Regional Needs

Regional Planning Overview

The strategic plan is the top-level planning document consortium members designed to set the path forward. We are implementing our Three-Year Plan by focusing on achieving specific strategies, aligned to the five main objectives, throughout 2023-2024. 

Five strategic plan working groups, with representatives from each member. will review and help evaluate the execution of activities as well as the measurement of outcomes in the focus areas identified. Members will align ERAE program performance and progress measurements with Perkins indicators, WASC action items, and WIOA performance measures for a more systematic way of addressing the needs as well as building a collective impact ecosystem within our East Region communities. Member Level Metric Targets have been revised and set by each member for 2023-2024.

• Objective 1: Implement Targeted Outreach and Marketing

Our outreach to and integration with, local employers and community members will allow increased communication with, and service to, a wide range of employer partners. Digital stories featuring our students will be shared with our business and community partners in the form of well-designed media toolkits that allow for easy integration into their own outreach media and better coordination of outreach efforts across institutions. Based on 2022-2023 data reports on most effective means of communication, we will explore opportunities to work with cultural brokers/community liaisons and develop measurements of effectiveness of campaigns. The 2023-2024 summit will once again bring together the voices of the community.

• Objective 2: Expand System of Professional Learning

In addition to a more diversified Professional Learning plan, coordinating job shadowing opportunities for consortium members and partners and the development of assessment tools for the effectiveness of Professional Learning will be our priorities. The shared plan will offer three special, in-person events that introduce more general concepts in adult education through a guest speaker first and then provide time and space for application to program- and work-specific circumstances. Various other workshops, Canvas modules, supplemental synchronous and informal activities, and informal communities of practice will be introduced to support member-specific professional development activities. 

• Objective 3: Engage Students Strategically - Onboarding

To address educational needs and improve integration and effectiveness of services, the consortium will strengthen onboarding processes across members by moving further toward standardized intake and standardized transition map development for all students to identify barriers, develop goals, and identify meaningful steps early in their experience with adult education. Preliminary data gathered from orientation surveys as well as student satisfaction surveys and exit interviews collected through student support services indicate that students are interested in support when making decisions about their next education and career steps, and that they benefit from working with college counselors, academic advisors, and/or transition specialists when navigating complex education and labor market systems. ERAE will continue to work with business partners and stakeholders such as high schools, community-based organizations, veteran programs and services, churches, homeless shelters and refugee resettlement agencies to motivate adult learners to enter adult education training programs. As a consortium, we aim for data-driven decision-making and will design and implement tools for the evaluation of onboarding processes in light of changes in student population and community needs. 

• Objective 4: Implement five clearly mapped Training and Education Paths

ERAE will continue to implement five paths with a focus on creating more access for adults with limited English language competencies  to ASE and CTE classes and a focus on increasing participation and successful completion of accelerated programs that leverage partner resources (e.g., co-enrollment under SB 544, or Individual Training Accounts or contracted education training under WIOA Title I) and lead to industry-recognized certification. Program/paths maps will support students in designing individual transition maps; core competencies will be aligned across programs and classes, and curricula will be reviewed regularly. In addition to the established CAEP metrics, ERAE program performance and progress will be measured against business metrics and identified regional and local priority sectors and occupations. We will continue to engage partners through the business roundtable and consult with business and community partners on success and sustainability of existing and need for development of new training programs.

• Objective 5: Support Student Persistence and Transitions

The educational needs of adult learners in our region revolve around periods of transitions when they are most challenged and susceptible to barriers. ERAE strives to support learners during these pivotal times through holistic services and tailored programs that enable students to navigate transitions to college (e.g., by hosting college counselors, college tours, and college-readiness workshops), to employment (e.g., by partnering with Goodwill San Diego and implementing Canvas modules for work readiness), and to career (e.g., by offering career counseling, inviting guest speakers from industry, hosting and partnering on career expos). Starting in 2023-24, GAE will implement newly developed “Foundations” classes tailored to language learners and contextualized to our paths. For example, a “Foundations for Careers” class will support students in improving technical reading, writing, and math skills in order to prepare for a variety of careers in hospitality, business and entrepreneurship, and applied technology. We will strengthen our ecosystem of business and service partners (e.g., partnering with SDWP, Goodwill, and local business partners directly) to expand support services for students regarding challenges such as transportation, housing, and childcare. Our goal is to connect especially underserved adults to meaningful transitions more effectively.

In 2022-2023, the consortium’s Governing Board put forward a request for a special task force to increase the number of students matriculating to college. The task force began to meet in December 2023 and was instrumental in setting up a partnership with Grossmont College’s TRIO and Cuyamaca College’s Counseling and Student Services & Special Programs. Performing an initial data match to understand transition patterns and trends turned out to be more challenging than anticipated but initiated crucial data conversations and joint training for the use of a shared referral platform. The task force will continue its work in 2023-2024. 

The consortium will continue to align its work with other regional planning initiatives such as SDWP and the regional EDC (to develop training program tailored to the needs of local businesses), the Strong Workforce Consortium (to develop a program finder tailored to adult education students and strengthen opportunities for coenrollment and college credit), a regional data repository for career training programs at six regional consortia (to align programs and facilitate smooth transitions across a vast geographic region), and GCCCD’s Guided Pathways implementation. 

ERAE connects adult learners to Education That Works. Our success depends on the ability to continually increase opportunities for students to meet their specific needs, overcome their challenges, and experience transformative employment opportunities.