FOA-ETA-20-07.pdf

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

ANNOUNCEMENT FOR:

Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grants

ANNOUNCEMENT TYPE: Initial

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY NUMBER: FOA-ETA-20-07

CATALOG OF FEDERAL DOMESTIC ASSISTANCE (CFDA) NUMBER: 17.261

KEY DATES: The closing date for receipt of applications under this Announcement is October 8, 2020. We must receive applications no later than 4:00:00 p.m. Eastern Time. On approximately July 28, 2020, a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page about the Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grants FOA will be available under the Strengthening Community College program heading at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/skills-training-grants. Please check this link frequently for future updates, as additional FAQs may be added. A pre-recorded Prospective Applicant Webinar will be available at the same link on approximately July 28, 2020 and available for viewing any time after that date. While a review of this Webinar is strongly encouraged to support successful grant applications, it is not mandatory.

ADDRESSES: Address mailed applications to:

The U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration, Office of Grants Management Attention: Melissa Abdullah, Grant Officer Reference FOA-ETA-20-07 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Room N4716 Washington, D.C. 20210

For complete application and submission information, including online application instructions, please refer to Section IV.

https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/skills-training-grants https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/skills-training-grants ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

A. PROGRAM PURPOSE

1. SCC Core Elements

2. Results-Based Design

3. Third-Party Evaluation

4. Sustainability Plan

5. Allowable Activities for All Applicants

B. PROGRAM AUTHORITY

C. GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE

II. AWARD INFORMATION

A. AWARD TYPE AND AMOUNT

B. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

A. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

1. Eligible Lead Applicant

2. Role of Lead Applicant

3. Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grants (SCC) Partnership

B. COST SHARING OR MATCHING

C. OTHER INFORMATION

1. Application Screening Criteria

2. Number of Applications Applicants May Submit

3. Eligible Participants

IV. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

A. HOW TO OBTAIN AN APPLICATION PACKAGE

B. CONTENT AND FORM OF APPLICATION SUBMISSION

1. SF-424, “Application for Federal Assistance”

2. Project Budget

3. Project Narrative

4. Attachments to the Project Narrative

C. SUBMISSION DATE, TIME, PROCESS, AND ADDRESS

1. Hardcopy Submission iii

2. Electronic Submission through Grants.gov

D. INTERGOVERNMENTAL REVIEW

E. FUNDING RESTRICTIONS

1. Indirect Costs

2. Salary and Bonus Limitations

3. Intellectual Property Rights

F. OTHER SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

V. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION

A. CRITERIA

B. REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS

1. Merit Review and Selection Process

2. Risk Review Process

VI. AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

A. AWARD NOTICES

B. ADMISTRATIVE AND NATIONAL POLICY REQUIREMENTS

1. Administrative Program Requirements

2. Other Legal Requirements

3. Other Administrative Standards and Provisions

4. Special Program Requirements

C. REPORTING

1. Quarterly Financial Reports

2. Quarterly Performance Reports

3. Quarterly Narrative Performance Reports

VII. AGENCY CONTACTS

VIII. OTHER INFORMATION

A. WEB-BASED RESOURCES

B. INDUSTRY COMPETENCY MODELS AND CAREER CLUSTERS

C. WORKFORCEGPS RESOURCES

D. SKILLSCOMMONS RESOURCES

IX. OMB INFORMATION COLLECTION

APPENDIX A: RESOURCES ON EVIDENCE-BASED DESIGN

APPENDIX B: RESOURCES ON SECTOR STRATEGIES AND EMPLOYER

ENGAGEMENT

iv

APPENDIX C: RESOURCES ON CAREER PATHWAYS

APPENDIX D: RESOURCES ON CAPACITY BUILDING AND SYSTEMS CHANGE . 97

APPENDIX E: RESOURCES ON STATEWIDE DATA INTEGRATION AND USE

National Skill Coalition, Smart Data for a Skilled Workforce, https://nationalskillscoalition.org/national-initiatives/workforce-data-quality-campaign, provides links to resources on smart data polices, systems, and tools

APPENDIX F: PROJECT DESIGN, MONITORING, AND ASSESSMENT PLAN –

LOGIC MODEL

LOGIC MODEL

Part 1: Theory of Change

Part 2: Assessment Approach

APPENDIX G: SUGGESTED TABLE FOR CAPACITY-BUILDING PERFORMANCE

OUTCOMES (SINGLE INSTITUTIONS)

APPENDIX H: SUGGESTED TABLE FOR SYSTEMS CHANGE PERFORMANCE

OUTCOMES (CONSORTIUM APPLICANTS)

APPENDIX I: SUGGESTED PROJECT WORK PLAN FORMAT

APPENDIX J: SUGGESTED ABSTRACT FORMAT

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL, or the Department, or we), announces the availability of approximately $40 million in grant funds authorized by Sections 169(c) of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) for the Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grants program.

The Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grants program (referred to as Strengthening Community Colleges or SCC) will build the capacity of community colleges to collaborate with employers and the public workforce development system to meet local and regional labor market demand for a skilled workforce. The purpose of this grant is (1) to increase the capacity and responsiveness of community colleges to address the skill development needs of employers and dislocated and unemployed workers, incumbent workers, and new entrants to the workforce; (2) to offer this spectrum of workers and other individuals accelerated career pathways that enable them to gain skills and transition from unemployment to (re)employment quickly; and (3) to address the new challenges associated with the COVID-19 health crisis that necessitate social distancing practices and expanding online and technology-enabled learning and migrating services to a virtual environment.

The Department of Labor will award grants ranging from $1 million to $5 million to community colleges. For the purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), community colleges are institutions of higher education, as defined in Section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act and whose most common degree awarded is an associate degree. A community college, as the lead grantee, will either apply as a single institution or represent a consortium of other institutions of higher education, as defined in Section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act, thus extending the reach of the consortium grants well beyond the lead institutions.

Community colleges applying for this funding may propose applications for a single institution that will undertake capacity building at one institution, or for a consortium of colleges that will undertake capacity building and systems change within one state, or across one or more community college districts within a state. Consortia must also involve at least one state- or district-level entity. Both single institutions and consortia will work with a required workforce development system partner, and required employer partners. SCC grants will help community colleges and other institutions of higher education (including four-year colleges and universities) build capacity and leverage expertise and resources that result in increased access for individuals to acquire industry-recognized in-demand skills long after exhaustion of these grant funds.

I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

A. PROGRAM PURPOSE

With rapid changes and technological advances in an increasingly competitive global economy, America’s economic strength depends on the education and skills of its workers. As the nation recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, community colleges are critical partners for the public workforce system for retraining the workforce and building a pipeline of workers in health care, logistics, and other industries that will continue to face shortages following the current health crisis. These investments may also support the advancement of industries of the future, including artificial intelligence (AI), quantum information sciences (QIS), 5G/advanced communications, biotechnology, and advanced manufacturing.

This Announcement solicits applications for the Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grants program (referred to as Strengthening Community Colleges or SCC). The purposes of this program are to increase the capacity and responsiveness of community colleges to address the skill development needs of employers and workers, to offer accelerated career pathways to transition from unemployment to (re)employment quickly, and to address challenges associated with the COVID-19 health crisis that necessitates social distancing practices and expanding online and technology-enabled learning and migrating services to a virtual environment. Single institutions and consortia, with a community college as the lead, will work with employers and the public workforce development system to build their capacity to respond to current economic pressures to develop a skilled and educated workforce. Successful applicants will design and align their education and training courses to respond to the labor market needs of their regional and state economies. They will adopt policies and processes to accelerate learning strategies through new and redesigned curricula, update investments in training infrastructure, develop technology-enhanced learning activities, and align and effectively use data systems. The Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grants program will result in accelerated learning strategies that will enable workers to reskill as quickly as possible with industry-recognized credentials and accelerated pathways to degrees that include credit for prior learning, online and technology-enabled learning strategies.

Successful applicants will actively engage employers through partnerships with industry to enhance career pathways, create and refine curricula development, offer work-based learning opportunities, such as Registered Apprenticeships, and leverage resources. In doing so, applicants are encouraged to build on successful ongoing industry sector strategies. These sector strategies will target one or more specific industries, and work to meet the workforce needs of employers in the sector(s), while supporting dislocated and unemployed workers, incumbent workers, and new entrants to the workforce in attaining the necessary skills and credentials.

Successful applicants will develop, expand, or improve education and training programs informed by real-time labor market information obtained through state and local workforce development boards and feedback from employer partners.1

Central to these grants is the focus on capacity building for institutions, and—for consortium grantees—on advancing innovation and systems change that occurs both within an institution and for a consortium of community colleges. Both capacity building and systems change build on the lessons learned through the Department’s past investments in community colleges, specifically the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) program. Some key priorities advanced through TAACCCT that should be leveraged in the current project are (1) the advancement of evidence-based education and training strategies; (2) the alignment of curriculum and credentials with industry demand, particularly through sector-based career pathway development; (3) the development of effective accelerated learning models; (4) the use of technology-related and online training delivery; and

(5) the expansion of student supports critical to completing training.

Efforts to ensure that education and training programs expand opportunities for individuals— particularly those with barriers to training and employment—to earn postsecondary credentials that have labor market value require coordinated efforts at the systems level. Such system-level efforts focus on “changing policy, practice, perceptions, funding, and institutions” and, as noted earlier, emphasize collaboration and relationships.2 System partners work collaboratively, among other activities, to establish a common vision and shared strategies that can break down “siloed programs with different funding streams, governance, rules, and cultures.”3 Applicants must also focus on a vision and plan where all partners work together to serve one workforce.

The Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grants will provide funding to build capacity and to drive systems change that support sustaining the accelerated learning pathways and expanded capacity in technology-enabled learning and online learning. Successful consortia applicants will propose policy alignment across partner institutions to bring institutional changes to scale within a state or community college district(s), such as adopting innovative approaches to accelerate credit accumulation and postsecondary credential attainment; improving and aligning data collection, integration, and use across a state community college system; and transforming in-person college transactions to virtual service delivery. The enhanced career pathway systems will provide new entrants and adult workers a clear and aligned sequence of relevant in-demand industry coursework and stacked and latticed credentials that will enable them to attain or retain employment.

1 To find points of contact for state and local workforce development boards, refer to https://www.careeronestop.org/LocalHelp/WorkforceDevelopment/find-workforce-development-boards.aspx.

2 Bernstein, Hamutal and Ananda Martin-Caughey. Changing Workforce Systems: A Framework for Describing and Measuring Systems Change, p. 5 (Urban Institute, 2017).

https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/88301/changing_workforce_systems2_1.pdf.

3 U.S. Department of Education, Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education. The Evolution and Potential of Career Pathways, p. 14 (2015). http://connectingcredentials.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/The-Evolution-and- Potential-of-Career-Pathways.pdf.

https://www.careeronestop.org/LocalHelp/WorkforceDevelopment/find-workforce-development-boards.aspx https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/88301/changing_workforce_systems2_1.pdf

Beyond changing the delivery method to distance and online learning courses for students, there is an urgency for colleges to deploy digital solutions that will support all facets of student-facing operations (including registration, scheduling, retention, and facilitation of internships/job placement). Individual community college grantees and consortia will expand their capacity to reorient the physical delivery of these services to a virtual environment, and will redesign curriculum to incorporate more technology-enabled learning, such as greater use of simulations.

This enhanced capacity will allow colleges to deliver high-quality workforce programs utilizing technology to meet the economic needs of their regional or state economies.

Providing prospective students with access to data on program outcomes, and incorporating the use of labor market information into college-wide decision-making regarding program development and course offerings, are critical to building the capacity of community colleges and other institutions of higher education to respond to the needs of employers in a local labor market or economic region. Successful applicants will use local and regional labor market data to make decisions on course offerings and provide data to inform student choice about course participation.4

With the focus of SCC grants on building and enhancing community colleges’ training capacity to improve the employment and earnings outcomes for students, these are not typical training grants. Therefore applicants are encouraged to propose a wide range of leveraged resources, including for participant-specific costs such as tuition, support services, and on-the-job-training from other sources. Applicants must demonstrate how they are leveraging the resources of educational, workforce, and employer partners.

An important aspect of this grant program will be to document the capacity built at the institutional level and the systems change achieved by consortia grantees, and to share information about grantee successes and lessons learned for all grantees. Thus, all grantees are required to retain (after award) a third-party evaluator to design and execute an implementation evaluation of each funded project, and to participate in a national evaluation if led by the Department. See Section I.A.3. Third-Party Evaluations for more information. The Department believes that successful projects will both leverage existing evidence and develop new evidence on effective workforce education and training strategies to address the needs of employers and workers.

1. SCC Core Elements

To ensure that SCC projects accomplish the goals stated above in Section I.A., the Department will fund applications that address, in their proposals, the SCC Core Elements as follows:

4 The contact for the State Labor Market Information (LMI) office for information regarding state and local LMI is located at https://www.bls.gov/bls/ofolist.htm. For national LMI, please visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics website at www.bls.gov.

https://gcc01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bls.gov%2Fbls%2Fofolist.htm&data=02%7C01%7CFernkas.Robin%40dol.gov%7C9ff458c40b034aeddd3e08d7c12f9b46%7C75a6305472044e0c9126adab971d4aca%7C0%7C0%7C637190282528520019&sdata=5sydyqHSWX8uoNY5BGHB5jdDdNcu9cVIvNz8F1V7P44%3D&reserved=0 https://gcc01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bls.gov%2F&data=02%7C01%7CFernkas.Robin%40dol.gov%7C9ff458c40b034aeddd3e08d7c12f9b46%7C75a6305472044e0c9126adab971d4aca%7C0%7C0%7C637190282528530012&sdata=nzYUB7Tm%2FEwTEMWYz2bVodZZK9%2B%2FwxxIEEGbLmaEcnE%3D&reserved=0

• Single institutions must address Core Elements 1-4.

• Consortium leads must address Core Elements 1-5.

Core Element 1: Evidence-Based Design

The Department is committed to funding programs that are likely to improve education and employment outcomes for program participants. Successful applicants will develop strategies based on the existing evidence base, and will be committed to using data for the continuous improvement of programs. Grants awarded in the SCC program will support the development of innovative program models that must be evaluated so that, in the future, institutions can replicate and further test practices that are promising and identify and strengthen practices in need of improvement.

Applicants must base their program design on a level of evidence that is appropriate to the project proposed. Applicants that propose to replicate or adapt existing, evidence-based strategies should cite strong/high or moderate evidence of effectiveness from prior research to support the proposed project design. Applicants that propose to develop new, untested strategies should cite preliminary research findings, related research findings, and/or strong theory to support the design of the project. Appendix A provides information on several public clearinghouses that contain reviews of research studies, provide ratings of the quality of the evidence within a subset of those studies, and define the ratings categories (e.g., “strong”) noted above. Applicants may use one or more of these clearinghouses to cite research supporting their program model or identify another clearinghouse or database that rates studies based on the strength of their design. In addition, the Department encourages applicants to incorporate the relevant findings from the cited studies into their results-based project design, as described in Section I.A.2.

Core Element 2: Sector Strategies and Employer Engagement

Under this FOA, applicants will develop new and/or expand existing, successful industry sector strategies. A sector strategy is a partnership of multiple employers within an industry that brings together educational institutions, economic development agencies, workforce development systems, and community organizations to identify and collaboratively meet the workforce needs of that industry within a given labor market. Sector partnerships create customized responses to the needs of target industries within their regional economy, and create and incorporate career pathway strategies by aligning education and training programs with industry needs. Like career pathways initiatives, sector strategies are not add-on programs, nor individual training initiatives with a particular company or in a particular sector.

Instead, they represent a strategic approach to building employer-driven, regional talent pipelines, addressing skill gaps, and creating meaningful career pathways for a range of workers in important regional industries.5

Sector strategies typically incorporate the following key elements:

• target a specific high-growth industry and/or cluster of occupations that may or may not cross industries;

• convene multiple employers from the specific industry sector;

• validate labor market data and projections with employers;

• identify common skills and credentials required by the industry;

• design education and training programs to address skills needs, including the development of sector-based career pathways;

• include workforce intermediaries or industry associations; and

• support workers gaining the skills and competencies necessary for entry into, or advancement in, good jobs.

In addition, the employer-driven nature of sector strategies (as well as career pathways) means that employers are not merely a primary customer of the workforce development system, but rather a partner, a co-leader, and a co-investor in that system. As a full partner, employers are actively involved in the sector initiative on a continual basis, from program inception through implementation, and they take on a variety of roles within the initiative, from advising to strategic implementation, as depicted in the graphic below.6

To ensure that the sector partnerships under this FOA play a transformational role, the Department expects that SCC-funded projects will deepen employer engagement at all levels of program design and implementation, focusing in particular on increasing employer involvement at the strategic level. Successful applicants will work with the local and/or state workforce partners to identify one or more industry sector(s) in which they will focus and include the required employer partners, as described in Section III.A.3. SCC Partnerships.

Grantees will ensure that they are actively engaging the required employer partners in implementing the sector strategy within six key areas: (1) providing leadership to the project in

5 ETA Sector Strategies Technical Assistance Initiative, “Sector Strategies Implementation Framework,” retrieved from https://businessengagement.workforcegps.org/resources/2016/04/12/13/53/Sector-Strategies-Implementation- Framework.

6https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ETA/TAACCCT/pdfs/TAACCCT_Fact_Sheet_Employer_Engagement_10.

21.2016.pdf. See also Appendix B: Resources on Sector Strategies and Employer Engagement.

https://businessengagement.workforcegps.org/resources/2016/04/12/13/53/Sector-Strategies-Implementation-Framework https://businessengagement.workforcegps.org/resources/2016/04/12/13/53/Sector-Strategies-Implementation-Framework https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ETA/TAACCCT/pdfs/TAACCCT_Fact_Sheet_Employer_Engagement_10.21.2016.pdf https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ETA/TAACCCT/pdfs/TAACCCT_Fact_Sheet_Employer_Engagement_10.21.2016.pdf setting strategic direction; (2) informing the identification of and mapping the necessary skills and competencies for the program(s); (3) providing work-based learning opportunities, including on-the-job training and Registered Apprenticeship; (4) assisting with curriculum development and program design; (5) where appropriate, informing the design of an assessment or validating credentials that will address industry skill needs; and (6) providing resources, such as mentors, the donation of facilities, faculty, equipment, or other contributions to support the proposed project. Projects funded under this grant program will maintain relationships with employers and regional industry representatives throughout the duration of the project with the intention of sustaining them beyond the grant period.

Forging strong relationships with employers throughout the project creates stronger labor market focus and connections for the participants. Employers engaged in the sector strategy should commit to hire, promote, and/or retain qualified program participants completing the training. In addition, the Department is interested in providing rigorous work-based training opportunities for program participants (such as internships, Registered Apprenticeships, and on-the-job training) as a component of any program, as appropriate.

The Department encourages applicants to partner with Registered Apprenticeship sponsors in their local and regional area, particularly in industry sectors and occupations with expected skill shortages. This partnership could be helpful in determining the skill needs of industry sectors and occupations so that programs developed are appropriate, or by providing appropriate related instruction to Registered Apprenticeship sponsors.

Note that any grant funds used for apprenticeships may be used only to support apprenticeship programs registered under the National Apprenticeship Act, which currently includes Registered Apprenticeships Programs (RAPs).

Core Element 3: Enhanced Career Pathway Programs and Accelerated Learning Strategies

Under this FOA, applicants will make enhancements to existing, successful career pathway programs. Central to aligning education and training programming with the needs of employers and the labor market is the strengthening of career pathways that create programs of study and refine curricula to assist a broad spectrum of workers and new entrants to the workforce in acquiring in-demand skills and competencies. Career pathway programs offer a clear sequence, or pathway, of education coursework and/or training credentials aligned with employer-validated work readiness standards and competencies, and integrate academic and occupational skills training. A career pathway system is the cohesive combination of partnerships, resources and funding, policies, data, and shared accountability measures that support the development, quality, scaling, and dynamic sustainability of career pathways and programs for youth and adults. To realize the potential of career pathways, stakeholders must work simultaneously and iteratively on both the programmatic and systems levels. Moreover, career pathways are always sector-focused, incorporating the needs and hiring opportunities of employers within the specific industry sector, as discussed in more detail in Core Element 2, above.

While Core Element 5, below, focuses on career pathway development at the systems level, Core Element 3 emphasizes making enhancements to an existing career pathway program. At both the program and systems levels, the primary aim of career pathways under this FOA is to enable faster credentialing and entrance into the workforce for program participants. Single institution applicants will be reporting participant-level data for a cohort of participants that are enrolled in the enhanced career pathway program.

Accordingly, career pathway programs enhanced through SCC will include several of the following accelerated learning strategies:

• Competency-based education (CBE) and assessment. CBE is an outcomes-oriented approach in which student mastery of learning outcomes is assessed and certified through observational methods, such as task performance, exams, demonstrations, or other direct measures of proficiency. Credentials are awarded based on the mastery of specific competencies as demonstrated through performance-based assessments.

• Credit for prior learning (CPL) and prior learning assessments (PLA). Often used interchangeably, these terms refer to a process that involves an evaluation of skills and knowledge acquired from prior coursework or outside the classroom (i.e., workplace) for the purpose of recognizing mastery against a given set of standards, competencies, or learning outcomes.

• Modularized and self-paced curriculum. A modularized curriculum is structured so that each course—divided into multiple, self-contained units of instruction—builds upon the next, with individuals moving through competency sets, building and attaining new skills as they go. Modules are taught in manageable “chunks” so individuals with varying levels of proficiency can accomplish them. Self-paced learning refers to participants’ completion of coursework at their own pace rather than during set classroom times.

• Integrated education and career-focused training programs that offer accelerated and contextualized remediation. Contextualized remediation is instruction that embeds traditional academic content (e.g., reading, writing, mathematics) within technical coursework that is meaningful to students’ daily lives and/or interests. This model often occurs in tandem with co-requisite or concurrent models of instruction, which involve simultaneous enrollment of students in remedial coursework and college-level coursework.

• Dual enrollment for secondary and postsecondary pathway programs. Dual enrollment programs allow students to access college classes and achieve college credit before they graduate high school. Such programs can serve as a fast track for students toward a career pathway that aligns with college courses and curriculum.

• Improved comprehensive and personalized student support services and career guidance. Support services, often referred to as wraparound supports, are designed to enable an individual’s participation in education and training, and may include child care, transportation, tools, or work clothes. Support staff, often known as navigators, success coaches, or career coaches, often deliver these services, offering academic guidance and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skill https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classroom advising, academic support, career coaching, job placement, and supplemental services.

The Department encourages applicants to coordinate with WIOA partners to leverage the resources needed to address SCC program participant needs.

• Stacked and latticed credentials. These credentials can be earned in sequence and build upon previously learned content as individuals progress along a career pathway or up a career ladder. They allow individuals the ability to build a portfolio of credentials as they transition from learning to work or to different and potentially higher-paying jobs. Any credentials developed through this program must be publicly accessible through the use of linked open data formats that support full transparency and interoperability, such as through the use of the credential transparency description language specifications.

• Use of online and distance learning and advanced training technologies for rapid feedback and adaptive learning. For an elaboration of this strategy, please see the discussion directly below.

Refer to Appendix C for more information and resources on the strategies listed above. This appendix also contains a note about the relationship between career pathways and guided pathways.

Use of Online and Distance Learning and Technology-Enabled Training Online and technology-enabled (including hybrid, or a blend of online and classroom instruction) learning strategies provide adults an opportunity to balance the competing demands of work and family with acquiring new knowledge and skills at a time, place, and/or pace that are convenient for them. The use of technology to enable rolling and open enrollment processes, modularize content delivery, and accelerate course delivery (among other strategies) can help colleges and universities increase access to postsecondary education and training. In addition, new and emergent technologies, such as interactive simulations, personalized and virtual instruction, educational gaming, and digital tutors, offer colleges the opportunity to improve the quality of online instruction, especially in ways that can accelerate learning, support student success, and connect students with in-demand job opportunities.

In light of the current imperative, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, to shift educational instruction to a virtual learning environment, applicants may choose to focus their efforts under this core element to building their capacity to facilitate online conversion and to become fully operational within a context of distance learning. Alternatively, applicants that have the capacity to operate effectively within an online learning environment may choose to redesign instruction within their sector-based pathway programs to incorporate more technology-enabled learning. Within such a strategy, the Department is interested in a combination of technologies and approaches, which might include the following:

• Using educational software and online, diagnostic tools to support remediation, basic skills training, and contextualized learning and to help students succeed in their coursework.

• Delivering personalized and adaptive instruction that builds on student interests and prior knowledge. This approach is important for adult learners who re-enter educational institutions with a wide range of experience and backgrounds. A well-designed system can explore each student’s strengths and weaknesses and shape the instructional experience to fill gaps and build on existing strengths.

• Providing interactive tools that improve the ability of educators to predict whether students are at risk of dropping out or failing courses and to help provide early intervention.

• Improving the assessment of student progress and mastery of subjects such as simulation-based performance testing, which is more valuable to students and to future employers.

• Developing educational software that is as effective as a personal tutor. Since many SCC-eligible participants will enter SCC-funded programs with extensive workplace experience, a well-designed system that allows each individual to move through material at a rate tailored to experience will allow students to master the material much more quickly than in a standard course.

• Using software tools to implement virtual student services to support career and academic planning. For example, colleges working closing with the workforce development system may incorporate online career planning assessment tools into their advising process to create individualized career plans for participants.

• Deploying technology intensively to create competency-based, self-paced, skills-based learning, and making interactive resources, such as simulations and videos, widely accessible.

• Providing open access to computer labs that maintain flexible hours of operation to accommodate the schedules of adult students.

• Developing and sharing courses that are available at a reasonable cost, offered during the day, at night, on weekends, and virtually. The use of online course platforms that open courses to students from around a state can increase access to participants living in remote areas, while allowing colleges to scale up their approach to distance learning.

• Expanding professional development opportunities for faculty and adjunct instructors to enable them to become proficient at technology-enabled learning and to create an active and engaging online learning experience for students.

• Increasing investment in campus-wide centers for teaching and learning that support the shift to online learning.

Applicants pursuing this strategy should consider the development of “next generation” assessments for continuous formative assessments as well as capstone, program, and other high-stakes testing. Next generation assessments place students in engaging environments (such as simulators and virtual communities) and test their ability to respond to real world challenges and obstacles. These systems can be designed to move students to new challenges only when they have demonstrated mastery of needed skills, and they can ensure retention by presenting challenges that exercise existing skills as well as demonstrating new ones. The Department encourages applicants to work with employers and industry to develop assessments that can significantly strengthen the reliability of student learning outcome measures that are important to employers. Applicants are also encouraged to leverage existing high quality, industry-based assessments linked to certifications and certificates.

Open Educational Resources (OER) Before developing any new content, applicants should search existing OER repositories for open learning objects and, where appropriate, leverage these learning objects instead of duplicating existing objects as components of their proposed programs. In cases where no existing OER is appropriate to the specific needs of proposed programs, applicants are encouraged to consider the most efficient and practical means of acquiring content—for example, through college development, licensing or purchasing content, or purchasing existing intellectual property. See Section VIII.D for more information on SkillsCommons.org, the OER site developed for the Department’s TAACCCT grants.

To further support the capacity-building aspect of this grant, SCC represents an investment in developing OER by requiring that all new intellectual property, including all digital content developed using SCC grant funds, be openly licensed for free use, adaptation, and improvement by others. Applicants will build upon and contribute to the body of OER, and continue to create technology-driven innovations in career training and education, by openly licensing all work under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY) license. See Section IV.E.4 for more information on the CC BY license.

As part of the requirement to publicly license grant-funded products, grantees must post their products (with the CC BY license affixed) to a public distribution platform. Grantees may post products to publicly-accessible sites, including SkillsCommons.org and other sites, such as those referenced by Creative Commons at https://creativecommons.org/about/platform/.

In addition, the Department aims to ensure that individuals, employers, education and training providers, and others have access to the most complete, current, and beneficial information about providers, programs, credentials, and skills necessary to make more informed decisions.

Access includes having such information fully operable on the semantic web and able to be used in modern applications, tools, and services to support better understanding of available pathways; and the development of improved navigation and guidance tools to help individuals make better decisions about which pathways are best for them. To this end, the Department requires that information about all credentials (including, but not limited to, badges, certificates, certifications, licenses, and degrees of all levels and types) and competencies (knowledge, skills, and abilities) developed or delivered through the use of federal funds be made publicly accessible through the use of linked open data formats that support full transparency and interoperability, such as through the use of the credential transparency description language specifications.

https://creativecommons.org/about/platform/

Core Element 4: Strategic Alignment with the Workforce Development System

An important capacity-building goal for community colleges is to increase their agility and responsiveness to the needs of employers and workers in their regional economies. To achieve this goal, community colleges must work closely with employers, the workforce development system (workforce development boards, American Job Centers, the Adult Education and Literacy Program authorized under title II of WIOA, and other services providers), and other educational entities, particularly secondary institutions that administer career and technical education. These joint efforts must seek to build capacity and to strengthen systems and structures that organize workforce development along sector-based career pathways, and to create strategies that are more efficient by removing silos and minimizing duplication within and across federal, state, and local programs. A key aim of the provision of coordinated services is to help individuals, particularly those with barriers to employment, overcome those challenges and enter the skilled workforce.

To support this aim, one of the required partners under this FOA is the workforce development system, as described in Section III.A.3. SCC Partnerships. Applicants must secure a commitment from one or more public workforce development system partners and to integrate workforce efforts to build capacity and/or undertake systems change. In addition, applicants are encouraged to collaborate with philanthropic organizations, business-related and other nonprofit organizations, community-based organizations, and/or labor organizations as needed to achieve their stated goals. The Department expects that applicants will perform outreach to, and gather information on, relevant entities in the state that the project will serve, including entities that can provide data on the characteristics and skill needs of participants. An important objective of this outreach is to identify existing supports and services already available to participants in the local area or region, which are suitable for applicants to leverage. This will help ensure that the project complements and does not duplicate existing programs, and that plans to leverage supports in a strategic way will further increase and ensure participant success in the classroom and the workplace.

Consortium applicants will demonstrate how the strategies that they propose in the SCC project are in alignment with at least one strategy in the WIOA Unified or Combined State Plan and the programs within that plan, such as Vocational Rehabilitation and Adult Education, for the state in which the project occurs. Single institution applicants will demonstrate how the strategies they propose in the SCC project are in alignment with the WIOA Local Plan. All applicants must ensure that their project includes partners who either develop the State Plan, develop a Local Plan, or were consulted in the development of the Local or State Plan. The Department also encourages applicants to align and collaborate with other federal and state initiatives designed to address skill shortages and/or improve employment outcomes, particularly programs that may be included in a Combined Plan such as Career and Technical Education.

For example, Perkins V (authorized under the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act, Public Law 115-224), which took effect in July 2019, affords stakeholders the opportunity to strengthen the connections between secondary and postsecondary career and technical (CTE) programs and align these programs with labor market needs. Among other provisions, the law contains a new requirement for local eligible recipients to conduct a Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment and to update it at least every two years (See Section 134(c) of Perkins V). The Department encourages applicants under this FOA to demonstrate that they have connected with the relevant stakeholders that are conducting the local needs assessments to ensure that SCC projects promote coordinated engagement across systems in support of creating stronger workforce pipelines.

Perkins V also includes provisions that encourage states to provide both work-based learning opportunities and dual or concurrent enrollment for students, deeming both strategies to be measures of CTE program quality and instrumental for program success.7 The Department expects that applicants will leverage these new provisions to support the development and implementation of work experience and accelerated learning in pathway programs. Moreover, given the shared definition of career pathways in both Perkins V and WIOA, applicants must demonstrate that the strategies that they propose under this FOA seek to align career pathways at the state and local levels with CTE programs of study. For instance, SCC projects should encourage partners from both the education and workforce development systems to leverage each other’s employer networks and industry-recognized credentials.8 Project partners also should ensure that the project incorporates on-ramps enabling working adults to enter postsecondary CTE programs.

Given the key imperative under this FOA for applicants to engage and leverage the public workforce development system in developing and implementing their SCC projects, the following discussion outlines the potential role of this system in the grant project. As Section III.A.3 indicates, applicants are required to partner with a workforce development system entity. As part of this partnership, applicants will engage and collaborate with state and/or local workforce development boards (WDBs) and American Job Centers (AJCs). They also should work with other workforce development system partners, such as adult education agencies, career and technical education agencies, state workforce education coordinating boards, and other post-secondary education agencies. Services and activities that the public workforce development system currently offers, and which may be considered as leveraged resources, include the following:

• Referring appropriate candidates to SCC programs for education and training;

• Co-enrolling SCC participants into WIOA Title I programs, where appropriate, to cover training costs. The intent of co-enrollment is to meet the training and employment needs of program participants by leveraging the resources and services available through other funding sources. Colleges would coordinate with WDBs and AJCs to

7See Jobs for the Future. Leveraging Perkins V to Support College and Career Pathways (2018).

http://ptopnetwork.jff.org/network/resources/leveraging-perkins-v-support-college-and-career-pathways.

8 See Cielinski, Anna. Career Pathways in Career and Technical Education (CLASP, 2019).

http://ptopnetwork.jff.org/network/resources/leveraging-perkins-v-support-college-and-career-pathways negotiate and arrange for participants to receive individual training accounts or pay colleges for cohort or customized training;

• Providing supportive services in a coordinated manner with the community college through Pell, WIOA, or other resources that are participant-focused. Applicants would arrange through memoranda of agreement or understanding for the resources to be provided directly to eligible participants;

• Working with SCC grant programs to ensure that proposed programs of study qualify for inclusion on appropriate eligible training provider lists.9

Other customized services and activities to support the implementation of SCC programs that grantees may provide include the following examples:

• Helping facilitate employer engagement in the sector strategy and supporting their involvement in both required and encouraged roles in the SCC partnership;

• Creating and implementing, or leveraging the expertise and employer partners of an existing state or local workforce board to develop, a comprehensive strategy of determining the skills needs of employers and the suitability of individuals for training and the attainment of associated credentials;

• Providing comprehensive counseling and coaching to SCC participants to help improve participant retention and completion of the SCC program. Specific strategies could include intrusive counseling, expanded and extensive mentoring services, and technology-enabled advising;

• Supporting the colleges in establishing common tracking systems with workforce development partners to report outcomes data for all SCC participants as they complete the program and enter the workforce, to improve reporting on SCC programs;

• Connecting SCC participants with employer partners to assist them in recruiting and hiring individuals who complete the SCC program and achieving the grant’s overall employment and retention goals;

• Providing seamless coordination of college and AJC assessment, support, counseling, and other services for SCC participants through career coaches, such as workforce navigators for the SCC program.

Where appropriate, the grantee could provide services on the campuses of its consortium partners in order to leverage campus-based services and provide greater ease of access for participants enrolled in training on campus.

9 For information on topics relating to Eligible Training Providers (ETPs), please visit the ETP Resource Page found at https://performancereporting.workforcegps.org/resources/2018/09/11/14/58/Eligible-Training-Provider-ETP- Resource-Page.

https://performancereporting.workforcegps.org/resources/2018/09/11/14/58/Eligible-Training-Provider-ETP-Resource-Page https://performancereporting.workforcegps.org/resources/2018/09/11/14/58/Eligible-Training-Provider-ETP-Resource-Page

Core Element 5: Innovative Systems Change (Consortium Applicants only)

Systems change with respect to workforce development refers to “efforts and initiatives that go beyond providing direct services to individual jobseekers and aim to transform how organizations effectively support employers and the workforce.”10 With the ultimate aim of improving worker and employer outcomes, systems-change goals for improving how the system functions may include increased partner collaboration, active industry engagement, data-driven decision-making, and a local workforce development system marked by improved accessibility and quality, as well as scale and sustainability.11

The Department aims for this grant program to catalyze systemic change in workforce development through collaboration and new ways of thinking.