CDE Announcements Archive

Dear Administrators of Adult Education Agencies:

The purpose of this communication is to reinforce the expectations regarding course approvals and to outline recent process changes for agencies receiving California Adult Education Program and/or Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, Title II: Adult Education Family Literacy Act funding.

California K–12 and County Office of Education school districts providing adult education must have their courses approved by their governing board and on record with the California Department of Education (CDE) (California Education Code sections 51056 and 52506).

The State Superintendent of Public Instruction has established a process for adult schools to annually submit course and program approvals through the Course Approval System within the Adult Education Online Application and Reporting site. Access to this site requires an account. This includes adult schools receiving federal and/or state funding.

The Course Approval System for each program year opens April 1 annually and courses are due by June 15 each year before the beginning of the program year. Courses may be revised and resubmitted for approval by March 31 as needed. An exemption for non-instruction is available. Adult schools will receive an electronic certification of approval to keep on file. Adult schools are not required to submit course outlines when requesting course approval in the Course Approval System, but they must have current outlines on file and available during Federal Program Monitoring (FPM). Lack of compliance with this state requirement could jeopardize future funding (California Education Code Section 52515).

Please note the following:

• Agencies are not required to submit course outlines when requesting course approval in the Course Approval System, but they must have current outlines on file and be available during FPM.
• California school districts providing adult education must have their course outlines approved by their local boards.

To ensure uniformity and common practices within California adult education, Community-Based Organizations, Faith-Based Organizations, Community College Districts, Institutions of Higher Education, Public Libraries, Correctional Institutions, and other non-Correctional Institutions must have the following procedures in place:

• A course approval process for all courses offered to adult education students.
• A process that reviews and authorizes the approval of course outlines. All outlines must be on file and available during FPM.
• The course approval and course outlines processes, newly developed or continuing, must be authorized by two of the Primary Contacts identified within the Agency Contacts section of the reporting site. A signed memo, on file for FPM, to that effect will suffice— memo to include outline of approval process and two signatures.

Finally, course outlines for all classes offered to adult education students should include the following elements:

• Goals and purpose of the course
• Performance objectives or competencies
• Instructional strategies
• Units of study with approximate hours allotted for each unit
• Evaluation procedures

Agencies needing access to the Course Approval System should:

1. Contact their Adult Education Office (AEO) Regional Consultant at the CDE. The AEO can assist with identifying this contact person for your agency.
2. Identify at least two people who will have the responsibility for requesting course approvals from the CDE. Both individuals should have familiarity with the agency’s adult education program and course approval activities. Select one person to be your primary contact for Course Approvals. This will be your Course Approvals Coordinator. Select one person to maintain user accounts within the online system. This will be your ‘OAR Administrator.’ Share this information with your AEO Regional Consultant.
3. Expect electronic notification when the account creation is complete.

Additional resources, including the Approved Course List and a searchable index of courses may be found at Course Approval Information.

If you have any questions regarding the above clarification, please contact your AEO Regional Consultant. For assistance identifying your contact please reach out to the AEO by email at adulteducation@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

Carolyn Zachry, Ed.D.
Education Administrator and State Director
Adult Education Office
California Department of Education
916-322-2175
adulteducation@cde.ca.gov