Reports on the Effects of COVID-19 on Adult Education

CARES Act Education Funding

• The CARES Act includes the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund (GEER), which provides $3 billion for emergency support through grants to LEAs, IHEs and any other education-related entity within the state that the governor deems essential for carrying out emergency education services.
• The Adult Education and Family Literacy Act is specifically included in the allowable uses. Two examples of allowable use are professional development and purchase of educational technology.
• Each state’s governor is the decision maker on distribution of the funds, so contact with the Governor’s Office in each state is essential. Use COABE’s Educate and Elevate platform to send a message to your state’s governor.

Current Advocacy Initiatives

Campaign to Invest in America’s Workforce (CIAW) letter

• $15.1 billion for workforce development system overall
• $1 billion for WIOA Title II (AEFLA)

Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights letter

• $2-3 billion per month for the duration of the COVID-19 emergency to support access to broadband that is adequate to meet the needs of all low-income and newly unemployed people in the U.S.  

OCTAE Guidance

Memo OCTAE 20-3

• The U.S. Departments of Education and Labor will not make any determinations of performance success or failure based on PY 2019 performance data, submitted by October 1, 2020.
• The Departments will take the effect of the COVID-19 outbreak into consideration in reviewing PY 2019 data. OCTAE encourages State adult education agencies to monitor the effect of the outbreak on performance and address the impacts in its annual narrative report submitted in December 2020.
• States may, but are not required to, report in the National Reporting System (NRS) the time that participants spent on distance learning activities. [see TA Guide for reporting proxy hours]

Memo OCTAE 20-4

• Flexibility in testing procedures
• May revise PY 19 assessment policy

Presentations

Meeting the Social Distancing Challenge: Strategies for Adult ESL
webinar presented by Deborah Kennedy for the Center for Applied Linguistics
April 23, 2020
View the slide deck
Listen to the webinar
Listen to the Q & A session

Remote Instruction for Family Literacy Programs: Dealing with COVID-19 Challenges in the Virtual Classroom
webinar presented by Carol Clymer, Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy
April 2, 2020
Listen to the webinar

Resources for Teachers and Teaching

• High interest, low literacy graded reading material from the Center for the Study of Adult Literacy at Georgia State
• myTESOL Coronavirus Resources for Teachers
• EdTech Center at World Education Distance Ed Strategy Sessions
• COVID-19 Support for Adult Educators page on LINCS
• ProLiteracy Resources for Programs and Learners During COVID-19
• Outreach and Technical Assistance Network (OTAN) COVID-19 field support
• Resources for Transitioning to Online Learning
• List of Remote Instruction Resources for Family Literacy Programs from the Goodling Institute
• Skilled America podcasts from National Skills Coalition
• AIR Technology for Teaching and Learning resource page