Grant Proposal for New Adult Education Center in Chico, CA

Needs Assessment
The State of California has determined through Assembly Bill 86 (AB86)
that the process of educating adults through the K-12 and community college
system must be restructured into a more streamlined process. The current
state of education in our Northern California region suggests that adults in are
limited in the comprehensive program offerings to earn a diploma or high
school equivalent certificate. Currently, Oroville Adult Education Center
(OAE) is the only school in the Butte County with programs where adults can
earn a diploma or prepare for the GED. OAE averages 52 graduates per year
through the programs offered on campus. This data does not include GED
completion data as OAE does not award a diploma for passing that exam.
While these are positive results for those students, the need for additional
programs is evident through data from other districts in the county.
Chico, the largest city in Butte County, has not had any formal adult education
options in since 1979. Chico has a 2012 population of 87,714 within the city
limits and an additional 13,000 in the greater Chico area in which 80.5% are
persons 18 years old and above. This represents 45% of the 221,539
residents of Butte County. The local school district signed over the responsibility to
run an adult education program to Butte Community College which has not consistently
maintained high school diploma or High School Equivalency (HSE) programs since
then. Oroville Adult Education Center consistently enrolls a limited number of adult

students from Chico and the outlying areas as evidenced by enrollment zip codes.
However, a program in Chico as a closer option for a majority of the county population is
a high priority need as many adults will not or cannot travel the 25+ miles to Oroville to
work toward a diploma or GED.
The Butte County high school cohort graduation rate average for the
years 2010-2013 was 83.75%. The remaining percentage comprises 1209
students that did not earn their diploma over those four years in the countys
six school districts. The largest district in the county is Chico Unified School
District and its graduation rate for these years was 85%. 440 Chico Unified
students, or a third of the total in the county, represented who did not earn a
diploma over that four-year period.
Data from the US Census Bureau shows that 90.4% of Chicos
population over the age of 25 are high school graduates. This is slightly
higher than the overall Butte County amount of 86.1% but does not address
the adults ages 18-25 who make up a large part of Californias adult school
population.

This computes to approximately 6778 adults without a high

school diploma or HSE certificate. With 75% of the county in this age
demographic, this tells us that there are thousands of adults without a high
school diploma or HSE all throughout Butte County, a majority of which live
in the Chico area. Data from the participating AB86 regions in Far Northern
California region which includes nine counties shows that 105,000 people
above the age of 18 do not have a diploma, and some have less than a 9thgrade education.

The purpose of this grant request is to address these significant needs

for adults in the Chico area to earn their high school diploma or HSE
certificate. Adults without a diploma or HSE are limited to opportunities for
employment and high wage positions. In creating an adult education
program in the Chico area, those adults will have a chance to improve their
lives for themselves and their families.

Goals and Objectives

Goal: Establish an adult education center in Chico, CA to provide high school
diploma and equivalency certificate preparation programs.
Targeted Objectives:

Increase opportunities for adults to earn a high school diploma or

equivalency certificate.

Reduce the number of adults without a high school diploma or

equivalent (HSE).

Increase the number of adults prepared for further post-secondary

training opportunities, including college.

Methods to achieving goals and objectives:

1. Adult Education Center- Currently there are no established AE centers
in the Chico area. The needs for this program require a minimum of a
5,000 square foot space with appropriate classroom, computer lab and
office facilities, utility infrastructure with network connectivity,
adequate parking space, and within proximity to other amenities such
as public transportation. Ideally, this site would be close to social
agency centers or one-stops for referral purposes as well. Many of
the students that have these educational needs are also involved in

the social service system in one way or another. Having close access
to an educational program would be beneficial to students involved in
multiple agencies. If a location near these other agencies is not
available, optional locations with the other building requirements will
be considered.
2. Staffing- This program will need at least 3 full-time instructors to
properly address the number of adults needing to earn their diploma or
HSE during the first year of implementation. These instructors must
hold clear teaching credentials in either a core single-subject areas or
in multiple subjects. The teaching staff would not teach
departmentally but in open-entry/open-exit (OE/OE) programs with
each of the instructors being a subject area expert. Instructors will
need to have some background in instructional technology to open up
opportunities for distance learning and online curricular options. The
center would also need one clerical office staff member, quarter-time
custodial person, and a half-time career counselor to assist students in
program and post-secondary options.
3. Educational Program- The program is designed with multiple
components to meet the needs of the adult learner.
a. Three learning options: Classroom, Independent Study, &
software/computer based instruction.
i. Adult students need flexibility in the educational program.
The OE/OE programs with be classroom and independent
study models to give the student a choice in their
educational delivery system. Where some students are

comfortable doing work on their own through independent

study, other students will need a classroom approach
where they can meet regularly with an instructor to get
additional assistance with the schoolwork. One of the
initial four instructors would be the technology lead and
run a computer lab where students could access online
curriculum and distance learning options.
b. Schedule: The program will be open from 8AM-8PM MondayThursday and 8AM-5PM on Fridays. Instructors will have a
variable schedule to meet the varied schedule of adults who
need to attend the program outside of their work hours.
c. Technology: The technology lab will be furnished with 30
Chromebooks connected to a wireless network. Chromebooks
offer a better platform and affordability than a fully wired
computer lab and are better than a tablet for productivity with
the attached keyboard and mouse option. Students will be able
to access online productivity tools (Google Drive) and online
curriculum portals (Moodle & online curriculums) and be able to
save their work in the cloud under their own online account.
Students may bring their own devices to use on the network if it
is more convenient for them.
d. Curriculum: Curriculum used will be the same approved general
education curriculum targeted at graduation requirements at
Oroville Adult Education Center. Currently, Oroville Adult
students have access to Odysseyware online curriculum to earn

credits in the variety of classes available online. These same

software licenses will be available to students at the new center
as well. Students wanting to pass a HSE/GED exam will use
online study preparation software in the technology lab.
Students may also work with teachers using available paperbased study guides for test preparation.
4. Expected Outcomes:
a. Diploma/HSE
i. Year 1- 10% of prior four years of Chico USD non-grads to
earn a diploma or HSE certificate (approximately 44
students).
1. This group would not be limited to former Chico USD
students but is used as a target number from that
districts data.
ii. Year 2: 100% increase from Year 1 in diploma or HSE
completion. (88 students)
iii. Year 3: 50% increase from Year 2 in diploma and HSE
completion. (132 students)
b. Post-Secondary preparation
i. Year 1- 20% of graduates matriculate to a post-secondary
or career training program.
ii. Year 2- 25% of graduates matriculate to a post-secondary
or career training program.
iii. Year 3- 30% of graduates matriculate to a post-secondary
or career training program.

Budget
Projected Budget for New Adult Education Center
Category
Personnel
Salary

Benefits & Salary

costs

Facilities
Building

Item

Estimat
ed Cost

3 teachers*
.5 counselor*
1 clerical staff*
.25 custodial

$165,00
0
$27,500
$35,000
$7,500

3.5 certificated packages

1.25 classified package

$87,500
$21,000

Lease- 5,000 sq ft @$12 per ft*

Utilities*
Phone system

$60,000
$25,000
$7,500

Supplies and
Materials
Copier lease
25 Chromebooks
Network hardware- MDF rack, Fiber
switch, 2 Aruba wireless routers
Classroom & office furniture**- Student
desks & tables, student chairs, teacher
desks & chairs, office furniture,
bookcases, shelving and cabinets for
classrooms.
Office/classroom consumables- copy
paper, additional books and
curriculum, classroom supplies
Staff technology (5 computer/printers)

$3,500
$8,000
$3,500

$25,000
$20,000
$7,500

$503,50
TOTAL ESTIMATED
0
* estimated costs -based current models
** Furniture costs may be reduced if available from storage

Evaluation Plan
Evaluation of success for this program is written directly into the target
objectives and will be measured on a yearly basis as listed below.
1. Diploma/HSE objective:
a. Year 1- 10% of prior four years of Chico USD non-grads
to earn a diploma or HSE certificate (approximately 44
students).
b. Year 2: 100% increase from Year 1 in diploma or HSE
completion. (88 students)
c. Year 3: 50% increase from Year 2 in diploma and HSE
completion. (132 students)
Measurement of this objective will be taken from graduation and HSE
completer numbers. Other data to correlate to this objective success may
also be evaluated through a detailed tabulation of total student credit
accrual from all enrolled students to calculate a projected graduation
percentage over the three years and beyond. This evaluation can be tracked
to predict success for students and the program.
2. Post-Secondary preparation objective:
a. Year 1- 20% of graduates matriculate to a postsecondary or career training program.
b. Year 2- 25% of graduates matriculate to a postsecondary or career training program.
c. Year 3- 30% of graduates matriculate to a postsecondary or career training program.
Measurement of this objective will be tracked by the counselor and office
staff through proof of enrollment in a post-secondary program prior to
graduation or through personal contact with each graduate six months after
graduation. Graduates who have not entered a post-secondary program

within the first six months will be contacted during the next survey period.
Data will be entered into the student accounting database to be pulled when
necessary for review.