State Shows Marked Improvement in Every Ranking Category Governor to Report on Success of Adult Education Initiatives and Congratulates Top Performing Community Literacy Programs

Governor Carcieri was joined by education officials and community agencies to report on the status of adult literacy programs in Rhode Island. In 2003, Governor Carcieri established an adult literacy task force to assess adult education in Rhode Island and make recommendations for improvement in the adult education system. At that time, the Governor’s Adult Literacy Task Force called for major reforms in the governance and administration of the program. In addition, the report called for a set of content standards, the establishment of a professional development system, and a process for improving the outcomes of programs on federal and state performance accountability measures.

Governor Carcieri announced today that all the major recommendations to reform adult education contained in his task force report were implemented. “I set an aggressive goal to dramatically improve adult literacy services in Rhode Island, and I am pleased to announce the great strides we have made towards this goal. In every measured category, we have made marked improvement, and have built a network of community partners that have helped thousands of Rhode Islanders better prepare for the workplace.”

Among the recommendations that have been implemented are consolidating adult basic education state staff into one agency, strengthening collaboration among state agencies around the funding, delivery and performance of adult basic education services and creating the Adult Education Director’s position at the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

“While we’ve instituted changes to the way the adult education system is managed, we have also implemented new technology to better track program and student outcomes,” continued Governor Carcieri. “We have implemented a new system to ensure that we are seeing returns on our investment in adult education in Rhode Island, and in the process, more effectively serving adult students.”

By pooling resources and refining funding streams across many state agencies, the state has successfully increased funding for adult education programs. In addition, the state has established an outcome-based funding model that is able to gauge the effectiveness of community organization’s adult literacy programs. If they do meet the performance targets, they are acknowledged and may be eligible for additional funding. If they don’t, they are issued a warning and at risk of losing funding.

In addition to providing an update on the literacy initiatives, Governor Carcieri also recognized high-performing programs with incentive-based bonus funding. Joining the Governor in recognizing the high performing programs was Johan Uvin, State Director of Adult, Career and Technical Education. “Using performance bonuses as an incentive for programs to focus more on student outcomes than on process has proven to be a good decision. We have seen remarkable turnarounds in performance in many programs on most of the federal accountability measures. Rhode Island is emerging from the bottom twenty-five percent of states,” said Uvin.

Governor Carcieri also stressed the need for transitional assistance from adult education to post-secondary education and workforce training. He also charged the adult education community to identify the next sequence of necessary reforms for adult education. “This is a big step in the right direction, and it is critical that we provide additional support with workforce training to ensure these individuals have the skills and tools they need to be successful in the workplace,” continued Governor Carcieri. Carcieri has charged Commissioner Jack Warner, as Chair of the Adult Education Committee of the Governor’s Workforce Board, to come up with a set of recommendations and report out to the PK16 Council this fall on ways to further improve adult education.

“Rhode Island has made significant strides in developing and implementing a more focused and streamlined adult education delivery system,” said Commissioner of Higher Education Jack R. Warner. “The shift to an outcome-based funding model, in particular, has allowed us to reward effective programs with additional funding. We now have a true system for adult education as opposed to the collection of disparate programs with varying degrees of quality that existed previously. The focus now needs to be on expanding the system’s delivery of programs to reach a greater number of Rhode Islanders so we can enhance skill development and better prepare more people to enter the job market in our state,” Warner said.

“The Governor’s Workforce Board has strategically determined that it is important to financially support the improvement of the Adult Education effort,” said Joe MarcAurele, Chairman of the Governor’s Workforce Board of Rhode Island and President of Citizens Bank Rhode Island. “Providing adults with the right educational tools is critical to enhancing their skill set and building a more capable and confident workforce.”

Related links

• Adult Education Rankings Report