Adult Education – The Path Forward

When written in Chinese the word "crisis" is composed of two characters – one represents danger and the other represents opportunity.  ~John F. Kennedy

In the face of categorical flexibility, the new adult education coalition – comprised presently of the California Adult Education Administrators Association (CAEAA) and California Council for Adult Education (CCAE) – is moving forward to identify and capitalize on the opportunities for adult education.  While we are forced to be realistic about the significant challenges in the short term to eliminate flexibility, the work we undertake in the next few months and year will be critical to getting us from crisis and danger mode to that of opportunity and benefit. 

In this regard, the leaders of CAEAA and CCAE are working together in a proactive fashion to elevate the profile and importance of adult education in and around the Capitol.  With the help of McHugh & Associates, we will be refining and tailoring our messaging to capitalize on the issues du jour – the economy and realignment.  With year-over-year deficits and continued discussion about the need to grow the economy and jobs, we have an opportunity to further highlight and push the benefits of adult education in helping to achieve this goal and contribute to the state’s recovery.  Similarly, with the realignment of public safety and child welfare services, we have an opportunity to inform policymakers about the close tie to the services and programs provided by adult education and the beneficial outcomes for the goals of realignment.  Adult education is an important answer to these key state issues – now we must do the heavy lifting to educate these policymakers about the correlation and benefits of adult education in addressing them.   

CAEAA and CCAE’s legislative advocate, Dawn Koepke with McHugh & Associates, has been meeting with Department of Education and legislative officials over the last month to start this education process and identify the opportunities for furthering adult education at a time of limited resources and flexibility.  We are looking forward to partnering with Department of Education’s Gordon Jackson, in particular, as we move in to the New Year.  He and the Department are very interested in developing more of a partnership and working relationship with CAEAA and CCAE going forward, with a near term focus on the Strategic Plan.  They see the Strategic Plan as something that will be somewhat flexible and acknowledge that some of the pieces may be possible in the next few years, others are more of out-year items, and others may not be feasible at all.  The focus going forward will be to address the “what,” “when,” “how to” and “who” questions.  The opportunity to partner with and be front-and-center with the Department on implementation and answering these questions will be incredibly important to moving forward.

In addition to speaking about the Strategic Plan, we have also been raising significant concerns with the lack of data and inability to plug data in to the reporting system.  This is a major concern for the Department and Legislative staff as well.  The challenge will be how to address this problem – through an administrative or legislative fix?  We’re currently working to identify the opportunities and any potential challenges to addressing the data issue on both fronts.  Ideally, we would prefer an administrative fix and avoid yet another mandate in the education realm.  We think such an approach is the right one and doable and as such, we’ll be working to obtain the Department’s commitment to address this issue in lieu of legislation.  CAEAA and CCAE believe it is imperative to the long-term success of adult education in California to have the data available to demonstrate the need and benefit for our programs and services in the state.  Such data could also prove important as we near the sunset date for flexibility and the critical need to avoid any extension on the sunset.

As for seizing opportunities in the New Year, we are developing our legislative effort with the continued help of our dearest advocate and friend, Assemblyman Mike Eng (D-Los Angeles).  We anticipate carrying at least one bill this year, that may be introduced as a “Spot Bill” (placeholder) until the details are finalized.  In addition to working on a legislative proposal with Assemblyman Eng, he is also interested in working closely with CAEAA and CCAE to ensure that school districts are complying with the required hearings associated with the passage of AB 189 (Eng, 2011).  Recall, AB 189 requires a public hearing to be held prior to and independent of a meeting where the school district/county office of education adopts a budget and for the governing boards to identify the program(s) to be closed before the public hearing.

Although adult education is certainly in crisis mode, CAEAA and CCAE are looking forward to the opportunities that lie ahead to assist the adult education community.  We will continue to keep you posted as we move forward with our legislative proposal in 2012 and look forward to the opportunity to work with our partners to further the goals and protect adult education in 2012.

Happy Holidays & New Year!

Dawn Koepke

Legislative Advocate

McHugh & Associates

Some decent news about Adult Education on a federal level. Now we need some statewide

dedicated funding.

http://www.otan.us/index.cfm?fuseaction=othernews&newsid=4139&catid=3027&print=true

http://www.otan.us/

Berkeley Adult School is seeking local employers, small and large, to partner with and develop training that supports employment needs.

The current economic climate in the United States and the difficulty employers face in hiring and maintaining a skilled workforce in an increasingly competitive and global economy have generated interest in developing and promoting policies and programs that can most effectively help low-skill individuals gain job skills and move up the economic ladder, while also enhancing the viability and competitiveness of businesses. Employer involvement is critical to the success of these policies and programs.
Read this report from the National Institute for Literacy...http://lincs.ed.gov/publications/pdf/PartneringWEmployers2010.pdf

The Adult Education Office of the California Department of Education is announcing the posting of the final draft of the strategic plan, Linking Adults to Opportunity: Transformation of the California Department of Education Adult Education Program. A message is also posted from Patricia Terry, the new administrator of the Adult Education Office, outlining the next steps, which include taking the plan to the State Board of Education as an information item, and the development of processes to facilitate broader implementation.

Comments on this final draft may now be posted on the plan Web site. The comment period ends on December 16, 2011.

There are significant changes in the GED world coming in the next two years. Some are questioning the continued relevance of the test, and the GED “product” will be marketed by a for-profit publisher.  A much higher level of skills will be needed for certification in 2014, and GED preparation and assessment will be aligned to post-secondary study and career readiness. 

The following article from Ed Week is a short and useful summary of the changes and how they reflect the quickening shifts in public adult education.

Published Online: November 14, 2011

Published in Print: November 16, 2011, as GED Revision Opens Path To Higher Ed.

Higher Education Is Goal of GED Overhaul

By Catherine Gewertz

The General Educational Development program, or GED, is undergoing the biggest revamping in its 69-year history, driven by mounting recognition that young adults’ future success depends on getting more than a high-school-level education.

Potent forces have converged to stoke the GED’s redesign. A labor market that increasingly seeks some postsecondary training, paired with dispiriting rates of college remediation and completion, has sounded alarm bells that young Americans are ill-equipped for prosperous futures.

In response, nearly every state has adopted common academic standards designed to elicit new kinds of skills from students. President Barack Obama has urged the nation to use such standards as a steppingstone to producing millions more people with certificates or degrees.

Policymakers recognize that such a push can’t focus only on getting high school graduates through college, however. It must also include the estimated 40 million Americans older than 16 who haven’t finished high school, ensuring that many of them earn completion credentials and use them as an entree to further training or education.

The project to redesign the GED is far-reaching. It includes not only reworking the content in the five subject-matter tests and transferring them from pencil-and-paper to computers, but also overhauling professional development for GED teachers, reworking curricula, and adding strong counseling supports to help students pass and plan their next steps.

Pivotal to the ambitious initiative is repositioning the GED as a step in a journey toward postsecondary training, rather than as an end in itself. Epitomizing that shift in thinking, the new exam, due out in 2014, will have two passing points: the traditional one connoting high school equivalency, and an additional, higher one signaling college and career readiness.

“The message is that you’re not here just to get a high school equivalency and walk out. You’re here to get prepared for careers and educational opportunities that are going to demand that you have even more skill,” said Nicole M. Chestang, the executive vice president of the GED Testing Service. Established this year to oversee the redesign, the organization is a joint venture of the American Council on Education, or ACE, which created the GED, and the education publishing giant Pearson.

“What we’ve all learned is that completing only high school—whether through a diploma or a GED—isn’t enough to prepare you,” Ms. Chestang said. “You need to use that credential to open doors to more training or education.”

Value Questioned

Situating the GED as a pathway to higher education echoes its original intent. The first exams, in 1942, were envisioned as a way for returning World War II veterans to complete high school and use the GI Bill to attend college. In 1949, the first year statistics are available for nonmilitary test-takers, 39,000 people took one or more of the five sections of the test: reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social studies. By 2010, that number had risen to 750,000.

The GED is widely used as a high-school-completion tool by those in the military and in prisons, and by dropouts who are too old for the public school system. Although one-quarter of those who take the test are 16 to 18 years old, the typical GED candidate is 26, has completed 10th grade, and has been out of school nine years, according to ACE data.

But while the test has helped thousands move forward, it is dogged by criticism that it doesn’t reflect high-school-level achievement. Officials in New York City, for instance, said last December that the passing score reflects only middle-school-level content and skills. The city is helping pilot a new, accelerated GED curriculum and accompanying supports in a subdistrict of alternative schools.

Even as the GED is overhauled, scholars continue to debate its value.

Some research has found that GED recipients earn no more than high school dropouts; a 1993 study found them “indistinguishable” from high school dropouts in the labor market. Other research concludes that they earn more than dropouts, and nearly as much as those with high school diplomas. But a 2010 study attributed that added earning power to personal traits and family characteristics that GED passers shared with diploma earners, such as higher levels of parental education.

One of the co-authors of that study, Nicholas S. Mader, said that any next-generation GED program would have to incorporate “soft skills,” such as persistence and study skills, if recipients are to stand a better chance in work and higher education than dropouts.

“The opportunity they need through higher education is not just about academic proficiency,” said Mr. Mader, a postdoctoral scholar in economics at the University of Chicago. “It’s as much about these soft skills, and I am skeptical that a new GED program can impart those.”

Shift in Content

When it comes to some postsecondary measures, GED recipients do better than high school dropouts. According to a 2010 study by the Washington-based ACE, 43 percent enroll in certificate or college programs within six years, compared with 20 percent of those who don’t pass the test and 64 percent of high school graduates. But few complete more than a year of coursework.

A 2009 study by the ACE followed 1,000 people who took the GED and found that only 307 had enrolled in postsecondary education five years later. Three-quarters dropped out after one semester, and only 17 completed a degree or certificate.

Such outcomes have fueled criticism of the widespread view that a GED is “equivalent” to a high school diploma.
In a 2009 guide to improving high school graduation rates, Johns Hopkins University researcher Robert Balfanz urged states not to see the GED and a diploma as interchangeble. Widely known for his work identifying schools that are “dropout factories,” Mr. Balfanz noted that just one in 10 GED recipients earns a college degree, compared with one in four who earn diplomas. He also noted that GED recipients don’t count as high school graduates under No Child Left Behind.

Mr. Mader and others who study the GED worry that making it easily available to 16- to-18-year-olds induces dropouts by offering a quicker, easier alternative. The GED Testing Service recognizes that risk, said spokesman CT Turner.

“We will never market preparation materials to that age group,” he said. “We want 16- and 17-year-olds to stay in school.”

In redesigning the exam, the testing service will shift content to reflect changes in current high schools’ curricula and the new common standards in math and English/language arts, said Mr. Turner.

For instance, the one required short essay in the current exam will likely morph into two longer essays and four shorter ones, and will be “embedded” across all subject areas of the test, he said. An example in social studies might be asking students to write about the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech. The writing and reading exams will also be collapsed into one, Mr. Turner said.

Currently, some states are piloting a computer-based version of the GED, and testing-service officials hope all states will move the test to computer by 2014. That would enable quicker scoring of the multiple-choice sections and the use of “innovative” item types that can gauge a wider array of skills, Mr. Turner said. It can also facilitate quicker, one-stop test registration.

Establishing the cutoff scores required for high school equivalency and for college readiness will involve panels of expert input, as well as testing the exam on students in high school and college to gauge performance levels, Mr. Turner said. Currently, the GED passing score is set at a level that 60 percent of high school students could pass, he said. But whether that level remains the same in the new test, he said, is still “open to discussion.”
Along with the revised exam, a new diagnostic assessment will be designed to allow GED teachers to gauge their students’ skills down to a 3rd grade level, to help them tailor instruction, Mr. Turner said.

When it comes to preparation and support for students, and training instructors, a challenging aspect of the redesign is the decentralization of the GED program.

About half of those who take the test prepare for it on their own, according to the GED Testing Service. The other half do so through adult education programs, which are run by state and local organizations, including community literacy groups and others, using a wide array of privately developed instructional materials.
The testing service will create professional-development modules that guide teachers through the new content and also help them adopt a quasi-counseling role, in which they help students see the exam as a step toward postsecondary education.

The organization will also set up an approval process for curriculum developed to reflect the new GED, said Ms. Chestang, the executive vice president. It will use its website as a “hub” housing GED resources, including the professional-development modules and approved curricula.

Forming Partnerships

The success of the initiative, however, lies in multiple partnerships with state adult education coordinators, colleges, employers, publishers, community literacy programs, and a host of other entities that shape the curriculum, instruction, and counseling functions around the exam itself, Ms. Chestang said.

“We need to create smoother pathways in all parts of the system to help our industry think about reimagining itself,” she said. “It’s going to take a mammoth effort.”

Some leading-edge GED programs are already beginning to reflect key shifts in thinking about the exam.
La Guardia Community College has long hosted GED classes. But the Long Island City, N.Y.-based campus started a GED Bridge to College and Careers program in 2007 because low postsecondary enrollment suggested the need for a profoundly different approach.

They “contextualized” and extended instruction, so that students learn the GED curriculum, as well as more rigorous, college-level material, through the lens of either business or health care, said Gail O. Mellow, the community college’s president.

The experience helps students form career and education plans and see their study as more relevant to those plans, she said.

In the health-care strand, for instance, students might approach GED preparation through case studies, a genre common to the health-care field. They will learn material pertinent to the exam, but also additional content and skills that prepare them for credit-bearing college coursework, Ms. Mellow said, such as writing extended essays that draw on multiple sources.

Course content was informed by consultation with La Guardia faculty members. Spanning 14 weeks, the courses are held on the college campus and taught mostly by full-time teachers with master’s degrees. In addition to presenting academic content, instructors teach transitional skills—applying for financial aid, for instance—and “college knowledge,” such as understanding the concept of a credit hour. And the program’s supports continue through students’ first semester at La Guardia, if they enroll there after passing the GED, Ms. Mellow said.
The program has seen dramatic changes in the proportion of its students who make it into college. Before it began, only 35 percent of the students in the GED program enrolled in certificate, associate, or bachelor’s-degree programs. In last year’s cohort of Bridge graduates, 80 percent did, according to Amy Dalsimer, the campus director of precollege academic programming.

“If we are going to take seriously an American agenda that moves the number of people with postsecondary degrees up to where it should be, we need to be serious about students who must take the GED and move on,” Ms. Mellow said. “Making that connection with community college is an essential part of flipping the GED into an aspirational degree.”

From “Refocusing California Community Colleges Toward Student Success DRAFT RECOMMENDATIONS California Community College Task Force, October 2011”

Demise of Adult Education

Failure to address the basic skills needs of the state will have lasting negative impacts on hundreds of thousands of Californians as well as the state's economy and social climate. The Governor and Legislature should reexamine the implementation of K-12 budgetary flexibility for adult education funds, and the resulting redirection of support for these programs, to determine if this practice is consistent with California's current social and economic needs.

As part of the 2009-10 State Budget, K-12 school districts were given the authority to redirect categorical program funding originally appropriated for specified programs. As a result, roughly $800 million in Adult Education funds was shifted to support 45 other K-12 categorical programs that had experienced deep funding cuts. Based on recent estimates, school districts have exercised this option and transferred more than $400 million out of Adult Education programs. It is important to note that the decision to redirect funds is made at the district level and therefore program implementation varies. Statewide, the substantial reduction in support for K-12 adult education programs has resulted in increased demand on community colleges to provide education to this population in addition to current students’ needs for noncredit and credit basic skills courses. Unfortunately, due to budget cuts, community colleges do not have the capacity to expand course offerings to meet this increased demand. As a result, large numbers of adults in need of basic skills education have gone unassisted. In addition, the considerable local variation in programmatic decisions by K-12 districts has resulted in a fractured system of basic skills delivery to an already needy yet essential segment of the California population.

Need for Legislative and Gubernatorial Direction

State leaders need to determine if the current flexibility over K-12 adult education funds is consistent with state economic and social needs and whether these funds should be rededicated to serving basic skills needs. They should also determine whether these programs would best be placed in the K-12 

Here’s an important message from CCAE Bay Section President and VP, Debbie Norgaard and Bob Harper;

For many decades The California Council for Adult Education has been the voice of the field advocating for public adult education in our state.  Since 2008 we have experienced devastating cuts to adult schools, and school districts have been given the “flexibility” to sweep adult education funds.   In these last few years no organization has been more effective in keeping our interests on the radar.   Although the details of Assembly AB189 did not fully resolve the threat to adult education, its success this year, passing both houses of legislature and being signed by the Governor, was the most hopeful news for adult ed. from Sacramento in a long time.   That happened in large part due to the coordinated efforts of CCAE.

The next legislative cycle begins this spring.   Even as the economy continues to recover much too slowly, the ideas about what adult ed. will be in the future need to be formed and presented now.   The advocacy efforts of CCAE will continue and expand.  They need the support of all those in our state who care about the future of adult education.   Our future may well be decided in the next two years.

If you are a current member of CCAE, can you ask your colleagues if they are members?  Can you recruit those who have never been a member of the organization?  If you were a member in the past, can you renew your membership now?   We need to expand the circle of support.  Working together we can assure that adult students in all parts of our state will continue to have an adult school to welcome them.  If our advocacy is stronger with more members to our organization than ever, 2012 can be our year to make a difference.

Renew membership or send new members here to join:

http://ccaestate.org/how_to_join.html

Debbie Norgaard, President – Bay Section CCAE

Bob Harper, Vice President, Membership – Bay Section CCAE

DID YOU KNOW THE UNITED STATES IS RANKED 27TH IN LITERACY?

It seems unbelievable that the United States is ranked 27th among all countries in literacy. How can this be? Adult literacy affects economic development, future prosperity, and social well-being of our nation's residents and families.

More than 93 million people living in the U.S. have skills below the high school level.

More than 70% of jobs in the U.S. require more education than a high school diploma.

1 in 7 adults—nearly 15% of the population—is unable to read a job application.

2 out of 5 prisoners lack a high school diploma.

Someone with a high school diploma or GED earns, on average, $250,000 more throughout their lifetime than someone who does not—that’s a quarter of a million dollars! This additional earned revenue not only heightens quality of life for the individual and their family, but also positively impacts our community with additional wage tax revenue and other economic gains.  

What can we do?

• Advocate for increased funding for access to Adult Education and literacy programs
• Offer incentives to organizations for coordinated services so that learners can receive the support they need

Business can

• sponsor on-site programs to increase the skills of their employees
• increase internships and mentoring outreach and/or host job shadowing opportunities
• Sponsor adult literacy organizations
• serve as guest speakers in adult literacy programs
• provide in-kind services to education agencies

Get involved and persuade support of adult literacy

All BAS employees participated in Staff Development on Monday, October 10. Classified and Support staffs had targeted training sessions covering digital, safety and technical skills. Certificated teachers worked with Administration on the upcoming accreditation Self Study Report. At our Back to School Staff Development in August, we introduced our Self Study Report to the staff and met in cross-departmental groups to review the document, recording suggested edits, changes, additions and other feedback on our approach to earning accreditation from WASC.

Based on staff recommendations, we agreed to modify our school’s Mission Statement and Student Learning Outcomes. Our revisions are:

The mission of the Berkeley Adult School is to provide adult learners with equal access to learner-centered lifelong education in a safe, supportive multicultural environment.

Schoolwide Learner Outcomes

All students will

·         Identify and achieve personal goals

·         Practice respect of diversity

·         Build self confidence

·         Demonstrate effective communication

·         Develop and practice analytical thinking skills

·         Be lifelong learners

In addition, we again worked in cross-departmental groups and developed a prioritized list of strengths and key issues in ten areas, including

1.    Institutional Mission, Purpose, and Objectives

2.    Organizational Structure

3.    Evaluation and Planning

4.    Educational Programs

5.    Program, Student, and Institutional Outcomes

6.    Student Support Services

7.    Human Resources

8.    Learning Resources

9.    Financial Resources

10. Physical Resources

The purpose of the self-study process is to identify key issues that are inserted into a schoolwide Action Plan that governs school improvement activities and events. The schoolwide Action Plan is used regularly, reviewed annually, and monitored consistently by the governing body to ensure continuing school improvement. The work we have done so far will help us develop the Action Plan, and a draft will be shared in November.

We’ll be editing the entire Self Study Report, including the Action Plan through the winter until we agree and are satisfied that all stakeholders have weighed in and understand the accreditation criteria and process. In the spring, a Visiting Committee comprised of statewide educators will practically live at our school for three and a half days, investigating and validating our report. Stay tuned for updates and get involved if you’re a stakeholder; contact BAS Administration.

Here’s some potentially good news for Career Technical Education (CTE) programs, statewide. New legislation requires Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs) to invest more of their funding from the Workforce Investment Act on job training.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill Thursday (10/13/11) that requires local Workforce Investment Boards to divert at least a quarter of the money for their job centers to programs that teach the jobless new skills for the changing economy. This includes Adult Education.

Thanks to one of our CTE Coordinators, Alfred Miller, all of our CTE classes are now referred to job training clients by the local WIB. Berkeley Adult School is on the Eligible Training Provider List (ETPL).

Federal WIA funds are delivered locally to Rubicon/One-Stop Berkeley and the Private Industry Council (PIC)/One-Stop in Oakland. For detailed information on SB 734 (DeSaulnier), click here.  And for a recent article in the LA Times on this legislation, click here.

Although it was watered down, AB 189 was signed by Governor Jerry Brown and should be counted as a success. Congratulations and thank you to Assembly Member Mike Eng for championing this legislation and seeing it through. It’s a small step, but an important one. Here is his press release:

SACRAMENTO, CA – This past weekend, Governor Brown signed Assembly Bill (AB) 189 by Assemblymember Mike Eng (D – Monterey Park), which will empower parents and community members to advocate for the protection of education programs important to them, as local boards consider making deeper cuts or closing entire programs. The bill also permits school districts to gain revenue to help fund programs like Adult Education.

Specifically, AB 189 requires Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) to hold independent meetings that are separate from the meeting to adopt a budget prior to the transfer of funds from categorical programs in Tier 3 flexibility. If a governing board intends to shut down a program, it will be required to notice a proposed elimination of a program at the meeting to discuss proposed transfer of Tier 3 funds or another meeting that is not the meeting to adopt the budget. In addition, it provides the ability to offer English as a Second Language and citizenship classes with modest fees as a means of keeping programs open and ensuring these services during flexibility.

The Fiscal Year (FY) 2009-10 budget had an important impact on categorical programs. The budget agreement imposed a 20% reduction on 39 programs and gave LEAs that received those funds in FY 2007-08 the flexibility to use the funds for any educational purposes from FY 2008-09 through FY 2012-13. The Governor recently enacted legislation to extend flexibility through the FY 2014–15.

“I am thrilled that the Governor heard the thousands of voices throughout the state that have advocated so strongly for this very important legislation, especially those in the Adult Education community,” said Assemblymember Eng. “Now, these same voices will have an opportunity to weigh in and advocate for the programs that are important to them before school districts take drastic steps in reducing or eliminating categorical programs.”

Categorical programs like Adult Education and Regional Occupational Centers & Programs (ROCP) provide valuable educational and post-educational services to a broad cross section of California’s population and prepares both adults and high school students for the workforce.

“For many members in our communities, these programs help fulfill their dreams of obtaining a better job, buying their own home, starting their own business and becoming more involved in their children’s education,” said Assemblymember Mike Eng.

Happy Labor Day

We have registered thousands of students and classes are in full session. Many classes are open enrollment, and registration continues through the year.

Berkeley Adult School serves students in specified and targeted instruction with measurable outcomes. In addition to our District’s broad support, we thank our collaborative educational partners. The Bread Project, a culinary and food service class on our campus is underway and the Café is open, with delicious baked goods, coffee, tea and full course lunches, all very affordable. San Francisco Paramedic Association teaches an EMT class, Boston Reed College teaches Clinical Medical Assistant and Pharmacy Technician classes. Offsite, Inter-City Services hosts a GED and Office Automation class for us and we offer diverse programs for older adults and adults with disabilities at locations throughout Berkeley, including our campus, J-Sei, Jewish Community Center of the East Bay, Strawberry Creek Lodge, Redwood Gardens, North Berkeley Senior Center, South Berkeley Senior Center, Ashby Care, Berkeley Pines, Chaparral House, Kyakameena, Berkeley Adult Day Health Center, BORP, Creative Wellness Center, and East Bay Center for the Blind.

Check out our on-line registration, come to the office or call 510-644-6130 for more information about enrollment.

We’re on Facebook, and if you are too, look for a “25% off” coupon for computer classes.

We have mentioned our accreditation in this blog, and we have been diligently preparing for the process. Berkeley Adult School has drafted a Self Study Report and rolled it out for our staff and faculty to provide input, edit, and add new content. This report will be our focus throughout the fall and winter, and will include an Action Plan addressing key area for our school. Part of the process is involving community members, so if you’re interested in participating, please contact Burr Guthrie or LaRanda Marr. A Visiting Committee, comprised of Adult Educators from across the state has been selected to spend three days at our school in April. At that time, the Visiting Committee will validate our Self Study Report and make recommendations on our Action Plan and our next accreditation term. Stay tuned for updates.

On October 24, 7:00 P.M. we will host the next Neighborhood Community Meeting, room TBA. Please rsvp with Principal Burr Guthrie if you plan to attend. Call (510) 644-6130 or send email.  

Registration for Fall classes is open! Classes begin August 30. Call (510) 644-6130 for information or visit our website to register online, http://bas.berkeley.net/

This week, Administrators Burr Guthrie and LaRanda Marr host a Retreat for the Leadership Team, followed by our annual Staff Development Day. Teachers return to work en mass on Friday, and continue the planning and preparation for classes beginning August 30.

Our focus this year is kaizen (Japanese for "improvement", or "change for the better"; refers to philosophy or practices that focus upon continuous improvement of processes) and we will be asking our staff, faculty, students and community to participate in the Self Study Report which has been drafted.

This Self Study Report is submitted for the purpose of assisting in the determination of the institution’s accreditation status, which is up for review this year. We will ensure that there is broad participation by the school’s community, and that the Self Study Report accurately reflects the nature and substance of the institution. If you want to be involved in our accreditation process, please contact Burr or LaRanda.

Berkeley Adult School is on Facebook!

In July, the Berkeley Unified School District Board of Education appointed LaRanda Marr as Vice-Principal, Berkeley Adult School.

This past school year, Ms. Marr served as the Acting Vice Principal for the Berkeley Adult School. We are pleased to announce that Ms. Marr has now been officially recommended for this position by a diverse interview panel. Ms. Marr has been serving in Adult Education programs since 1985.  She began as an ESL and ABE instructor.  Prior to coming to our district, she was an adult education administrator on special assignment in Oakland.  During her tenure in Oakland she not only developed ESL standards and guides, but also increased student participation and retention. Her former supervisor describes her as “a thoroughly pleasant, kind and thoughtful colleague and a consummate professional whose greatest asset is her ability to build a sense of team.” Please join us in wishing Ms. Marr continued success in our district.

Midsummer’s legislative report; here’s an update on AB18, from the 7/13/11 Santa Monica Daily Press Brownleys school financing reform bill stalls in Senate

A bill to reform K-12 school financing, championed by Assemblywoman Julia Brownley (D-Santa Monica), has stalled in its progress through the state Senate after winning near-unanimous support in the Assembly. The bill, known as AB18, would simplify school financing by reducing the number of categorical funds — funds that hold money that can only be spent on one purpose — to four large umbrella categories.

These larger categories would give local school districts the flexibility to choose where their state funding would best be spent, and would, supposedly, get rid of earmarks or unnecessary spending. Although the bill passed the Assembly with only two "no" votes, it became clear that the state Senate would be a harder hurdle to jump, Brownley said. Instead, she chose to convert the legislation into a two-year bill and use the extra time to try to address concerns brought during its debut in the Senate.

"I made the decision to make it what we call a two-year bill because it's a big, aggressive bill," Brownley said. "Trying to simplify a very complicated system takes time … We wanted to try to get the bill really right."

So far, AB18 has taken some heat from the California Teachers' Association and groups that advocate for adult education. Adult education supporters feared that by lumping money specifically earmarked for programs aimed at older students in with other categories in a block called "Base Funding" could lead to school districts axing the program in order to pay for other things.

Adult education has already taken major hits under so-called "flexibility" measures, which have allowed school districts to take money from the programs, or close them altogether, to support K-12 education, said Teri Burns, a legislative advocate for the California Association of Adult Education Administrators.

"Generally, the public's perception is that schools should serve K-12 education," Burns said. "When funding is tight, the pressure is on where to direct those dollars. You're pitting the cute little first grader against someone who's a young adult, or an older adult who doesn't have great work or English language skills, and is a less sympathetic character."

These concerns prompted Brownley to remove adult education from the "Base Funding" category, and preserve it as its own category for the time being. By removing it from one of the four main block funds envisioned in the bill, adult education will be safe from having its funding absorbed into other uses. Part of the decision to hold off on the bill is to invite opinions and concerns so that the bill won't have any unintended consequences, Brownley said. "There's clearly lots of concern about adult education," she said.

Still, Brownley holds that the basic architecture of the bill is sound, and this process will help fill in some of the details that need to be addressed. "All of the stakeholders have a fundamental agreement. The system is broken and needs to be changed," she said. "Now we need to get all the details nailed down."

Brownley carried a similar bill earlier in her term which got through both the Assembly and the Senate only to be vetoed by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.The previous version created a working group that would be used to hash out the details and special interests.

This time, Brownley intended to cut out the middle man and make a working group out of the legislative process. She still hopes to pass the bill before the end of her term in 2012. "I've been working on this since I've been in the legislature," she said.

I would be remiss if I didn’t offer a reflection the 2010-11 school year. The year ended on June 30, and we are in a position to increase our services to adult learners in the Berkeley community. Specifically, we’ll be targeting transitions for secondary students to community college, employment for CTE students, completion for language learners and increased support to Berkeley Unified School district in the areas of credit recovery and CTE coordination for grades 7-Adult.

The path to June 30 held challenges, and with the support of our Board of Education and Superintendent Bill Huyett, our budget is in good shape. Director Josh Daniels posted this letter recently, regarding our budget: http://bas.berkeley.net/letter.html

Our district Block Entitlement grant (former ADA apportionment) is just below $3,000,000 and we have secured several grants that are restricted to specific programs, to supplement our targeted programming and mission statement.

Some highlights of the year are the 150 adult students who earned a High School Diploma, 22 who earned a GED, 300 + who completed a CTE certificate program, thousands who acquired language skills in ESL classes and the hundreds of students we are able to serve in our Offsite and Community Interest classes.

I take pride in our staff's efforts in securing a new secondary education grant (Policy to Performance, sponsored by CA Dept of Ed). We also made improvements in our WIA federal grant, which reflects learning gains in ESL, ABE and ASE programs. Our federal grant supporting Dept of Rehab clients received high ratings in a review by DOR and will continue to supplement our goals. We made strides in our efforts to align CTE curricula to industry standards and we increased our ability to support District goals.

Getting to know the BUSD community, BAS staff and students has been a great opportunity, and I am energized to continue the work. As our Superintendent says, “Berkeley is the place to be!” I am grateful for all the support through the year from everyone. Looking ahead, there is much on the horizon for BAS.

BAS Leadership Planning will focus on accreditation and preparation for the Visiting Committee from WASC in March. To that end, we have the following scheduled meetings:

Leadership Retreat, August 24 (tentative)

Staff Development, August 26 & 29, October 10 and January 30

In addition to these dates, monthly leadership, coordination and department meetings will focus on accreditation and completion of our Self Study report.

We are eager to begin implementation of the state sponsored Policy to Performance grant and facilitate the transition of a cohort of secondary students to community college. We have made gains in our federal Workforce Investment Act literacy grant and will implement eTesting for further improvement. We completed a favorable review with our federal Department of Rehabilitation grant and will continue to transition Workability II clients to employment. We will persist in fostering collaborative partnerships to provide necessary services to our community.

I will continue to post adult education legislation and advocacy efforts here. The following link has updates on AB 18, AB 189 and other state and federal legislation of interest http://www.caeaa.org/pdfs/060711_state_leg_update.pdf

Classes begin August 30. Until then, good summer!

Berkeley Unified School District

Press Release

June 18, 2011

BUSD Will Not Pursue Community Day Classroom at BAS

Berkeley Unified School District administration has decided not to bring forward the placement of a County Community Day School Classroom at Berkeley Adult School, or any other location on District property. Superintendent Bill Huyett has expressed that the District has other more pressing issues and needs that require staff time.

The District will continue to encourage the Alameda County Office of Education to locate services for expelled students in the northern part of the county.

That’s the official word from the district. Berkeley City Councilmember Linda Maio sent this note to our neighbors:  “I learned that the School District has decided not to locate the Community School at the BAS.  I have no information as to why.  I recently raised concerns about the quality of the proposed space, and we know that there are strong concerns in the neighborhood about potential safety impacts and how they would be addressed.  I expect there will be public discussion at an upcoming School Board meeting about the decision and I will also see what more I can learn.”

And local blogs picked it up too:

Berkeleyside

Berkeley adult school neighbors

While the idea of a Community School classroom in an Adult School may be new, we serve at the pleasure of the BUSD Board of Education and the Superintendent, and we are prepared help transition adults, young and old. Berkeley Adult School supports the District’s goals.