The purpose of this program is to provide adult education and literacy services to assist adults to become literate and obtain the knowledge and skills necessary for employment and self-sufficiency; to assist adults who are parents to obtain the skills necessary to become partners in the education of their children; and assist adults in the completion of a secondary school education. There are four types of competition:
- Adult Basic Education and Literacy Services,
- English Language/Civics,
- Corrections Education and Other Institutionalized Education Programs and
- Literacy Zones.
The funding will support programs of instruction in adult basic education, English for Speakers of Other Languages, and adult secondary education leading to a New York State high school equivalency diploma. The instructional programs must be designed to:
- Assist adults to become literate and obtain the knowledge and skills necessary for employment, retention of employment, and self-sufficiency;
- Assist adults who are parents to obtain the educational skills necessary to become full partners in the educational development of their children;
- Assist adults in the completion of a secondary school education, and;
- Assist adults as they transition to post-secondary education or training.
Please note the following New York State restriction:
- Education in a language other than English will not be supported as a stand-alone service. Basic education in another language can only be supported if integrated into English Language literacy classes to achieve English language educational gains.
Successful grant applicants will be expected to provide expanded case management in all funded programs. Case Managers will play a role in stabilizing families by providing information and support to students to access benefits as well as supporting successful next step transitions at all levels of instruction, between programs, and transition to post-secondary study and training. Case Managers will play a critical role for students preparing for a NYS high school equivalency diploma. They will be expected to help students understand multiple pathways approved by NYSED, choose the most appropriate pathway, and support access to the instruction, readiness determination and assessment for that pathway. NYSED and the Regional Adult Education Network (RAEN) will provide training as multiple pathways are approved. At minimum, the FTE calculation should be based upon the ratio of one full time Case Manager for every 400 students served.
WIA Title II RFP funding can support post-secondary bridge programs. These programs can include College Transition Programs and I BEST Programs. Not every applicant may decide to use these models. USDOE has expanded the ability of states to use federal WIA Title II funding to support post-secondary readiness activities beyond the high school diploma or equivalent for students who pretest at or below the 12.9 reading or math level on the TABE or any other assessment deemed acceptable by NYSED. Previously, the use of Title II funding to provide instruction once a student earns the high school diploma or equivalent was not an allowable expense.