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Family, Career and Technical Education
Adult Education
This site is updated periodically
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Purpose of the Initiative
The purpose of this initiative is to assist adults to become literate, obtain knowledge and skills for employment and self-sufficiency, obtain the educational skills necessary to become full partners in their children’s educational development, and complete their secondary school education. Our commitment is the development of a comprehensive system of support and technical assistance for all adult education and family literacy service providers. Services are provided to adults 16 years of age and older who do not have a high school diploma or its recognized equivalent. The Louisiana Department of Education's Division of Family, Career and Technical Education provides assistance to all grantees and their collaborative partners through technical assistance.
The Department of Education's Division of Family, Career and Technical Education administers Adult Basic Education, Workplace Literacy, Family Literacy and English Language/Civics education grants. These programs are comprised of a total of 58 providers. Grants were awarded to 46 Local Educational Agencies, 1 University, 1 Correctional Institution, 6 Community-Based Organizations, 3 Faith-Based Organizations and 1 Community College. Adult education funds supported approximately 600 sites statewide. A total of 24,952 undereducated adults in Louisiana were served in adult education for 2006-2007.
Adult Education Sites of Instruction
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Bulletin 120: Adult Education Data Quality and Procedures
The Louisiana Department of Education's Division of Family, Career and Technical Education developed Bulletin 120: Adult Education Data Quality and Procedures to assist local adult education programs in meeting the reporting requirements of the National Reporting System (NRS) for Adult Education. This bulletin is designed to assist local education programs with the following processes:
1. Gathering student data
2. Inputting data into the LiteracyPro system
3. Reporting data on program performance
4. Reviewing data for planning and facilitating program improvement
Each adult education program has a vital role in ensuring that program data are valid and reliable, thereby adhering to the policies addressed in the bulletin.
Bulletin 120: Adult Education Data Quality and Procedures
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Workplace Literacy
Workplace education is literacy education in the workplace, integrating basic skills training with job-related instructional materials. Skills taught must center on reading, math, communication (oral or written) and soft skills relating to job retention and quality issues.
Workplace Literacy programs are designed to improve the productivity of the workforce through improvement of literacy skills needed in the workplace by:
* Providing adult literacy and other basic skills services and activities, including basic computer skills.
* Providing adult secondary education services and activities that may lead to the completion of a high school diploma or its equivalent.
* Meeting the literacy needs of adults with limited English proficiency.
For 2006-2007, three Workplace Literacy programs provided services to nearly 300 participants.
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Bulletin 123 - Adult Education Content Standards
The Louisiana Department of Education developed the Louisiana Adult Education Content Standards to emulate Louisiana K-12 standards where appropriate, distinguish among educational functioning levels, and account for the vast needs of adult learners.
The standards were designed to raise accountability levels among adult education programs and to ensure that similar concepts are taught at an educational functioning level throughout the state. The intent of the content standards document is to provide a tool that will ease the processes of developing curriculum frameworks and planning instruction for adult educators throughout Louisiana.
The Louisiana Adult Education Contents may be used by programs in providing Adult Basic Education (ABE) and Adult Secondary Education (ASE) instruction to adults.
Bulletin 123 - Adult Education Content Standards
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English Language/Civics Education Funds
The purpose of the English Language/Civics Education (EL/Civics Education) program is to support projects that demonstrate effective practices in providing and increasing access to English literacy programs linked to civics education. The program is to aid participants in becoming successful workers, citizens, and parents in America by providing instruction that enables adults with limited English skills to learn and communicate the English language. Evidence indicates that individuals with limited English proficiency are eager to learn English and the other skills needed to succeed in U.S. society. English literacy instruction is the fastest growing component of adult education, with enrollment in English literacy classes increasing over the past ten years (USDE).
Prompted by the demographic shifts in the English as a Second Language (ESL) population, there is a surge of activity for ESL students. Louisiana received $232,783 and awarded 10 continuation grants to local educational agencies and private providers ranging from $18,000 to $46,500. A total of 2,001 ESL students were served by the ten subgrants in 2006-2007.
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Adult Education Family Literacy
Adult and Family Literacy Grants assist in providing services to break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy by improving the educational opportunities of low-income families. This is accomplished through early childhood education, adult education, adult literacy, and parenting education. Through this effort, a unified family literacy program based on the Even Start model is established. Two Family Literacy programs provided services to 236 participants during 2006-2007.
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Strategies To Empower People (STEP)
STEP is a collaborative effort established between the Department of Education and the Department of Social Services. This initiative assists clients in acquiring the necessary skills to move toward self-sufficiency and improve the overall well being of the family by improving educational outcomes for the participant. Educational activities are available statewide through existing sites with adequate capacity to serve the estimated number of clients or the expansion of current sites to meet the capacity to serve the estimated number of clients or the creation of new sites to serve the estimated number of clients. The targeted population is adults 16 years of age and older, with a minor child, who are in need of adult basic education and who are referred to the sites in coordination with the Office of Family Support (OFS).
Coordination between the Department of Education and The Department of Social Services determines the process for service delivery through existing sites with adequate capacity to serve the estimated number of clients or the creation of new sites to serve STEP participants. Allocations are awarded on a yearly basis. A total of 825 STEP clients were referred to adult literacy programs for participation in this project for FY 2006-2007
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Professional Development
The Division of Family, Career and Technical Education continues to offer professional development opportunities for administrators, teachers, program coordinators, and staff, on the most recent information about effective strategies and practices used in adult education programs. Currently, a variety of professional development workshops/trainings are available. To receive a listing of available workshops and to register for workshops being offered, click on the CourseWhere link below.
CourseWhere
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PROFESSIONALISM OF PERSONNEL
The Louisiana State Plan for Adult Education and Family Literacy requires full-time professional staff (nine- to twelve-month employees) to attend a minimum of 15 hours of State-approved professional development each year. Paraprofessionals and part-time teachers are required to attend a minimum of 10 hours of State-approved professional development each year. The above professional development requirements are in addition to on-site trainings conducted by individual programs, such as orientations for teachers that discuss procedural processes required at the local level.
To receive professional development credit for workshops/trainings that are not State-sponsored, program supervisors must complete and submit a Professional Development Request Form one month prior to the proposed professional development activity. Additionally, the following documentation must be attached to the request form:
• Vita for the presenter(s)
• One page narrative of the activity
• Agenda for the workshop/training
• Description of how this workshop/training will build capacity in local programs
• The number of contact hours to be provided through this activity
• The identity of the person responsible for ensuring that attendance is recorded and reported to
the Louisiana Department of Education.
Click on the link below to obtain a Professional Development Request Form.
Professional Development Request Form
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2007-2008 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES
The Adult and Family Literacy Services Section has implemented two statewide initiatives, Student Achievement in Reading (STAR) and Project IDEAL. These initiatives are for adult education administrators, teachers, program coordinators, and staff. Below is a description of each initiative:
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT IN READING (STAR)
STAR is a United States Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education, comprehensive STAR toolkit and training project aimed at assisting adult education teachers and administrators in the incorporation of evidence-based reading practices for intermediate-level adult learners and diagnostic reading assessment in the classroom. A cadre of participants will be selected from across the state to participate in this initiative. The STAR initiative limits the training to 45 participants.
PROJECT IDEAL
Project IDEAL is a consortium of states working to develop effective distance education programs for adult learners. The Project IDEAL Support Center at the University of Michigan helps consortium states by developing training materials and web-based tools. The Center provides technical support in the areas of teacher training, research design, data collection, data analysis, and reporting. Through this initiative, a select group of local programs will partner to serve as pilot sites in providing quality distance education for adult learners.
For more information on the initiatives, call 225-342-0444.
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One-STOP Coordination
In the Unified State Plan, the Department of Education made a commitment to the success of the One-Stop Centers by dedicating 1% of the federal allocation to be equally distributed among the One-Stop Centers located in each of the 18 workforce investment areas. The supplemental allocation was provided to the adult education one-stop negotiator in each of the 18 workforce investment areas to promote the activities of the One-Stop Center, according to the needs of each individual site.
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