Arkansas Adult Education: Improving Skills, Empowering Futures

1. Arkansas Department of Workforce Education Adult Education Division

2. Adult Education Division Provides adults with the opportunity to improve reading, writing, mathematics, English language, and employability skills and to earn the Arkansas High School Diploma by passing the General Educational Development (GED) Tests.

3. Challenges for Arkansas Adult Education ✔Adult Education Program Services ✔Serving 16- and 17-Year-Old Students ✔GED Testing ✔State Administration

4. ✔ 52 adult education programs and 28 literacy councils provide classes in all 75 counties✔51,049 Arkansans were served in 2006-2007 Students servedin 2006-2007 Grade Level Equivalents including ESL

5. ✔ 19.4 percent of adult education students are Hispanic. Over the past 12 years, Hispanic enrollment has more than tripled, increasing from 1,665 to 6,197 students

6. Adult Education Program Services ✔ No increase in adult education funding since the 1991-1993 biennium ✔ The eroding purchasing power that has resulted as funding has not kept pace with the cost of living has led to cuts in services Reduction in the number of: • teachers • staff • classes • instructional materials • equipment • satellite locations

7. The need still exists! 491,862 Adult Arkansans Do Not Have a High School Diploma (2000 U.S. Census)

8. ✔ Fall of 2007, the Adult Education Funding Formula Task Force began work on a new funding formula ✔ Impact - current level of funding is insufficient to allow programs to function with minimal disruptions ✔ Enrollment will continue to decline unless more funding is received ✔ Task Force members’ recommendation for adult education funding: • FY 2009-2010 increase $3 million • FY 2010-2011 increase $3.2 million

9. ✔With increased funding, the Adult Education Division proposes to increase the number of students served by 32 percent, from 51,049 students served in 2006-2007 to 67,511 students by 2011 ✔The following strategies will be used to meet the goal of serving 67,511 students: ✔ increase the number of applied academic classes at worksites ✔ extend program services to hard-to-reach areas by reopening previously closed satellite sites ✔ implement distance education and provide software and technology for students who can not attend traditional adult education classes ✔ increase collaboration with other educational agencies to help students transition successfully into postsecondary education and training programs ✔ enhance the promotion and outreach at the local level, especially with business and industry ✔ expand professional development for teachers and administrators

10. Serving 16- and 17-year-old Students ✔ According to federal and state laws, 16- and 17-year-old students may enroll in adult education classes ✔ In the program year 2006-07, 2,492 16- and 17-year-old students were served in adult education programs for a total of 158,520 hours of instruction ✔ The average cost of one instructional hour was $11.74 per hour – the total cost of serving 16- and 17-year-old students was $1,861,025 in 2006-07 ✔ 2,255 16- and 17-year olds (90 percent) who took the GED tests were successful in 2007-2008

11. ✔Adult education programs receive no state funding to provide classes for these younger students ✔ As more high school students continue to drop out or seek an alternative to public schools, adult education is where they go to obtain academic skills and an Arkansas High School Diploma by passing the GED tests ✔The Adult Education Division requests funding of $1,861,025 for each year of the biennium to serve 16- and 17-year-old students

12. GED Testing ✔Arkansas has one of the highest GED pass rates (84 percent) in the country. In 2007, 6,906 Arkansans received the Arkansas High School Diploma by passing the GED Tests. ✔Continues to be one of the few states in the nation to offer the GED Tests free of charge to state residents

13. ✔61 GED testing centers; 102 satellite sites ✔ Approximately 160 individuals certified to administer GED Tests ✔ GED Testing Service mandates that states provide annual training for GED examiners ✔The Adult Education Division requests funding of $50,000 for each year of the biennium to pay for annual training

14. State Administration ✔In the last 20 years, the number of adult education and literacy programs has increased from 48 to 80 programs, while the state office staff has decreasedin size from six area program advisors to four advisors ✔ The state office has added responsibilities of state and federal mandated requirements including funding, accountability, data quality, monitoring, supervision, leadership, and on-site technical assistance ✔ The Adult Education Division is requesting the following new positions: one Associate Director, two Public School Program Advisors, one Management Project Analyst, and one Administrative Assistant. The request for funding is $253,029 in 2010 and $258,260 in 2011

15. Adult Education’s Return on Investment 2006-2007 ✔ Of the 12,074 students who were unemployed upon entering an adult education program, 5,425 (45 percent) became employed within the first three months after exiting the adult education program ✔ 1,986 adult education students retained employmentorobtained a better job in the third quarter after exiting adult education ✔ 6,906 Arkansans received their GED diplomas ✔ 1,630 adult education students entered Arkansas postsecondary institutions

16. Adult Education Return on Investment 38 percent or $1.38 for each state dollar spent