Below is a collection of “TWC Transmittals” from the Adult Education and Literacy State Director/staff that contains general grant-related information, policy clarifications and helpful guidance for AEL-funded programs. This compilation includes select TWC Transmittals dated April, 2018 forward and is updated regularly as new TWC Transmittals are generated. Messages are in date order beginning with the most recent correspondence. To help find topics, you can use your browser’s “Find” function (command + f) to find words in titles listed on this page. NOTE: Meeting Recordings are only good for 6 months from recorded date. |
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2022December 13, 2022Dear Grantees, I wanted to thank all of you who attended the TWC Annual Workforce Conference held in Dallas last month. I was so happy to get a chance to see many of you and get caught up on AEL happenings in your local areas. Every fall we get to recognize a few AEL grant recipients and providers who went above and beyond and endured some very challenging criteria to be awarded a performance quality improvement award. This year we had two monetary awards: Best In Class and Board/AEL Co-enrollment. Please join me in congratulating the winners. Best in Class
Board/AEL Co-Enrollment
We also continued to celebrate our TWC AEL Scholars of the Year at the conference who were first recognized at our Fall Institute in September 2022. I am hoping to share the conference video with you soon! I have received a few inquiries about the results. Wanted to share the Commission approved criteria and the Best in Class data (attached) for transparency. Each year, I am humbled by your continued dedication to excellence. Thank you for all that you do to support adult learners in Texas! Deliverable Update/Change PD Follow-up Plan Due 2/15/23 for the program year we are in PD Plan Due 6/30/23 for the upcoming program year to begin 7/1/2023 Then, next year, the PD Follow-up Plan will be due 2/15/2024, PD Plan due 6/30/2024 which will be reflected in PY 23-24 grant amendments. The goal is to ensure that there is a plan for PD before the PY starts and then a check-in February each year to see about needed adjustments or additions. PD Plans and Follow-up Plans are to be developed by the PD Coordinator for each program in coordination with the Director and key Instructional staff, please ensure that this coordination is taking place as the Follow-up Plans are being developed this winter. Best In Class Awards | Commission Meeting Material November 17, 2022October 20, 2022Watch the Meeting | AEL Bi-Weekly Call Document October 6, 2022Watch the Meeting | AEL Bi-Weekly Call Document | Draft AEL Contracted Measures and PBF (PY22-23) September 22, 2022Dear Grantees, Thank you for another successful Fall Institute! Again, Happy Adult Education and Family Literacy week, #AEFL Week. We have several media events planned to celebrate adult learners and educators—keep your eye on TWC social media campaign and please share the content out. I neglected to send the below reminders/updates last week, so wanted to get these out to you. First, I am sad to announce that Fabiana Ramirez will be leaving the TWC family next Friday, Sept 30th. Our tremendous loss will be Texas Workforce Investment Council (TWIC) gain. After spending the last six years in AEL, she takes with her deep knowledge of how instrumental our program is for Texans and how AEL can support the entire Texas workforce system. She will no doubt be an advocate for all things AEL and we wish her well! Target Negotiation Tool – We have received and compiled everyone’s request. If you are accepting the TWC Recommendations—no further action needed. If you negotiated your targets, IF we need to discuss further, we will schedule a call or send communication via email next week. We are hoping to get all targets finalized by mid/end October. TEAMS Release 5.9 – Release notes attached. There were several small fixes deployed as we wait for the larger more complex release later in the year. If you have any questions, please reach out to TEAMS.technicalassistance@twc.texas.gov Tableau, Phase II – Tableau is now live for Phase II users. This would include any active TEAMS user that set up an Okta account. Okta account is required to gain access to Tableau—it is the access gatekeeper. Reminder: Tableau will restrict access equal to TEAMS. Example: Staffreader in TEAMS will only see their data in Tableau, not the entire grantee. As a reminder, attached are some instructions and here is a canned video to walk you through the dashboards: https://youtu.be/DmvG0EB4aqE . We will plan another Tableau webinar in the near future. Please get familiar with the reports—there is some very useful data in those dashboards. Be on the lookout for the Bi-weekly call invite updates. I am hoping to get us back on track in October. Be well everyone. Resources: OKTA TABLEAU Instructions | TEAMS 5.9 Full Release Notes July 28, 2022July 14, 2022Resources: Watch Meeting | PD Plan Template | Agenda June 16, 2022Resources: Watch Meeting | Call Draft | Attention DL Students | Attention DL Students (Spanish) May 5, 2022Resources: Watch Meeting | Agenda | TEAMS 5.8.3 Release Notes | TRUE Workforce Announcement April 21, 2022Resources:[Meeting recording no longer available] | Agenda April 4, 2022Resources:[Meeting recording no longer available] | Agenda March 24, 2022[Meeting recording no longer available] February 17, 2022This transmittal is to notify AEL grantees of two public review and comment periods, as described in this message. TRI-AGENCY STATE WORKFORCE GOALS OPEN FOR PUBLIC REVIEW AND COMMENTTri-Agency Workforce Initiative - Linking Education and Workforce: Spurring Economic Growth Across Texas Public comment will close on March 2, 2022. If you have questions about the public comment form or need assistance, contact triagency.feedback@twc.texas.gov. ABOUT THE INITIATIVE: TRI-AGENCY PRIORITIES WIOA COMBINED STATE PLAN TWO-YEAR MODIFICATION FOR PROGRAMYEARS 2020-2O23 OPEN FOR PUBLIC REVIEW AND COMMENTTexas Workforce Commission’s (TWC) Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Combined State Plan (CSP) for Program Years 2020–2023 was submitted to the US Department of Labor and the US Department of Education on April 13, 2020, and approved on June 26, 2020. WIOA §676.145(a)(1) requires states to submit modifications to a CSP at the conclusion of the first two years of a four-year plan to “reflect changes in labor market and economic conditions or other factors affecting the implementation of the Combined State Plan.”
The plan is divided into a strategic section, an operational section, a waiver requests section, and four program sections.
The Commission welcomes your input. The plan will be posted for public comment for 30 days. The deadline to submit comments is March 17, 2022. Submit comments by email to: workforce.editing@twc.texas.gov. January 28, 2022The attached letter, signed by TWC’s Workforce Development Division Director, Courtney Arbour, notifies Texas’ AEL provider network of a training opportunity sponsored by the Department of Education, in collaboration with the research firm, Mathematica. Mathematica will hold an informational webinar on February 3rd at 10:30-11:30am CST, and interested providers may access the webinar directly by clicking “Join Meeting” or links below. For questions about the study and the webinar, please contact Linda Rosenberg at 609-936-2762 or AdultEdStudy@mathematica-mpr.com. Thank you for your consideration. Resources: Department of Ed - Letter of Support - Carreer Navigator Training and Study | Connecting Adults to Success - Brochure January 27, 2022[Meeting recording no longer available] Resources: TEAMS 5.8.1 Full Release Notes | Bi-weekly Call Agenda | Gas Voucher Request Form | Transportation Services Student Contract | Community Action: Standard Operating Procedure for Transportation Support 2021December 15, 2021Good afternoon -- Attached for your review is the final draft of AEL Letter 06-21, “High School Equivalency Subsidy Program for Program Year 2021–2022” and its attachment. Please email comments to workforce.editing@twc.texas.gov by 3:30 p.m. on Friday, December 17, 2021. If no comments are received by the 48-hour deadline, we will assume that the documents are approved without comment. Resources: AEL 06-21 Draft HSE Subsidy Letter | HSE Voucher Distribution October 20, 2021This week’s Bi-weekly provider call is cancelled. Next call will be November 4th, 2021. Attach: Please find responses for questions related to Performance Based Funding (PBF) passed by the Commission on September 28th, 2021 and PBF Splits approved by Commission June 8th, 2021. Also below are the PD Happenings for Oct/Nov
Introducing Contextualized Video Lessons and Resources for Adult Students and Instructors – Adult Ed Med - https://www.adultedmed.com/ . MORE TO COME on how to use these new resources! Resources: PBF and Targets | PBF FAQ | PBF Split July 7, 2021: May Performance & Other UpdatesI hope this finds you well. Wanted to convey a few items as we slide into mid-July. The Commission is committed to focusing efforts and funding to end the middle skills gap through comprehensive career pathways. We play a mighty role in this narrative as so many lower skilled Texans long for opportunities to earn higher wages in careers that feed our Texas economy. You will continue to see a commitment from TWC AEL to review and revise our approaches to ensure that we are implementing innovative quality models and programs that help support our customers reaching their goals. With your continued feedback, I expect to see some of our early policies evolve over the next year as we evaluate/reflect. I also anticipate more opportunities to demonstrate and create scalable and sustainable career pathway models. May Performance Target Negotiations Carryforward Target Negotiations Last but not least, TEAMS PY 21-22 is OPEN! We typically wait to open TEAMS until after DSO, reason being—there are some old business rules that are attached to PY. These rules sometimes make it difficult to complete EOY reporting in one year, once we open a new year. Let us know if you are experiencing any issues with closing out your PY 20-21 data @ TEAMS.technicalassistance@twc.texas.gov Looking forward to PY 21-22! Resources: MPR Summary | ELF Gains by Domain July 1, 2020 - May 31, 2021 | Enrollments July 1, 2020 - May 31, 2021 | Measurable Skills Gain Contracted July 1, 2020 - May 31, 2021 May 27, 2021: April Performance and Other UpdatesI hope all of you are pushing for strong summer enrollments. The last year has been filled with many challenges and great success. I hope you are willing to share your insights with your peers at the upcoming Fall Institute Aug. 31-Sept 2. There is still time to submit a proposal through May 31st! Thank you to all the early submitters! WII Grant Close Out AEL Letter – 48 hr review process In the future, the email notification will include the normal “TWC Transmittal:” subject line and the body will look like this: 48-Hour Review: AEL Letter 04-21, "AEL Enrollment and Data Validation Requirements" and Attachment 1 (Comments Due Friday at 1pm) Please email comments to workforce.editing@twc.texas.gov by 1 p.m. on Friday, May 28, 2021. (Please do not email your Program Specialist or AEL TA.) If no comments are received by the 48-hour deadline, we will assume that the documents are approved without comment. April Performance I am looking forward to a new program year filled with innovation and opportunity to grow our program. We will soon be kicking off Year 4 of this grant cycle and we are already planning and authoring our next RFA. Thank you all for your hard work this year—I see you—and can’t wait to share some exciting updates for Y4 at our Fall institute! Resources: Enrollment and Data validation Elements | Enrollment Source Documentation | MPR Summary Report | Gains By Domain (Jul - Apr) | Enrollments (Jul - Apr) | MSG Contracted (Jul - Apr) | MSG Management Report (Jul - Apr) May 20, 2021: AEL Bi-Weekly Call[Meeting recording no longer available] Resources: Grantee Signature Authority List | Call Agenda | Letter | EOY Checklist | Survey March 25, 2021: Bi-Weekly Call[Meeting recording no longer available] Resources: Response to Public Comments | Call Agenda March 19, 2021: TEAMS 5.6 Release NotesDear Grantees, I hope you are all well and getting ready for beautiful weekend. Attached you will find the TEAMS 5.6 Release Notes. The TEAMS release this morning has two user facing defects that I have been discussing with you over the last several months.
In the next bi-weekly call, I will ask about the new requirements and get some feedback. Hope you all have a great weekend. Resources: TEAMS 5.6 Release Notes March 8, 2021: January Performance & HiSet UpdateDear Grantees, Happy Monday! I hope you had a fabulous weekend. I wanted to provide the January Performance Reports and introduce some new reports! Also, brief update on HiSet contract. Report: “EFL Gains By Domain”
How Can You Use It
Report: “MSG Gain PBF” State Performance HiSet Update We will NOT be extending February data sign off (March 15th) unless there is a system issue/outage or unforeseen circumstance. Resources: Gains by Domain | MPR Summary Report | Measurable Skill Gains PBF Report | Enrollments | Measurable Skill Gains Contracted February 8, 2021: TALAE PRE-CONFERENCE & TWC ANNUAL CONFERENCE -- CALL FOR PROPOSALSDear Grantees, Happy Monday! I hope this email finds you well. Attached is the final agenda for the TALAE Pre-conference. The morning session is the AEL Best in Class Awards and Business meeting—open to all. The afternoon is reserved for those who are in these roles:
You can register for the Pre-conference or regular TALAE sessions here: https://www.talae.org/registration.html Reminder: CALL FOR PROPOSALS DUE FEB. 12th! TWC Annual Workforce Conference Nov. 17 – 19, 2021 As we look forward to the new year, and in preparation for the upcoming 2021 Annual Workforce Conference, scheduled for Nov. 17 – 19, 2021, at the Marriott Marquis Houston in Houston, Texas, If you have any questions about the TWC conference or proposal submittal, contact Carolyn S. Zubeldia at (512) 463-5556 or carolyn.zubeldia@twc.texas.gov ; Julia Mercado at (512) 463-9936 or julia.mercado@twc.texas.gov Resources: TALAE Agenda January 14, 2021: Bi-Weekly Call[Meeting recording no longer available] Resources: Grantee Targets Briefing | MAWAE Fact Sheet | MAWAE Flyer Template | MAWAE Social Media Posts | Call Agenda
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