Basic Skills Grant Report 2014—2015 ESL/Basic Skills Coordinator 1 Professional Resource Matter Expert noncredit ESL and Basic Skills 1. Comprehensive noncredit ESL sequence. The Adult Education staff has developed the English Language Learners’ Pathways to Success showing the three noncredit levels of certificates we will offer to those completing the coursework at each level—The Community ESL Certificate (fundamental level), Community & Career ESL Certificate (intermediate level), and the Advanced Career & College ESL Certificate (advanced level). All classes for the first two levels of certificates have been approved by the Chancellor’s office and can be offered. In fall 2014 we offered ESL 200 in 7 community locations including Garberville, S. Fortuna Elementary, Fortuna Multigenerational Center, Loleta Community Center, Eureka Community School, and at Pacific Union School. In spring of 2015, based on the progress ESL students have made, we have added a section of ESL 201 at the S. Fortuna Elementary School. Furthermore, we have begun teaching ESL 207 to two groups at S. Fortuna and the class at Pacific Union. These students are actively engaged in pursuing the Community ESL Certificate. We have also been offering ESL 210 and ESL 211 on the CR Eureka campus both semesters. These intermediate students have been using their improved English to be more successful in credit classes at CR and to support their continued success in the workplace. All necessary courses for the Community ESL Certificate and for the Community & Career ESL Certificate have been approved. Curricula for the Advanced Career & College ESL Certificate is in development. 2. Meet and work with Partner Agencies to implement Community‐based ESL. The Basic Skills/ESL Coordinator has worked closely with HCOE, our partner agency, in developing and growing the Community‐based ESL classes offered by CR Adult Education. Through this partnership, we have attended community ELL (English Language Learner) fiesta nights at both Ambrosini and S. Fortuna Elementary Schools. The Coordinator has worked closely with HCOE to support their Parent Partners Classes in Fortuna, Loleta, Eureka, and Arcata so that concepts and vocabulary from within that curriculum are supported by lessons in ESL classes. The Basic Skills/ESL Coordinator has helped to expand the ESL program by coordinating ESL 207 (computer) classes. ESL 207 requires a computer lab; the Basic Skills/ESL Coordinator worked with CR noncredit faculty, HCOE and local schools to make the classes possible. The first ESL 207 classes were introduced in Spring 2015 at S. Fortuna, and there is now also a section at Pacific Union in Arcata. These computer vocabulary classes are paired up with existing ESL 200/201 classes. HCOE has been given over 100 computers which they have refurbished. In partnership with HCOE, those students who complete ESL 207 will be given a computer. The Basic Skills/ESL Coordinator has worked with HCOE to incorporate their guest speaker into the calendar so that parents enrolled in ESL 207 have been given instruction using computers to access school information for their children. Furthermore, The Basic Skills/ESL Coordinator has been working with HCOE to provide low cost internet to those families who qualify once they receive their computer helping to bridge the information/technology gap. The Coordinator is also working with the Loleta Community Center, Loleta School, and the Fortuna Multigeneration Center to Basic Skills Grant Report 2014—2015 ESL/Basic Skills Coordinator 2 offer classes this summer. The Coordinator has also talked with the Sun Valley Group about offering CR community ESL classes on their site. More discussions will follow the end of their busy season (Mother’s Day). 3. High School Outreach The Basic Skills/ESL Coordinator has collaborated with the CR Counseling & Advising office to engage in outreach to local high schools. This has been accomplished in two ways. First, the coordinator has provided the CR Counselors and Advisors with up to date information about noncredit classes in ESL and ABS. The Basic Skills/ESL Coordinator has worked closely with the bilingual Student Services Specialist in Counseling. She is the person who answers the questions about our noncredit ESL and GED preparation classes when prospective students or their families call. Secondly, working with the Counselors, she has send mass emailing to all high school counselors who came to CR for Counselor Day. Using survey monkey, we asked the high school counselors for input on summer programs to better serve their students who will be finished with high school this June. This not only allows us to improve what we can offer those students, but it serves as preliminary advertising for the programs. She also attended the CR Opportunity night at Del Norte High School. 4. Assist with Recruitment, Orientation, and Training of noncredit ESL and ABS faculty across the RCCD. The Basic Skills/ESL Coordinator has been actively engaged in recruiting potential faculty for the Adult Education Department. She has helped to screen applicants, review qualifications, and set interviews for those qualified. She has been involved in the interview process for both ESL and ABS faculty. She has publicized and staffed hiring events in both Del Norte and Humboldt Counties. Once hired, the Basic Skills/ESL Coordinator has been acting as “welcome wagon” for new instructors. She has developed and provided materials and has answered questions to assist new CR Adult Education Associate Faculty with basics such as reporting attendance, completing forms, how to teach at the jail, assessment, finding resources, and general CR and department procedures. 5. Outreach Materials The Basic Skills/ESL Coordinator has also worked with Print Services to create posters and flyers advertising ESL and Basic Skills classes (READ 206, EDUC 225, etc.) for use on campus and throughout the community. For those classes targeting Spanish‐speaking students (ESL and GED prep with Spanish support) the posters and flyers were also created in Spanish. She has distributed materials to ESL teachers, HCOE, schools, community centers, the Humboldt Community Switchboard, Health care facilities, markets, and outreach events. 6. Community Outreach The Basic Skills/ESL Coordinator has been actively participating in community outreach publicizing both ESL and ABS classes. Since hired in mid‐November, 2014 she has met or talked with over 17 different individuals or groups in the community building relationships and connecting perspective students to classes and ascertaining community needs. In broad categories, the Basic Skills/ESL Coordinator has met with current and potential educational partners, correctional facilities, reached out to immigrant services, existing or potential facilities Basic Skills Grant Report 2014—2015 ESL/Basic Skills Coordinator 3 for classes in the community, the Latino and Native American communities, foster youth, EOPS, the CCC, high school counselors, and community centers. The Basic Skills/ESL Coordinator has also prepared a comprehensive marketing plan for ESL and Adult Education classes. She has written press releases and radio PSAs promoting those offerings. CR Adult Education now has a Facebook page. We have already begun posting the flyers and other materials created with Printing Services. This gives a platform for advertising ESL and Adult Basic Skills classes to a population that primarily communicates via mobile devices and social media. Through outreach activities we know that there is now demand for GED Preparation with support in Spanish in the Eel River Valley. The Basic Skills/ESL Coordinator is actively engaged in discussions for a suitable site for this summer. 7. Basic Skills Coordination After the success of the Cap and Gown program with the football team in the fall semester, the program was expanded to include all athletes this spring. The expansion happened very quickly. The Coordinator met with coaches, counselors, instructors, and tutors to facilitate enrollment, attendance, and communication between all parties. The ESL/Basic Skills Coordinator has connected new Basic Skills faculty to those with experience teaching in similar situations. She has also coordinated information between faculty teaching in a variety of locations within sub areas such as ESL, READ, Basic Skills, and Cap and Gown so that they operate as a unit. The Basic Skills/ESL Coordinator has also facilitated the teaching of basic skills classes at the Humboldt County Correctional Facility. The Coordinator has worked closely with Correctional Facility personnel to help process both faculty and students. There is understandably additional paperwork, reporting, and processes when teaching in a correctional facility, and the coordinator has worked with CR instructors and facility personnel to communicate those needs clearly and see they are met. We have met and conferred with HCCF so that we are offering the classes that meet the needs of their populations. We have expanded to offer GED Preparation classes there both with a reading/writing focus and a math/tech focus. We have scaled up to two Associate Faculty teaching this spring with a total of six three‐week classes offered in two different time slots. The Basic Skills/ESL Coordinator has also worked closely with the CR Del Norte Campus and the Commander of the Del Norte Correctional Facility to begin a six week pilot program that launched April 2015. We are expanding a Bridge to College program for Pelican Bay this summer so that inmates there will be ready to take credit classes from CR in the fall of 2015. Additionally, she recruited a new teacher to be able to continue to offer GED Preparation in Crescent City at the Del Norte Campus this spring. The Basic Skills/ESL Coordinator has also worked with the California Conservation Corps to meet their educational needs in Basic Skills. In fall of 2014, CR Adult Education offered EDUC 225/reading focus class at the CCC. After meeting with CCC personnel, it was determined that they still wanted EDUC 225/reading focus this spring with some writing practice. The Coordinator recruited and matched associate faculty to that position, and working with the CCC instituted procedures to ensure a smoother classroom experience. The ESL/Basic Skills Coordinator has been working as a part of the Adult Education team to create and institute Bridge to College and Bridge to Work programs for summer of 2015. Bridge Basic Skills Grant Report 2014—2015 ESL/Basic Skills Coordinator 4 to College and Work on the Eureka campus will consist of three four‐week sessions and on the Del Norte campus will be one six‐week session. We have also scheduled a Bridge to College at the Eureka Community School working with EOPS. There will also be a Bridge to College offered at Pelican Bay. The ESL/Basic Skills Coordinator has been working with existing associate faculty who specialize in GED preparation and ESL to facilitate the sharing of information and resources, ordering supplies and technology (Basic Skills Grant monies), supporting best practices, and processing those items so that they can be accessed by faculty and remain track‐able by the college. She has met with library personnel to facilitate the processing and storage of Adult Education materials. She has plans to meet with the new librarian. There is great demand for the HiSET (or any high school equivalency) test. Not only does any financial aid require a high school diploma or equivalent, but local tribes are now also requiring the same as a condition of employment. CR Adult Education has decided to offer the HiSET (one of several approved by the State of California). It is available in a pencil and paper format that allows us to offer the test in many different locations including inside correctional facilities. The HiSET is also available in Spanish, and many of our students have prepared for that format. The Basic Skills/ESL Coordinator is collaborating with GED Prep teachers and the Community Education Interim Manager to establish testing procedures and protocols. The Coordinator is collaborating with the Community Education Interim Manager in recruiting a Chief Examiner as a necessary first step in offering the test.