You already know that you impact your students’ lives. You see it in their improved skills, increased self-confidence, and achievement of personal goals.
But you may not have known that you also impact the Literacy Council’s funding and sustainability every time you turn in your hours and assign a post-test or CASAS test.
Our Federal Funding is Outcomes-Based
Did you know that the Literacy Council receives over $100,000 annually (about a third of our overall budget) from the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)? In North Carolina, this funding is administered by the NC Community College System. It funds our Adult Education and ESOL programs, which serve 275-300 students per year.
For the past four years, the amount of funding that we have received is related to two factors: a) an annual grant application, and b) student outcomes from the previous year.
Next year, our organization will receive base funds and bonuses when our students are successful in:
- Attending class regularly
- Improving post-test scores
- Earning a High School Equivalency diploma (like a GED)
- Enrolling in post-secondary education (like an AB Tech certificate course) after leaving the Literacy Council.
The legislation also requires that we work with students on preparing for the workforce and getting jobs, though our funding is not dependent on this.
Our Tutors and Students Produce Some of the Best Outcomes in the State
The NC Community College System provides WIOA funds to literacy councils and community colleges across the state, serving a total of 86,000 students. Here’s how we stacked up in 2015/16:
- The state recommends that literacy council students receive an average of 40 instructional hours each year
- LCBC students received an average of 53 instructional hours
- 58% of students statewide received sufficient instructional hours and were post-tested
- 81% of LCBC students received sufficient instructional hours and were post-tested
- 33% of students across the state improved post-test scores by a full level
- 43% of LCBC students improved post-test scores by a full level
In short, you are helping our students outperform state averages!
How Can You Continue to Help?
- Submit your attendance logs on time. Funding for your program is directly correlated with the number of instructional hours that our students receive. You can click here to download a new attendance log from our website or pick one up in the office.
- Encourage your student to stick with it! If a student “stops out” for three or more months, they will have to reenter the program with a new pre-test. We want our students to continue to show persistence throughout the year. Students are be better equipped to show improvement if they have at least 40 hours of instruction per year.
- Use lesson plans that include Adult Education Content Standards. For ESOL tutors, Ventures lesson plans provide a perfect starting point for your lesion plans. For Adult Education tutors, please follow the Wilson lesson plan or use the supplementary materials you discussed with the program director. If you have questions about this, please contact your program director.
- Prepare your students for CASAS testing. Your students are most likely to be successful if you get them accustomed to the testing process by administering unit tests when appropriate and talking about test taking skills. If you need support on how to do this, please attend the spring in-service training about CASAS testing.
- Talk to your students about their goals. Check in with your students about their goals regularly to ensure they have the encouragement and information they need to be successful. Once you have a clear understanding of your students’ goals, we can provide you with resources and contacts that you can use to help them be successful.
