Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA): A Primer
Released: 2013-12-19T00:00:00

Background

Many adults in the United States have low levels of literacy or numeracy, or limited English language proficiency. Under the authorization of the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA), the federal government has made grants to states to provide services to improve these skills among adults who are not enrolled in school. Commonly called "adult education" efforts, these investments provide educational services to adults at the secondary level and below, as well as English language training.

Adult education services are typically provided by local entities using a combination of federal and non-federal funds. Students include those seeking to develop basic skills, those seeking to obtain a secondary credential, and English language learners of various educational backgrounds. Curricula vary based on student needs and objectives. According to the most recent annual data, the average adult education student received 124 hours of instruction. Adult education instructors are a combination of full-time, part-time, and volunteer personnel.

AEFLA programs are administered by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) through its Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE). In FY2013, appropriations under the act were $575 million. Of this appropriation, $554 million was distributed to the states via formula grants.

This report will provide background information on AEFLA and the activities it funds. The report begins with a description of the law itself. This description focuses on AEFLA's largest component, the state grants program. The second half of the report uses program data to describe the implementation of the state grants program, including the data on providers and participants.

AEFLA Statutory Provisions

AEFLA was enacted as Title II of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA; P.L. 105-220 ). It replaced the National Literacy Act of 1991 ( P.L. 102-73 ) and the Adult Education Act of 1966 (P.L. 89-750).

AEFLA authorized such sums as necessary to carry out its functions from FY1999 through FY20003. When the program was not reauthorized, the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA) automatically extended AEFLA authorization for one year. Since the expiration of this extension, the program has continued to be funded through the annual appropriations process. AEFLA reauthorization has been debated in the context of broader efforts to reauthorize WIA.

Purpose of AEFLA and Definition of Adult Education

The statutory purpose of AEFLA is to

(1) assist adults to become literate and obtain the knowledge and skills necessary for employment and self-sufficiency;

(2) assist adults who are parents to obtain the educational skills necessary to become full partners in the educational development of their children; and

(3) assist adults in the completion of a secondary school education.

To fulfill this purpose, statute authorizes funds for adult education activities, which it defines as services or instruction below the postsecondary level for individuals who are at least 16 years old, are not enrolled in school nor required to be enrolled in school under state law, and either

(i) lack sufficient mastery of basic educational skills to enable the individuals to function effectively in society;

(ii) do not have a secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent, and have not achieved an equivalent level of education; or

(iii) are unable to speak, read, or write the English language.

AEFLA-Funded Programs

AEFLA specifies portions of its annual appropriation that are set aside for certain programs. The remaining funds (which are typically more than 95% of the annual appropriation) are distributed to the states through formula grants.

State Grants

AEFLA specifies how funds are allotted to each state as well as the proportion of each state's grant that must be allotted to various activities. The act also sets criteria for how state grant funds must be subgranted to local service providers.

Allotment of Funds Among the States

Section 211(b) of AEFLA specifies a two-step process through which state grant funds are distributed. First, there is an initial allotment of $250,000 to each state and $100,000 to each eligible outlying area. The second step of the allotment process distributes the remainder of the funding by formula. The formula is based on each state's share of qualifying adults. Qualifying adults are those who are

at least 16 years of age, beyond the age of compulsory school attendance in the states, without a high school diploma or the equivalent, and not enrolled in secondary school.

States must match their grants so that 25% of the state's total adult education resources are from non-federal sources. Non-federal matches may be cash or in-kind. In outlying areas, the non-federal share must be at least 12%.

AEFLA's hold harmless provisions specify that states and outlying areas shall receive grants equal to at least 90% of the grant they received in the previous fiscal year. AEFLA's maintenance of effort provisions require each state and outlying area to expend at least 90% of what it spent in the prior year on adult education activities.

Table B -1 in Appendix B lists the annual allotments to each state from FY2011 to FY2013.

English Literacy-Civics Grants

Since FY2000, appropriations legislation has set aside a portion of the AEFLA state grant funding for integrated English literacy and civics education services (EL-Civics) to limited-English-proficient populations. In FY2013, this set-aside was $70.81 million or about 12.8% of state grants funding. The remainder of state grant funds were allotted using the formula described in the previous section.

The provisions of the EL-Civics grants are enumerated in annual appropriations legislation and are not established elsewhere in law. EL-Civics funds are distributed to the states based on recent immigration data from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Typically, 65% of the EL-Civics funding is distributed based on each state's relative share of immigrants admitted for legal permanent residence in the 10 most recent years and 35% is distributed based on each state's relative share of immigrants admitted for legal permanent residence in the three most recent years.

Table B -2 in Appendix B lists the annual EL-Civics allotments to each state from FY2011 to FY2013.

Uses of State Grant Funds

Section 222 of AEFLA specifies several requirements on how states must allocate their grant funds:

At least 82.5% of the state allotment must be competitively subgranted to local service providers. Up to 10% of the 82.5% may be granted to entities that provide services to individuals in correctional facilities or other institutionalized individuals. Up to 12.5% of the state's allotment may be allocated to state leadership activities (i.e., programs of statewide relevance such as the development and dissemination of curricula). No more than 5% of the total grant or $65,000, whichever is greater, may be used for administrative expenses.

All recipients of local subgrants must use funds for the provision of one or more of the following services: adult education and literacy services, family literacy services, and/or English literacy programs. Entities eligible to receive local subgrants include local educational agencies, community and faith-based organizations, institutions of higher education, and other nonprofit organizations.

AEFLA requires states to consider certain factors when selecting local subgrant recipients. Most of these considerations relate to a subgrantee's ability to successfully serve qualifying adults (particularly high-need populations) and accurately report performance data.

State Plans

Section 224 of AEFLA specifies that, to receive a grant, each state must submit, or have on file, a state plan. Plans are five years in duration. State plans must contain

an assessment of adult education needs in the state, including high-need and hard-to-serve individuals; a description of the adult education activities that will be funded by AEFLA; a description of how the state will annually evaluate and improve its activities using standardized reporting measures (see " Performance Accountability and Reporting Requirements " subsection later in this report); a description of the process that the state will use for public participation and comment in the development of its state plan; a description of how the state will develop program strategies for certain populations such as individuals with disabilities and single parents; a description of how AEFLA-funded activities in the state will be integrated with other adult education, career development, and employment training services; and a description of steps the state will take to ensure equitable access to funds among local adult education providers.

As an alternative to developing a specialized AEFLA plan, WIA allows states to develop a unified plan that combines AEFLA requirements with other federally funded workforce development programs.

Performance Accountability and Reporting Requirements

Section 212 establishes a performance accountability system for grantees under AEFLA. It requires grantees to track participation and other core indicators of performance. These core indicators are

improvement in literacy skill levels in reading, writing, and speaking the English language; numeracy; problem solving; English language acquisition; and other literacy skills; placement or retention in, or completion of, postsecondary education, training, employment, or career advancement; and receipt of a secondary school diploma or the equivalent.

States report their performance via the online National Reporting System (NRS). Reports from the NRS provide the program data presented in the " AEFLA Implementation and Program Data " section later in this report.

Set-Asides for Other Purposes

Section 211(a) of AEFLA specifies several set-asides from sums appropriated under the act.

The lesser of 1.5% of the appropriation or $8 million for National Leadership Activities (NLA). These activities can include (1) technical assistance to the states such as assistance in developing performance measures or professional development for instructors, and (2) national research activities such as curriculum development, program evaluation, and dissemination of best practices. The lesser of 1.5% of the appropriation or $8 million for the National Institute for Literacy (NIFL). NIFL operates under an interagency agreement between ED, DOL, and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Its purposes are to (1) provide national leadership regarding literacy, (2) coordinate literacy services and policy, and (3) serve as a national resource for adult education and literacy programs. 1.72% for WIA Title V I ncentive G rants . Incentive grants are available to states that achieve superior performance in both Title I and Title II of WIA. Annual performance levels are negotiated by the states, DOL, and OVAE. The maximum incentive grant for each qualifying state is $3 million and the minimum is $750,000.

Actual appropriations activities have varied from these statutory directives. For example, NIFL has not received funding since FY2009 and some of its functions have been consolidated into National Leadership Activities. Since NIFL stopped receiving AEFLA funding, the set-aside for National Leadership Activities in appropriations legislation has exceeded 1.5% of AEFLA appropriations. Annual set-asides are listed in Table A -1 in Appendix A .

AEFLA Implementation and Program Data

As discussed in the prior section, AEFLA specifies certain requirements for state grants (and local subgrants) but leaves many decisions to the states and localities. This section will use program data from the NRS to illustrate the nature of states' and localities' adult education services, providers, students, and outcomes. NRS data are typically reported by program year (PY), which runs nine months behind the fiscal year (e.g., PY2011-2012 was from July 1, 2011, to June 30, 2012). As such, the data discussed in this section will not align precisely with fiscal year information discussed elsewhere in this report.

When interpreting the data in this section, it is important to note that many states contribute beyond their AEFLA-required match. Localities and private entities may also contribute to adult education activities, and federal funds subsequently account for only a minority of the funds used to provide local adult education services.

Characteristics of Local Services

AEFLA-funded adult education services are typically administered at the local level. NRS data (and most other adult education literature) divides these services into three primary categories.

Adult Basic Education (ABE) includes instruction for adults whose literacy skills are below the high school level. In PY2011-2012, about 47% of adult education students were enrolled in ABE classes. Adult Secondary Education (ASE) includes instruction for adults whose literacy skills are approximately at the high school level. This includes adults who are seeking to pass the General Education Development (GED) test or obtain a high school credential. In PY2011-2012, about 13% of adult education students were enrolled in ASE courses. English literacy (EL) is instruction for adults who are not proficient in the English language. In PY2011-2012, about 40% of adult education students were enrolled in EL courses.

States have diverse adult education populations and there are large variations among the states in terms of enrollment levels in each program. For example, in PY2011-2012, Nevada reported that 80% of its adult education students were enrolled in EL courses while Louisiana reported that 81% of its adult education students were enrolled in ABE courses.

Types of Service Providers

Eligible providers of AEFLA-funded services include both public and private entities. Table 1 presents data on the allotment of federal AEFLA funds and state funds to eligible providers in PY2011-2012. Local education agencies (typically school districts) were the largest recipients of both federal and state adult education funding.

Table 1 may exclude some non-federal, non-state contributions to adult education activities such as local funding and in-kind contributions. Comprehensive estimates of non-federal effort are available from each state's annual Financial Status Report (FSR). States' final FSR reports for the 2011-2012 program year will be available after September 2013. Aggregated data on non-federal effort from prior years' FSRs are not readily available.

AEFLA services are provided by a combination of paid staff and volunteers. Table 2 presents data on state and local adult education personnel in PY2011-2012. Local teachers were the largest personnel group and almost 85% of this group was either part-time or volunteers. As is the case with other program components, the characteristics of each state's adult education personnel varied by state. For example, nearly 50% of Kentucky's teachers are full-time while more than 70% of the teachers in Pennsylvania are volunteers.

Characteristics of Participants

Data on the demographics and other characteristics of AEFLA participants are available from NRS. Table 3 presents data on the approximately 2 million individuals that participated in adult education programs in PY2011-2012.

The characteristics of adult education participants vary by the type of services. For example, the ASE population tended to be younger (57% under the age of 25) and have a higher concentration of white students (48%) than the overall adult education population. Conversely, the EL population tended to be older (84% age 25 or over) and have a higher concentration of Hispanic or Latino students (65%) than the overall adult education population.

Treatment and Outcome Data

AEFLA requires grantees to track the nature and duration of their services as well as student outcomes. Data on educational gains are available for all participants. Data on other outcomes (such as entering employment or postsecondary education) are more limited.

Educational Gains

Table 4 presents data on participants' hours of attendance and educational progress. Educational progress is defined as completing a level of curriculum within the ABE, ASE, or EL tracks. The ABE program has four levels, the ASE program has two, and the EL program has six. Progress is determined through a pre-test administered to a participant at intake and subsequent post-tests at specified intervals.

Other Outcomes

In addition to educational gains, AEFLA requires states to track participant outcomes regarding employment, the completion of a secondary degree, and entrance into postsecondary education. Unlike the fairly comprehensive data on demographics and educational progress, data on these post-school outcomes are somewhat limited. These data are limited by two primary factors:

Follow-up outcomes are only tracked when a client states an objective beyond education. Otherwise, only the default "educational progress" indicator is tracked. As Table 5 shows, a relatively small portion of AEFLA participants state a follow-up objective. Participants may decline to state an objective beyond educational progress for a variety of reasons. They may have already attained a goal (for example, Table 3 in a prior section shows that 32% of AEFLA participants were employed at intake), educational progress may be their only goal, or they may simply choose not to state a follow-up objective. In some cases, follow-up outcomes may be tracked with surveys that have varied response rates. Coupled with the fact that only a subset of the population's follow-up outcomes are tracked, this may result in follow-up outcome data based on only a small number of participants.

Due to these limitations, the available data on follow-up measures in Table 5 should be interpreted with caution. While the available data can provide some insight into the subsequent outcomes for some AEFLA participants, using these data to evaluate program efficacy may be difficult.

Appendix A. AEFLA Funding, FY1999-FY2013

Appendix B. AEFLA Grants to States and Outlying Areas, FY2011-2013