Prosperity Region 4
Serving Allegan, Barry, Ionia, Kent, Lake, Mason, Mecosta, Montcalm, Muskegon, Newaygo, Ottawa, Oceana, and OsceolaCounties
Fiscal Agent: Kent ISD
Section 107: 2016-2017 Program Year Application
Applicant NameZeeland Adult Education / District Code
70-350
Address
183 W. Roosevelt
City
Zeeland / Zip Code
49464
Telephone
616-494-3416 / FAX
616-994-9712
Contact Name
Mike O’Connor / Title
Director of Adult Education
Address
96 W. 15th St, Suite 101
City
Holland / Zip Code
49423
Telephone
616-494-3416 (office) 616-915-1881 (cell) / FAX
616-994-9712
Email Address
Site and Program Information
Site Telephone Number:616-494-3416 County: Ottawa County
Week per Semester: 18 weeks
Site Name / Address / Program / Estimated # Served / Hours of OperationABE / GED / ESL / Days / Hours
St. Patrick's Church / 920 Fulton St, Grand Haven / X / X / 20 / T,Th / 9:30 – 11:30 a.m.
St John’s Episcopal Church / 524 Washington Ave, Grand Haven / X / 20 / M,T,W,Th / 9:00 – 11:00 a.m.
St John’s Episcopal Church / 524 Washington Ave, Grand Haven / X / 20 / T,Th / 12:00 – 2:00 p.m.
Allendale Township Library / 6175 Library Lane, Allendale / X / X / 25 / M,T,W / 6:00 – 8:30 p.m..
Ottawa County Correctional Facility / 12130 Filmore, West Olive / X / X / 40 / M,W,F / 8:30 - 11:30 a.m.
Ottawa County Correctional Facility / 12130 Filmore, West Olive / X / X / 20 / T,W / 1:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Ottawa County Correctional Facility / 12130 Filmore, West Olive / X / X / 15 / T / 6:30 - 9:30 p.m.
Midtown Center / 96 W 15th St, Suite 101, Holland / X / X / 20 / M,T,W / 9:00 – 11:30 a.m.
Midtown Center / 96 W 15th St, Suite 101, Holland / X / X / 25 / M,T,W / 12:30 – 3:00 p.m.
Midtown Center / 96 W 15th St, Suite 101, Holland / X / X / X / 15 / T,Th / 12:00 – 2:30 p.m.
Midtown Center / 96 W 15th St, Suite 101, Holland / X / X / 60 / M,T,W / 5:30 8:00 p.m.
Midtown Center / 96 W 15th St, Suite 101, Holland / X / X / 80 / T,W,Th / 5:30 – 8:00 p.m.
EngediChruch / 710 Chicago Drive #100, Holland / X / X / 175 / T,W,Th / 9:00 - 11:30 a.m.
Integrated Fabric Resources / 10875 Chicago Dr, Zeeland / X / X / 60 / M,T,W,Th / 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Boar’s Head / 284 Roost Ave, Holland / X / X / 50 / M, W / 2:30 – 5:00 p.m.
Spring Meadow Nursery / 12601 120th Ave, Grand Haven / X / X / 45 / T, Th / 4:00 – 5:30 p.m.
Hudsonville Congregational United Church of Christ / 4950 32nd Ave, Hudsonville / X / X / 20 / T, Th / 6:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Estimated Number of Participates to be served / 710
Site Telephone Number: 616-494-3416 County: Allegan
Weeks per Semester: 18 weeks
Site Name / Address / Program / Estimated # Served / Hours of OperationABE / GED / ESL / Days / Hours
Fennville District Library / 400 West Main St, Fennville / X / X / 25 / T, Th / 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.
Fennville Adult Education / 5 Memorial Drive, Fennville / X / 45 / M,T,W / 5:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Allegan County Correctional Facility / 640 River St, Allegan / X / X / 65 / M-F / 7:45 - 3:15 p.m.
Estimated Number of Participates to be served / 135
Total Number of Participants to be served = 845
Participant Performance and Post-test Rate:
A. Current Provider:
1. Indicate your program’s participant performance data for the last three years, and describe how it aligns to State Section 107 and Federal Workforce Investment Act Title II guidelines and performance measures. Please address participant performance on all measures. If your program did not meet specific performance measures, indicate your plan for improvement.
Three Year Performance for Federal GrantsPerformance Measure / 2012-2013 State Standard / 2012-2013 ZAE Performance / 2013-2014 State Standard / 2013-2014 ZAE Performance / 2014-2015 State Standard / 2014-2015 ZAE Performance
Beginning ABE Lit / 42% / 0.00% / 42% / 100.00% / 36% / 100%
Beginning Basic Ed / 38% / 73.33% / 42% / 66.67% / 31% / 58.82%
Low Intermediate Basic Ed / 38% / 72.73% / 40% / 82.61% / 34% / 63.27%
High Intermediate Basic Ed / 31% / 33.33% / 35% / 43.24% / 30% / 40%
Low Adult Secondary Ed / 31% / 44.83% / 32% / 50.00% / 34% / 40%
ESL Beginning Literacy / 60% / 0.00% / 50% / 63.64% / 55% / 73.33%
ESL Low Beginning / 68% / 53.33% / 60% / 90.91% / 64% / 94.44%
ESL High Beginning / 60% / 87.50% / 55% / 52.17% / 60% / 70.97%
ESL Low Intermediate / 54% / 58.33% / 45% / 53.33% / 50% / 60.87%
ESL High Intermediate / 54% / 42.86% / 48% / 51.52% / 50% / 72.34%
ESL Advanced / 55% / 57.58% / 53% / 20.00% / 51% / 30.56%
Obtain GED / 54% / 97.62% / 55% / 98.85% / 73% / 94.45%
Placement in Postsecondary / 17% / 1.98% / 48% / 3.61% / 29% / 5.56%
Entered Employment / 30% / 47.49% / 25% / 56.04% / 26% / 57.83%
Retained Employment / 50% / 91.67% / 50% / 84.57% / 51% / 97.02%
As indicated on the above chart of the 3 Year Performance measures for ZAE, the majority of the performance measures have been met on a consistent basis and even highly surpassed the state standards in all but two categories. Over the 3- year period, the deficiencies were only in the ESL Advanced level and in Placement in Post-secondary. However, in each of these areas, we have continued to make improvement each year. In order to improve performance with the ESL population, the staff will continue to attend ESL workshops and examine new materials while employing best practices so that all categories of ESL meet or surpass the state standards.
In 2013/14 and 2014/15 for example, we had an increase in the refugee population who were illiterate in their native language. Teachers have been working on instructional methods and materials to improve instructional techniques with this particular population. Staff will continue to attend workshops and gather and implement ideas from colleagues to improve performance.
Though the Placement in Post-secondary is low, it is because students are wanting to get a GED and improve literacy skills while they are seeking and/or retaining employment in the increasingly robust job market in West MI. College costs are much too expensive for the people who are working as they do not qualify for the Pell Grants. With more intensive career coaching in the area of post-secondary education, the measure increased by 64% between the 2012-13 and 2014-15 school years. Continued emphasis will be placed in this area with a plan to better prepare more students to enroll in post-secondary education by increasing awareness of local opportunities and financial aid assistance. We will emphasize direct career paths which require post-secondary educational classes and lead to existing jobs in the area based on survey data from employers.
Note: The Zeeland/Holland adult ESL program was one of the few programs selected by WDA to receive an incentive award based on 2013-14 performance data.
2. Indicate the last three years of pre/post rate data for your program from MAERS, and describe how it aligns to the minimum post-test rate (65%). If your program did not meet the 65% post-test rate, indicate your plan for improvement.
2012-2013 Rate / 2013-2014 Rate / 2014-2015 Rate54 % / 57 % / 65%
The 2012-13 pre/post-test rate was 54%; the 2013-14 rate was 57%; and the 2014-15 rate was 65% which shows significant and steady yearly improvement. To ensure that ZAE meets or exceeds the 65% rate for the current school year and future years, we have implemented the Infinite Campus system to record all pre and post-test scores. The previous system, STUREC, was not an online system and staff did not have access to the data or ability to enter the data. With the Infinite Campus system, staff are able to enter student data into the system and easily determine when a post-test is due. In addition, the staff secretary is using the pre and post-test reports and the missing data reports from MAERS to indicate to the staff when a post-test is due. At each monthly staff meeting, the director reviews the guidelines for pre and post-testing requirements with the staff and stresses the importance of pre and post-testing for all students.
B. New Provider: Not Applicable
Describe your agency’s ability to provide quality adult education services and comply with all Section 107 requirements based upon the following organizational performance measures:
1. Performance and experience serving adult learners
2. Capacity and knowledge to serve adult learners
Demand for Services
1. Actual Number of Eligible Adult Education Participants Served (3-year data)
i. Current Provider: MAERS Data and MSDS FTE Count Data
ii. New Provider: 3 Year Data provided by agency.
2012-2013 / 2013-2014 / 2014-2015542 / 417 / 524
2. Needs of participants and employers (census, economic indicators)
Zeeland Adult Education (ZAE) continues to be recognized as an integral educational service agent for adult education, basic literacy services, and job skills training for all of the school districts in Ottawa County including the Ottawa County Correctional Facility as well as in the Fennville School District and the Allegan County Correctional Facility in Allegan County and has provided services since the early 1970’s. ZAE provides instruction in ABE, GED, ESL, and EL-Civics as part of the Literacy To Work model and assists clients in entering post-secondary programs or attaining employment. Data reported by Ottawa County, MI Works, and a 2010 Community Assessment of Ottawa County by United Way indicates that 9.6% of the population over the age of 25 function below the 9th grade or lack a diploma. Over 9.7% of the population speaks a language other than English in the home. These numbers are actually higher as refugees continue to settle in the area. These populations continue to be dominant in the current and potential workforce as having the greatest need for adult literacy, ESL, and GED.
The unemployment rate in Ottawa County is currently at 3.5% (as of 06/16) and the Ottawa County MI Works Service Centers (Holland & Grand Haven) and regional access points had contact with over 1000 clients on a monthly basis. The 2012 West Michigan Workforce Readiness Survey indicated that 90% of the employers who responded require a minimum of a high school diploma or GED for entry level positions. For those employers that have a minimum hiring requirement, 0% would prefer to hire an individual with a GED over an individual with a high school diploma. Several employers have asked us to partner with them in providing literacy services and GED classes for their employees at the job sites. As a result, we have set up classes at several area manufacturing facilities.
Recruitment and referrals are made by the following methods: direct referral by MI Works or other county based agencies, community based agencies, word of mouth, or general population calls/walk-ins. Contacts are scheduled into weekly program orientation sessions that identify specific populations. Direct services are ABE, GED & ESL which are all part of the LTW model. The majority served are either Michigan Works (MW) clients or individuals seeking services voluntarily. Individuals seeking services not provided by ZAE are referred by a Career Coach to appropriate service providers/partners. To continue to address these needs and provide services, ZAE partners with MW, Grand Rapids Community College, Literacy Council of West Michigan, Michigan Rehabilitation Services, Latin Americans United for Progress, Grand Haven Area PS, Holland PS and other faith based or regional service providers as internal and external referral agents for clients identified in need.
The Region 4 Adult Learning Partners of West MI collaborative group has been working diligently since 2010 to share information among all the Adult Education Providers in Kent, Ottawa, and Allegan Counties. Now that programs are regionalized, the ALPWM includes adult education providers/members from 13 counties. The group has used Workforce Development Board Scans and the NAALS report which show a significant need for literacy skills, English proficiency skills and employability skills. The most recent census, 2010, indicates significant increases in the Hispanic and Asian populations in the region. There is also an overall increase in general population in the region that breaks down by county as 5.5% increase in Allegan, 4.9% increase in Kent and 10.6% increase in Ottawa. The new census information has not yet been broken down by education level, but we are making the assumption that demand for services will increase accordingly. In order to better understand the needs of the many individuals in varied communities served in this region, the ALPWM is working on a survey to gather data on numbers served, with what general service, materials, waiting list numbers and operational information to gain a better understanding of the need and capacity in the region for all categories of service. Within the region, this group of dedicated service providers has implemented the Literacy To Work Model which includes the following components: GED, NCRC, all levels of ESL and ABE classes, family literacy, citizenship classes, employability skills, Key Train, financial literacy and computer literacy classes. A copy of the model is attached. These classes are offered via classroom, one-on-one tutoring, distance learning, and small group settings at a variety of times and various locations.
3. Numbers of participants that your agency could not serve. Please indicate reason for inability to serve these clients.