Adult Education and Family Literacy Performance Standards

Policy Statement

Programs must meet or exceed the program performance standards for the primary indicators of performance established by the Bureau of Postsecondary and Adult Education, Division of Adult Education (division) based on the state’s targets as negotiated with the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) for the current program year.

Purpose

Adult and family literacy education activities funded through the Division of Adult Education are a component of the workforce development system. The purpose of these activities is to improve students’ educational skills and assist students with their transition into employment and/or postsecondary education or training. To measure the effectiveness of these activities, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) establishes six primary indicators of performance that apply to all core programs authorized by the law. Pennsylvania must negotiate expected levels of performance with OCTAE for these performance indicators. The Division of Adult Education applies related expected levels of performance to local programs. The performance levels will vary based on state performance from year to year. The division requires family literacy programs to meet family literacy performance standards in addition to the expected levels of performance for adult education.

Guidance

For federal reporting purposes, the Division of Adult Education must submit aggregate data for individuals defined as “participants” in WIOA regulations. This includes both demographic and performance data. An adult is considered a participant for federal reporting purposes when they have completed at least 12 contact hours.

The state-imposed definition of enrollment for the purposes of determining an agency’s success in meeting contracted enrollment and performance targets includes the following criteria:

• Adult Education:
  • The student has completed a minimum of 12 hours of instruction as reported in eData at the agency and/or a subgrantee.
  • All required demographic fields are complete in eData.
  • The student has taken the first administration of a state-approved assessment and the assessment has been entered into eData. (Exception for Special Needs – see Policy D.120.)
• Family Literacy:
  • Adult Education: An adult in the family has met the adult education enrollment criteria defined above.
  • Parent Education: At least one adult meeting adult education enrollment criteria completes a minimum of one hour of parenting education instruction.
  • Interactive Literacy Activities (ILA): At least one adult and one child complete a minimum of three hours of ILA. In families with more than one participating child, one parent must accumulate a minimum of three hours of ILA total with any combination of participating children.
  • Early Childhood Education
    • Families with one or more children of preschool age (ages 3-5 or older if not enrolled in compulsory schooling): At least one preschool child completes a minimum of 12 hours of early childhood education instruction.
    • Families who have only children ages birth to age 3 or children enrolled in kindergarten and higher: The child(ren) complete a minimum of three hours of ILA.

Students are counted once per program year for program contracted enrollment, no matter how many grants they are served under or how often they leave and return to the program. Students must have a minimum of 12 hours under one of the grants to count as enrolled. For performance purposes, for Adult Basic Education Direct Service, Section 243 Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education, and Tutoring Program for Adults grants, students will be counted in the grant in which the student had the most contact hours. For Family Literacy Direct Service grants, adults in enrolled families are included in the enrollment for the Family Literacy grant regardless of the number of contact hours in other grants. A student with multiple periods of participation will only count as one enrolled student.

OCTAE requires states to report limited data on individuals who take action that demonstrates intent to use program services but who do not achieve the status of participant. These individuals are reported separately from participants and are not included in performance data.

The criteria for a reportable individual in adult education and family literacy are:

• Provides identifying information;
• Only receives information-only services or activities; and
• Receives less than 12 hours of instruction and has no additional services within 90 days of the last date of service.

Note: Information-only services or activities are those that provide readily available information that does not require an assessment by a staff member of the individual’s skills, education, or career objectives.

Adult education students are considered exited when 90 days have elapsed since the last date of service (i.e., instruction) and no future services are planned. For federal reporting purposes, a student who has met participant criteria, exits the program, and returns after 90 days or more is considered to be a new entry with a new period of participation and new outcome requirements. An exception is made for individuals who are scheduled to return to services after a planned absence of more than 90 days.

Program Performance Standards

The program performance standards established by the division apply to all direct services grants. Programs will receive final performance results for Adult Basic Education Direct Service grants, Section 243 Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education Program grants, Tutoring Program for Adults, and Family Literacy Direct Service grants based on unduplicated enrollment numbers. The cohorts for these performance indicators are defined in Policy C.135. Based on an analysis of student data from previous program years, the division has established the following program performance standards for local programs for Program Year (PY) 2025-26.

Enrollment: 100%

Outcome-per-student target: 1.00

Primary Indicators of Performance

Measurable Skill Gains: 40%

Targets for Individual Educational Levels

Family Literacy Performance Standards

Pennsylvania Act 143 family literacy programs must meet family literacy performance standards in addition to the adult education performance standards. In enrolled families with more than one participating child, any participating child who is not required to have early childhood education hours (i.e., birth-3 and school age children) who has any hours of ILA will be included in the appropriate performance standards related to child outcomes.

Developmental Early Childhood Assessment

Preschool Children Pretest (Time 1) - Each family literacy program provider will submit a pretest (Time 1) score from an approved early childhood assessment instrument for a minimum of 80 percent of children in families that have reached enrolled status, who are not in kindergarten or higher during the program year.

Preschool Children Pretest & Posttest (Time 1 and Time 2) - Each family literacy program provider will submit a validly matched pretest (Time 1) and posttest (Time 2) result from an approved early childhood assessment for a minimum of 50 percent of children with a valid Time 1 in families that have reached enrolled status and who are not in kindergarten or higher during the program year.

Children’s Readiness

The Division of Adult Education is suspending the requirement to administer school readiness assessments for PY 2025-26. As a result, there are no school readiness performance standards for PY 2025-26.

School-Age Children Outcomes

Reading on Grade Level – 60 percent of children attending kindergarten to third grade who are in families that have reached enrolled status will demonstrate proficient or advanced performance in reading as reported by the End of the School Year Progress Report.

Promotion – 90 percent of children attending kindergarten to third grade who are in families that have reached enrolled status will be promoted to the next grade level as reported by the End of the School Year Progress Report.

Interactive Literacy Assessment

Adult-Child Interactive Reading Inventory (ACIRI) (Time 1) – Each family literacy provider will submit a Time 1 assessment for a minimum of 60 percent of enrolled families with children between the ages of three and five.

Adult-Child Interactive Reading Inventory (ACIRI) (Time 1 and Time 2) – Each family literacy provider will submit a validly matched Time 1 and Time 2 assessment for a minimum of 40 percent of enrolled families with children between the ages of three and five.

Consequences of Failure to Meet Contracted Enrollment

Failure to demonstrate sufficient progress toward meeting contracted enrollment during a program year will lead to conditions on grant awards for the following year. Such conditions may include placing a hold on payments or imposing a proportionate reduction in the grant amount in the following program year. This reduction may be imposed at any point during the following program year.

Consequence of Failure to Meet Performance Targets

The division reviews program performance as part of the annual risk analysis and monitoring risk rubric. Agencies that fail to meet the established program performance standards will be subject to additional desk monitoring and will be prioritized for onsite monitoring visits. Ongoing poor performance will lead to warning notices, probationary status, and termination of the grant contract.

Reference

Federal Performance Standards

The Division of Adult Education submits state performance results to OCTAE based on data entered into the eData system. The following National Reporting System performance standards chart applies to the combined results of all direct service grants.

Indicators of Performance for PY 2025-26