The Mississippi Community College Board's Adult Education
Act Public Law 100-297 policy is as follows:
Statement of Purpose:
It is the purpose of this title to assist the States to
improve educational opportunities for adults who lack the level of literacy
skills requisite to effective citizenship and productive employment, to expand
and improve the current system for delivering adult education services
including delivery of such services to educationally disadvantaged adults, and
to encourage the establishment of adult education programs that will -
1. enable these adults to acquire the basic
educational skills necessary for literate functioning;
2. provide these adults with sufficient basic
education to enable them to benefit from job training and retraining programs
and obtain and retain productive employment so that they might more fully enjoy
the benefits and responsibilities of citizenship; and
3. enable adults who so desire to continue
their education to at least the level of completion of secondary school.
Definitions:
1. The term -adult' means an individual who
has attained 16 years of age or who is beyond the age of compulsory school
attendance under State law,
2. The
term -adult education' means services or instruction below the college level
for adults -
3. who are not
enrolled in secondary school;
4.
who lack sufficient mastery of basic educational skills to enable them to
function effectively in society or who do not have a certificate of graduation
form a school providing secondary education and who have not achieved an
equivalent level of education;
5.
who are not currently required to be enrolled in school; and
6. whose lack of mastery of basic skills
results in an inability to speak, read, or write the English language which
constitutes a substantial impairment of their ability to get or retain
employment commensurate with their real ability, and thus are in need of
programs to help eliminate such inability and raise the level of education of
such individuals with a view to making them less likely to become dependent on
others.
7. The term -educationally
disadvantaged adult' means an adult who -
8. demonstrates basic skills equivalent to or
below that of students at the fifth grade level; or
9. has been placed in the lowest or beginning
level of an adult education program when that program does not use grade level
equivalencies s a measure of students' basic skills.
Use of Funds:
Grants to States shall be used in accordance with State
plans (and amendments thereto) to pay the Federal share of the cost of the
establishment or expansion of adult education programs to be carried out by
local educational agencies and by public or private nonprofit agencies,
organizations, and institutions.
Grants provided under this section to States to carry out
the programs described in the preceding sentence may be carried out by public
or private nonprofit agencies, organizations, and institutions only if the
applicable local education agency has been consulted with and has had an
opportunity to comment on the application of such agency, organization, or
institution. The comments of the local education agency and responses thereto,
shall be attached to the application when it is forwarded to the State.
The State educational agency shall give preference to those
applicants who have demonstrated or can demonstrate a capability to recruit and
serve educationally disadvantaged adults.
Limitations on Use of Funds:
(1) Not more than 20 percent of the
funds paid to a State under subsection (a) shall be used for corrections
education and education for other institutionalized individuals in accordance
with subpart 2
(2) Not more than
20 percent of a State' allotment shall be used for programs of equivalency for
a certificate of graduation from a secondary school.
Local Administrative Cost Limits:
1. Of the funds provided by the State
agency to eligible recipients, at least 95 percent must be expended for
provision of adult education instructional activities. The remainder shall be
used for planning, administration, personnel development, and interagency
coordination.
2. In cases where
the administrative cost limits under subsection (a) would be insufficient for
adequate planning, administration, evaluation, and coordination of programs
supported under this Act, the State agency shall negotiate with the local grant
recipient in order to determine an adequate level of funds to be used for
non-instructional purposes.
State Administrative
Responsibilities:
Any State desiring to participate in the programs authorized
by this title shall designate the State educational agency to be the sole State
agency responsible for the administration and supervision of such programs. The
responsibilities of the State agency shall include -
(1) the development, submission, and
implementation of the State application and plan and any amendments thereto and
the State evaluation,
(2) the
assignment of such personnel as may be necessary for State administration of
programs under this title.
State Imposed Requirements:
Whenever any State imposes any rule or policy relating to
the administration and operation of programs funded by this title, the rule or
policy shall be identified as a State imposed requirement.
Limitation of State Administrative Costs -
Effective for fiscal years beginning after September 30,
1990, a State educational agency may use no more than 5 percent of the State's
grant or $50,000, whichever is greater, to pay the cost of its administration
of the State's program.
State Plan and Application:
Requirement - any State desiring to receive funds under this
title shall submit tot he Secretary, during the fiscal year 1989 and during
each fourth fiscal year thereafter, a State plan and application for adult
education for the four fiscal years succeeding each fiscal year in which the
State plan and application are submitted.
Procedure for Submission and Consideration - Each State plan
and application shall be submitted to the Secretary by July 1 preceding the
beginning of the first fiscal year for which the plan is in effect. The
Secretary shall approve, within 60 days, each such plan and application which
is formulated in accordance with sections 342 and 343 and which meets the
requirements of such sections, and shall not finally disapprove a State plan
except after giving reasonable notice and an opportunity for a hearing to the
State agency. Procedures required in formulating the state plan are in the
enclosed act Section 341.
Evaluation and State Plan Amendments -
Timely Submission - When changes are necessary in a State
plan, the State shall submit amendments to its plan by July 1 preceding the
fiscal year of operation to which the amendments apply. Special consideration
is cited under Section 351.
In order to assist grant recipients receiving funds under
this title to plan and operate the best possible programs of adult education,
each State agency during the 4-year period of the State plan shall -
(1) annually submit data to the Secretary
with respect to grant recipients;
(2) before the end of such period evaluate at
least one-third of grant recipients and such evaluations shall consider -
A. the planning and content of the program;
B. the curriculum, instructional
materials, equipment and qualification of all personnel;
C. the effect of the program on the
subsequent work experience of graduates; and
D. other factors determined to affect program
operation; and
(3)
gather and analyze data (including standardized test data) to determine the
extent to which the adult programs are achieving the goals set forth in the
plan including the goal of serving educationally disadvantaged adults, and the
extent to which grant recipients have improved their capability to achieve the
purposes oft his title as set forth in section 311.
Special Experimental Demonstration Projects and Teacher
Training:
Of the funds allotted to a State under section 313 for a
fiscal year, not less than 10 percent shall be used for -
(1) special projects which will be carried
out in furtherance of the purposes of this title, which will be coordinated
with other programs funded under this title,
(2) training persons engaged, or preparing to
engage, as personnel in programs designed to carry out the purposes of this
title.
Federal Share, Federal Administrative Responsibilities:
Payments
A.
Federal Share - The Federal share of expenditures to carry out a State plan
shall be paid from a State's allotment available for grants to that State. The
Federal share shall be -
B. 1. 90 percent of
the cost of carrying out the State's programs for fiscal year 1988;
C. 2. 85 percent of such cost for fiscal year
1990;
D. 3. 80 percent of such
cost for fiscal year 1991; and
E.
4. 75 percent of such cost for fiscal year 1992 ad for each fiscal year
thereafter
B.
Maintenance of Effort -
(1) No payment may be
made to any State form its allotment for any fiscal year unless the Secretary
finds that the fiscal effort per student or the amount available for
expenditure by such State for adult education from non-Federal sources for the
second preceding fiscal year was not less than such fiscal effort per student
or such amount available for expenditures for such purposes from such sources
during the third preceding fiscal year.
(2) The Secretary may waive the requirements
of his subsection for 1 fiscal year only, upon making a determination that such
waiver would be equitable due to exceptional or uncontrollable circumstances
affecting the ability to the applicant to meet such requirements, such as a
natural disaster or an unforeseen and precipitous decline in financial
resources.
State policies are include in the Adult Education
Administrative Handbook.
