types of transition activities that the Regional Program will conduct to support adult learners’ movement from ABE to a next step; (2) Using contextualized instruction to teach foundational skills, particularly teaching foundational skills in the occupational contexts that are aligned with learners’ career goals; (3) Providing opportunities for learners to participate in concurrent ABE and workforce preparation; (4) Identifying opportunities for the delivery of integrated education and training through coordination with regional career and technical training centers; and (5) Integrating work readiness skills in the teaching of foundational skills, such as the use of team simulations and other activities in teaching math, reading, and writing. (i) Provide staff to work in the ABE Regional Program who meet the State ABE office’s requirements for prior education and experience, and commit to participating in the ABE State office’s professional development conferences and other professional development (e.g., LINCs and other online training) that the State ABE office identifies as critical to implementing quality ABE Regional Programs; and (j) Provide a plan for using the State ABE Database on at least a bi-weekly schedule to (1) enter learner data (2) monitor the progress of ABE learners, and (3) identify issues in learner attendance or data quality.