New Mexico Narrative Report 2014-2015
Introduction
The New Mexico Adult Education Division (NM AE) was created as part of the New Mexico Higher Education
Department (NMHED) in 2003 to provide instructional services for adults who lack a high school credential, are
English language deficient, or have academic skills deficiency. It is funded by the Adult Basic Education fund in the
State Treasury through a legislative appropriation to NMHED. NM AE services were also funded in 2014-2015 by the
U.S. Department of Education under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) and is currently funded under the
Workforce Improvement and Opportunities Act (WIOA). NM AE’s activities are intended to expand opportunities for
New Mexicans to learn academic and job skills that will help individuals grow in knowledge and skills and obtain
employment so they may sustain their families, contribute to their communities, and help drive economic recovery.
To this end, the four members of the NM AE team at NMHED supported New Mexico's 27 Adult Education programs
during the 2014-2015 FY. These programs served 15,353 fundable students throughout the state in 2014-2015. The
smallest of these programs served fewer than 100 students and the largest served more than 3,000 students. State
support included distribution and oversight of over nine million dollars in Federal and State funding; monitoring subgrantee compliance and performance; providing technical assistance and professional development; and reporting to
federal and state agencies.
State Leadership Funds: Describe the major activities supported with State Leadership funds during the reporting period and the
extent to which these activities helped you in implementing the goals of the State plan. Specifically describe activities related to the
implementation of career pathways.
The NMHED views leadership as a practice, not a person or program. New Mexico seeks to develop emerging
leadership skills among Adult Education professionals and to empower those with the knowledge, skills and abilities to
share their expertise with other AE practitioners in the state.
New Mexico's plan for state leadership builds upon a belief that a statewide student-centered delivery system can best
be achieved through the participatory involvement of all stakeholders in designing and implementing state leadership
activities. Therefore, input from program directors, instructors, students, professional association members, agency
personnel and board/community members is characteristic of Adult Education initiatives. Program growth and
continuous improvement in student capacity evolves out of the development of AE professionals and the use and
sharing of information in all state leadership activities. New Mexico is organizing Leadership Funds reporting to be
consistent with Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) requirements as the state transitions to WIOA
funding.
Required Leadership Activities
Consistent with WIOA Section 223, the NMHED has prioritized the following state leadership activities:

“The alignment of Adult Education and literacy activities with other core programs and one-stop
partners, including eligible providers, to implement the strategy identified in the unified State plan
under section 102 or the combined State plan under section 103, including the development of
career pathways to provide access to employment and training services for individuals in Adult
Education and literacy activities.”
The NMHED AE Division has worked with adult education programs statewide to encourage programs to
develop relationships with business partners by collaborating to provide workplace literacy and English
language acquisition instruction and to provide shorter term workplace based projects using mutually
developed syllabi to enhance basic workplace skills not necessarily solely based on literacy or numeracy.
The NMHED leadership, including the Cabinet Secretary, has been engaged in active dialogue with
business and education leadership throughout the State in an effort to improve the Department’s ability to
serve business, build the economy, and develop the potential of the State’s residents to participate
productively in their communities and in the State’s economy. The State Director for Adult Education
represents the NMHED on the Job Training Incentive Program Board. The JTIP board awards state funds
1
to business to help subsidize training for New Mexico employees, including interns and those being
promoted.

“The establishment or operation of high quality professional development programs to improve
the instruction provided pursuant to local activities required under section 231(b), including
instruction incorporating the essential components of reading instruction as such components
relate to adults, instruction related to the specific needs of adult learners, instruction provided by
volunteers or by personnel of a State or outlying area, and the dissemination of information about
models and promising practices related to such programs.”
New Mexico has an Adult Education Professional Development Steering Committee made up of
practitioners from throughout the State. They have begun to develop a professional development system
focused on improving instruction and local program administration. The goal of this committee is to work
with adult education providers to provide training and professional development opportunities in order to
empower the students with basic literacy and numeracy skills, social and bureaucratic navigation skills,
workplace skills, and lifelong learning skills that will lead to career pathways with sustainable, family
supporting wages. The approach is aimed at building capacity within the State to provide professional
development as required within a structure designed to meet the needs of AE students in a changing
economic environment.
The system is using the Office of Technical and Adult Education’s research and research-based
professional development curricula and other resources to help structure its approach. For example, TEAL
(Teaching Excellence in Adult Literacy) and “Standards to Action” have helped guide the alignment of
curricula, particularly reading and writing, with College and Career Readiness Standards and the new High
School Equivalency assessments. The extensive resources at LINCS (Literacy and Information
Communication System), with its resource collection, online learning community, and professional
development training offerings, have supported the transformation in teaching that must take place to
increase AE students’ ability to become contributing participants in their communities, shrink their status as
clients, and enter career pathways.
Delivery of professional development has been accomplished by way of an annual statewide conference
jointly sponsored with the New Mexico Adult Education Association and the New Mexico Teachers of
English to Speakers of Other Languages. Leadership funding also supported regional conferences, program
specific local training, and online training.

“The provision of technical assistance to eligible providers of Adult Education and literacy
activities receiving funds under this title”
Technical assistance has been provided in the context of the developing statewide Title II professional
development system, pursuant to program monitoring activities, and as needed by individual local providers
based on performance, demographic, or staff changes. This technical assistance included the development
and dissemination of instructional and programmatic research based practices for teaching reading, writing,
speaking, mathematics, English language acquisition, and distance education, as well as for staff training.
Technical assistance was provided in the context of the professional development system, as part of the
program monitoring process, and by State support to present proven and promising practice studies at
state, regional, and national conferences.

“Assistance in the use of technology, including staff training, to eligible providers, especially the
use of technology to improve system effectiveness.”
As part of the professional development system, all eligible AEFLA providers have had available to them
both hands-on and pedagogical training about the use of technology in the classroom. As part of the effort
to make all appropriate Adult Education classes in New Mexico blended distance and face-to-face, the
NMHED began providing an online platform aligned with College and Career Readiness Standards and
career pathways, with mapping to KeyTrain and O-Net. As the State implements the platform all local
providers will be trained by the publisher and, pedagogically, by master teachers, both in the use of the
technology and in developing and delivering classes using it.
2
“The monitoring and evaluation of the quality of, and the improvement in Adult Education and
literacy activities and the dissemination of information about models and proven or promising
practices within the State.”
All local program monitoring activities in New Mexico are designed to evaluate and improve the quality of Adult
Education and literacy activities by improving student learning. They are overseen by a Program Improvement
Coordinator in the State AE Division in collaboration with an Operations Research Analyst who provides data analysis
to support decisions about program improvement activities. The Program Improvement Coordinator works with the
New Mexico Adult Education Association and the Professional Development Steering Committee to disseminate
information about models of proven or promising practices throughout the State.
Dissemination of information about proven and promising models of practice takes place at an annual statewide
conference for adult education professionals and during ongoing local program monitoring and evaluation processes.
Leadership funds have also been used to maintain a statewide performance accountability system that
includes the following components:






Maintenance of a statewide management information system;
Core performance indicators and other quality program indicators;
Performance measures for each indicator;
A system for evaluating the effectiveness of Adult Education and literacy activities based on the
performance measures;
On-going needs assessment; and
Identifying promising practices
Permissible leadership activities have been carried out in coordination with the required activities above. They are
intended to build capacity for statewide leadership in the interest of moving students toward successful, productive lives
and into career pathways appropriate to their skills and interests. These activities have included





Providing technology assistance and training in the use of technology to
o Teach basic computer and internet skills, including media literacy skills;
o Teach workplace technology skills in the context of career pathways;
o Offer training in the use of technology for distance education;
o Use curricular platforms for hybrid learning in preparation for High School Equivalency testing
and transition to postsecondary education and training or career pathway entry.
Continuing to develop linkages with postsecondary educational institutions, including community
colleges. We have the advantage of being administered by the State’s Higher Education Department.
This administrative connection provides us with opportunities to continue to integrate basic skills
instruction with career technical training. We do this by
o Bringing to scale team-taught integrated basic education and skills training and
o Enhancing New Mexico’s statutory dual credit system to include adult education students.
Integrating literacy instruction and occupational training, including promoting linkages with employers
by
o Forming relationships with employers and providing workplace literacy instruction and
o Providing customized workplace based project learning to enhance employee retention and
opportunity for advancement.
Coordinating support services, such as child care, transportation and counseling and
coordination with one-stop support services to enhance student retention and success.
Developing other statewide activities that support Adult Education and literacy to include areas of
technical assistance or support, professional development and program performance enhancement in
general.
In addition, the New Mexico Adult Education Division of the New Mexico Higher Education Department focused its
use of Leadership funds on the refinement of performance based funding to incorporate minimum performance
standards based on program retention rates. The NMHED AE Division leads a standing funding formula task force. It
is an advisory group that includes Adult Education program managers and other practitioners, institutional fiscal
officers, and other stakeholders. Each year the task force revisits the Adult Education funding formula to improve its
3
equity and effectiveness in promoting state Adult Education goals the following program year. The task force endeavors
to improve the formula each year without subverting the local programs’ stability and inclination to innovate.
Notable recent changes to the Adult Education Funding Formula include an increase in performance funding since 2011
(from 5% to 20% for the 2014-2015 FY); measuring performance based on a program’s past performance rather than a
comparison to the statewide target (change made in 2013); and a redefinition of fundable student from a minimum of 12
instruction hour to 40 hours of instruction (change made in 2015). Students who attained a High School Equivalency
credential with fewer than 40 hours of instruction were also counted for funding purposes in 2015. Program
performance was measured over each of the preceding three years based on five performance measures: overall level
gains, high school equivalency attainment, transition to postsecondary education, obtaining employment, and retaining
employment. Seventy thousand dollars per program was awarded as a base; twenty percent of the remaining funding was
awarded based on performance; five percent was based on need; and the remainder was based on headcount.
The performance was weighted so that 3/5 of the performance-based funding was based on career related outcomes—
transition to postsecondary and obtaining/retaining employment. For 2015-2016 funding, the harm limit will be raised to
8%, allowing programs to be able to count on at least 92% of the previous year’s funding. This allows programs to plan
and prepare for changes that are anticipated with the recent passage of WIOA.
Performance Data Analyses: Describe any significant findings from the evaluation of your performance data for the reporting period
and efforts to improve outcomes for the core indicators of performance.
DEMOGRAPHICS
Nationwide, the U.S. Department of Education estimates that Adult Education programs they fund are able to serve
about 5% of students who are eligible for services. The same is true in New Mexico. According to the 2010 American
Community Survey, approximately 270,000 New Mexicans between the ages of 16 and 64 do not possess a high school
credential. An additional 132,000 adults need English as a Second Language (ESL) services. Adult Education in New
Mexico tracks only “fundable” students—those who have had 12 or more contact hours of instruction—although the 27
programs serve many for shorter periods. All data reflect only learners who persisted 12 hours or more.
Students Served and Educational Functioning Level at Entry
The chart below illustrates that during FY15




Only 7.1% of students entered the programs ready for instruction at the Adult Secondary levels (9 th-12th grade
equivalency, nationally normed by the American Institutes for Research);
39.2% entered at the Adult levels (between grades 4 and 8.9 equivalency);
15.7% entered needing basic literacy instruction (0-3.9 grade equivalency); and an additional
38.1% entered as ESL students.
2406
5842
402000
Adult Basic Education
15353
1089
Beginning Literacy
6016
Adult Secondary
Education
English-as-a-Second
Language
Total Enrollment
Population eligible for service
4
Adult Education Enrollment Trends, FY10 through FY14
Enrollment declined from 23,000 in FY10 to 15,353 in FY15, consistent with decreasing state funding and the declining
capacity of programs to pay instructors. During FY15 the number of students ready to study for a High School
Equivalency decreased somewhat, and the proportion studying ESL declined significantly from 6,445 to 5,842.
Program
Year
FY 10/11
Beginning
Literacy
3826
8302
Adult Secondary
Education
1723
7586
Total
Enrollment
21437
FY 11/12
3237
7229
1588
6800
18854
FY 12/13
3035
7364
1668
7297
19364
FY 13/14
2701
6435
1215
6445
16796
FY 14/15
2406
6016
1089
5842
15353
Adult Education
ESL
Ethnicity and Age
Altogether, 72.2% of students are Hispanic, 11.9% identify as white, and 9.6% as American Indian or Alaskan Native.
Four of New Mexico's Adult Education programs, three located on reservations and one at Southwest Indian
Polytechnic Institution, serve only Native American students, and almost all programs serve a significant number of
Native students. In terms of age, students between the ages of 25 and 44 represent almost half of New Mexico's adult
learners, and that proportion has been gradually increasing over recent years.
Students By Ethnicity FY 15
12%
72%
10%
0.2%
3%
1% 2%
Hispanic/ Latino
White
American Indian or
Alaskan Native
Asian
Black or AfricanAmerican
Two or More Races
Students by Age FY 15
47%
15%
3%
14%
21%
16-18
19-24
25-44
45-59
60+
Return on Investment
5
Adult Education learners contribute significant economic return for New Mexico as they realize their own
educational and employment goals. Many leave public assistance, having acquired the skills they need to successfully
enter the workforce. Others enhance income at their present job by increasing numeracy and literacy skills and by
obtaining High School equivalency credentials. Yet others transition to postsecondary education and prepare to enter
career pathways that will enable them to give back to their families and communities, both socially and economically.
In FY15 the return on the State investment of $5,374,723 was $18,416,241. This represents a net return on
investment of $2.43 for every dollar invested.



1,529 gained jobs, resulting in $9,227,477 increased income;
609 obtained High School equivalency credentials and high school diplomas, representing potential
increased income of $5,700,240;
919 transitioned to postsecondary education, representing potential increased earnings of $3,488,524;
and
Because of the poverty level of Adult Education students (75% live in households with incomes below 100% Federal
Poverty Level), a 1.0 multiplier factor for propensity to consume, zero for propensity to invest, and zero for
propensity to import were assumed. [Sources: New Mexico Higher Education Department e-DEAR data, Workforce Solutions Department employment data, Adult Education LACES data, U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics]
PROGRAM MONITORING AND SUPPORT
Adult Education in New Mexico is committed to continuously improving program performance. Accurate and timely
data collection and entry, ongoing program monitoring, and professional development are key components. To guide
practice in the state, the state office and the local programs explore promising practices and pilot those that are
economically feasible and, based on research and local data, seem likely to help New Mexico adult learners move
forward.

Data—The AE Division monitors program data quality by performing regularly scheduled bi-annual site visits.
In addition, the AE Operations Research Analyst analyses performance measures for the programs twice a
year; monitors data quality and integrity using a series of database diagnostic tools on a monthly basis. The AE
office also coordinates and provides training to local data technicians and program managers regarding data
entry and use.

Program Monitoring—During FY15, all 27 local programs received site visits from the AE Division. The visits
were largely procedural, to ensure the presence of necessary procedures and compliance with grant
requirements, both State and Federal. AE examined financial and data processes, as well as program intake,
orientation, assessment and student placement procedures. In addition, programs began reporting on their
performance at quarterly intervals to enable the state office to target professional development needs and to
begin regularizing a self-study process among the local programs.

Professional Development—Throughout FY15 the AE Division provided professional development to
improve the skills of program administrators, fiscal officers, data technicians, and teachers. Professional
development activities took place at two statewide conferences, eight regional gatherings, and in periodic
webinars. The state's major focus was on teacher improvement, especially in math and reading.
CORE PERFORMANCE MEASURES
Adult Education programs have four core performance measures beyond advancement in educational functioning
levels. They are
o
o
o
o
Attainment of the High School Equivalency credential (GED® and HiSET®) [outcomes from data matching
DiplomaSenders];
Entering postsecondary education [outcomes from data matching with NMHED e-DEAR database of
college students enrolled in NM public institutions];
Entering employment; and
Retaining employment [outcomes for both entering and retaining employment from data matching with NM
Department of Workforce solutions].
6
NM AE continues to augment data match results with survey follow-up data because about 25% of students do not
report enough identifying information for an accurate data match. NMHED eDEAR data and DWS employment
data are limited as well. Surveys allow NM AE to represent as full of a cohort of these students as possible.
Comparative performance over five years is shown below:
Core Performance Measures--FY11 through FY15
95.15%
89.83%
76.95%
79.60%
57.89%
50.32%
42.43%
50.24%
24.60%
17.65%
17.9…
FY 10/11
HSE %
35.97% 38.16%
29.37%
37.73%
31.84%
35.52%
30.00%
FY 13/14
FY 14/15
15.36%
11.69%
FY 11/12
Postseconary %
FY 12/13
Enter Employment %
Retain Employment %
The Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act (WIOA) has established performance accountability measures that apply
across the core programs to assess the effectiveness of State and local areas in achieving positive outcomes for
individuals served by those programs. New Mexico has simulated WIOA performance outcomes with current AE
enrollment.
1. Unsubsidized employment during the second quarter after exit from program
2. Unsubsidized employment during the fourth quarter after exit from the program.
3. Median earnings of program participants who are in unsubsidized employment during the second quarter
after exit from the program
4. Participants who obtain a recognized postsecondary credential, or a secondary school diploma or its
recognized equivalent, during participation in or with 1 year after exit from the program.
5. Participant who, during a program year, are in an education or training program that leads to a recognized
postsecondary credential or employment and who are achieving measurable skill gains toward such a
credential or employment
6. Participants who obtain a secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent shall be included in the
percentage counted as meeting the criterion under such clause only if such participants, in addition to obtaining
such diploma or its recognized equivalent, have obtained or retained employment or are in an education or
training program leading to a recognized postsecondary credential within 1 year after exit of program
New Mexico has overcome the challenge of entering in AE Program while retaining their employment. New Mexico
Adult Education students do indeed achieve HSE and obtain/retain employment or achieve HSE and transition into
Postsecondary/ Training. The challenge is the time allowed to complete the second achievement. The student can and
often does achieve the second achievement, Enter employment or transition into Postsecondary/Training, in the same
fiscal year. For example, 609 HSE Passers, 559 self-reported SSN, 170 students were able to transition into
Postsecondary in the same fiscal year. If the data is analyzed one year after exit, looking at obtain/retain employment or
transition into postsecondary, the percentage rate increases. New Mexico had 1817 HSE Passers, 1598 of them selfreported SSN. 654 of the 1598 were able to passer HSE and transition into Postsecondary. In terms of HSE and
employment, in FY 14/15, there were 609 HSE Passers, 559 of them self-reported their SSN. 257 of those 559 achieved
HSE and obtained or retained employment. Now, looking at the data one year following HSE attainment to obtain or
7
retain employment, the 1598 self-reported participants, 902 were successful. So one year following HSE completion,
564 student transitioned into postsecondary and 902 entered or retained employment for a total of 1466 or 92% of the
FY 13/14 HSE Passers who self-reported their SSN transitioned or obtained or retained employment.
One example of success in New Mexico is San Juan College. Under the newly developed HSE examinations, San Juan
Community College has implemented an increased curricular rigor. This change has resulted in more than 80% of their
HSE graduates who transitioned to post-secondary education able to bypass non-credit, developmental courses.
Integration with Other Programs Describe how you have integrated activities funded under the Adult Education and Family
Literacy Act (AEFLA) with other adult education, career development, and employment and training activities. Describe your efforts to
develop or advance career pathway systems that include career and technical education, postsecondary education, employers, and economic and
workforce development. Include a description of how your agency is being represented on the State and Local Workforce Investment Boards, the
provision of core and other services through the One-Stop system and an estimate of the AEFLA funds being used to support activities and
services through the One-Stop delivery system.
During 2014-2015, local programs used approximately $180,000 to support activities and services associated with the
Workforce Investment Act One-Stop delivery system. New Mexico’s efforts to integrate Title I and Title II efforts
included the following:



Participation in Job Training Incentive Program board
State and Local Workforce Investment Board cooperation
One-Stop system participation
Job Training Incentive Program—Representatives from NMHED AE Division, the Department of Workforce
Solutions, the Public Education Department, New Mexico organized labor, and the private sector continued to work
together on the Job Training Incentive Program (JTIP) board at the New Mexico Economic Development Department.
JTIP provides state funding to support qualifying businesses in hiring and training New Mexicans for new family
supporting jobs in businesses that bring money into the state, chiefly the manufacturing sector. NM AE’s participation
on the JTIP board increases business awareness of Adult Education as a resource for building their workforce. This
collaboration also has a positive impact on employer acceptance of Work Readiness Certification, and the Department
of Workforce Solutions continued to sponsor WorkKeys testing for all appropriate Adult Education students.
Workforce Investment Boards—NMHED is represented on the State workforce board by the agency’s Deputy
Secretary; NM AE had no direct representation on the State board. Many local adult education programs continue to
have active involvement with their regional workforce boards or Tribal equivalents. Eight programs reported regular
representation and contact with their Local Workforce Investment Board (LWIB), up from six the previous year. In
addition, an additional four programs report to be in the developmental stages of relationships with their LWIB.
To improve workforce system effectiveness, the NMHED and the DWS are collaborating in a pilot to begin in March,
2016, to test the effectiveness of a system that provides interoperability among legacy state agency databases. Depending
upon the outcome of the pilot, the core programs would share the cost of implementing the system or another that
better fulfills New Mexico’s needs.
One-Stop delivery system— The NMHED will collaborate with other one-stop partners to provide mutual
training and reciprocal workshops among their corresponding eligible providers about client need and
eligibility as well as the various services offered. These activities will be directed at discovering unserved
needs and duplicated services and at developing efficiencies and clearer, more effective role identities
among the partners.
Locally, involvement with One-Stops varies from informal communications and referrals to close collaborative
relationships. The collaborations between Adult Education programs and local Workforce One-Stops include:
o
o
o
o
Career Services Development
Career Advisement
Higher Education Transition
WorkKeys Assessments and Preparation
8
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Financial Guidance and Assistance
Support Services
Shared Information and Resources
Life Skills Training
Job Skills Training
Job Fairs/Career Expos
Computer Classes
Veterans’ Services
On-the-Job Training/Job Shadowing
Effective alignment among core programs and one-stop partners also requires an interoperable data
infrastructure. By March of 2016, the NMHED and DWS will begin a concerted effort to make interagency
data systems interoperable by launching a pilot test of a system to facilitate case management and crossagency reporting in one of New Mexico’s four workforce development regions. Three Adult Education
providers and three one-stop centers in the Eastern region will participate. The pilot will be evaluated, and
its outcome will determine next steps.
English Literacy/Civics (EL/C) Program Describe the activities and services supported with EL/C funds, including the number
of programs receiving EL/C grants and an estimate of the number of adult learners served.
During 2014-2015, six programs received EL/C grants and spent $225,049 providing services to 1,018 adult learners. All
programs provided services in collaboration with community partners, including centers for Immigration and
Naturalization Services and local immigrant one-stop services, social and family services organizations, legal aid services,
courts, employment services, libraries and civic organizations.
Instruction was provided in government, civil rights and civic responsibilities, and media literacy. Learners explored
various social and community systems, including social services; local, state and federal political systems; healthcare
systems; and education opportunities and structures.
Instruction included in-class work, observation of local and state legislative, executive and judicial functions, exploration
of governmental and social service websites, research projects, and presentations.
In order to carry out an initiative that focuses on transition outcomes explicitly into English Literacy/Civics projects, the
State Office conducted a new grant completion in spring 2014. For 2014-2015 EL/C funding requests required more
clearly specified requirements for student transition outcomes. There is now a focus in EL/C on transition to English
language Adult Education, postsecondary education and training, and entry into employment.
Secondary School Credentials and Equivalencies Describe your state’s policies related to how it awards a secondary school
diploma or its equivalent to individuals who are no longer enrolled or required to be enrolled in secondary school under State law. Include state
recognized tests that are used to award the diploma as well as other criteria that may be recognized, such as competency-based or credit-based
methods.
In New Mexico high school credentialing is overseen by the Public Education Department (K-12), while Adult
Education is overseen by the Higher Education Department. Recently, the responsibility for High School Equivalency
(HSE) Testing Centers was transferred to NMHED.
In the 2014 legislative session the New Mexico legislature amended state law to replace all references to “GED” with
“High School Equivalency” to ensure that other test options could be recognized.
During 2014-2015, New Mexico awarded secondary school diplomas to those who completed a state accredited high
school program and passed a state competency test and to those who passed a GED ® test. On December 18, 2014, the
Public Education Department announced that it had selected both GED® and HiSET® as state recognized High School
Equivalency tests for three years beginning on January 1, 2015.
At this time, the NM AE State Office is working with the HSE Testing Center Coordinator to increase the number of
testing centers throughout the state of New Mexico in an effort to increase access for students to take the HSE
examinations.
9
Adult Education Standards: Describe your state’s progress toward implementation of adult education college and career readiness
(CCR) standards, including whether your state has formally adopted a validated set of CCR standards. Describe how the state has determined
the standards to be representative of CCR and the timeline by which such standards will be or have been implemented by all local programs.
Describe how the state is supporting the use of standards by local programs and State Leadership funds that are being used to support
implementation.
The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) requires that WIOA Title II programs implement standards
that are aligned with their state’s K-12 standards. New Mexico’s K-12 system has adopted the Common Core Standards
and NM AE has implemented the adult education College and Career Readiness (CCR) content and practice standards
developed by the Office of Vocational and Adult Education. NM AE selected the standards because they are aligned
with the Common Core. These standards focus on preparing adult students to enter employment and/or postsecondary study.
Historically, New Mexico adult education has had only minimal standards associated with National Reporting System
Educational Functioning Level outcomes. During 2014-2015 the State Office continued an atmosphere of readiness by
following through with the decision to devote significant Leadership funding during the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 FY to
supporting a leadership team of committed instructors. We are also committed to gaining and sustaining support of
mentor states and CCR experts. NM AE began by providing initial professional development for program
administrators and instructors that introduced them to the CCR standards and engaged them with one another as they
began to form working partnerships. We have continued in the 2014-2015 FY to encourage collaboration between
programs with a focus on implementing the CCR standards and preparing for the requirements under WIOA.
10