Adult Education and Literacy

About Illinois Workforce Education

Economic and demographic changes are dramatically increasing the need for adult education, literacy, and English as a Second Language programs. Millions of Illinois residents lack the literacy skills that they need to obtain good jobs and to function well in an increasingly complex society. There is a direct correlation between higher literacy levels and higher income, numbers of weeks worked, children’s success in school, and individual and family health. Large numbers of immigrants have come to this country seeking education, work, and a higher quality of life, yet many of these immigrants do not have the English literacy or other skills to enable them to meet social, educational, and work demands. To address the scope and diversity of need for adult education and literacy skills by both individuals and employers requires a strategy involving a variety of providers. Community colleges, public schools, community-based organizations, local education agencies, and Regional Offices of Education are uniquely suited to provide the education and services needed by various groups of adult learners.

The Adult Education programs currently funded by ICCB’s AELFA program are identified in the Adult Education and Literacy Funded Provider Directory.

FY 2025 and FY2026 Adult Education and Literacy Funded Provider Directory

Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act: Title II Partners and Information

The following resources are related to the implementation of the Adult Education and Family Literacy Grant under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.

AmericanJobCenter Logo

Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration

National Reporting System (NRS)

Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE)

Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act

ATB – Ability to Benefit Provision

Ability to Benefit (ATB)

Ability to Benefit (ATB), a provision of section 484(d) of the Higher Education Act (HEA), aids in equity of access to Federal Financial Aid for adult learners lacking a high school diploma. The ATB provision allows eligible adult learners who are participating in a career pathway program as amended in Public Law 114-113 under section 484(d)(2) of the HEA at a Title IV eligible institution to have access to financial aid. However, the two currently US Department of Education approved methods of ATB are underutilized due to the challenges they place on students. Thus, an alternative plan has been created by Illinois, and approved by the U.S. Department of Education, to overcome barriers to postsecondary attainment and scale ATB use.  The purpose of Illinois’ Ability to Benefit State-Defined Process is to increase access to federal financial aid for eligible adults without a high school diploma, who with proper support can be as successful as their peers in postsecondary

Illinois ATB Alternative State Plan

Approval Letter

Plan Modules

ATB Guidebook

Other ATB Resources:

ATB Approved Tests – November 2020

DOE’s FAQ for Eligible Career Pathways

One-pager about IL Alternative Plan

FAQ about IL’s Proposed State Plan

2019 Ability to Benefit Survey Results

High School Equivalency

Reopening of Illinois High School Equivalency Testing Sites.

The Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) has announced the reopening of high school equivalency (HSE) testing centers in public-facing, private, and walk-in testing facilities beginning June 16, 2020. All test centers must follow the ICCB guidelines for safely reopening, available here.

To determine if a test site has reopened near you, please utilize each respective vendor’s website for registration and scheduling:

For GED® registration: https://ged.com/
For HiSET® registration: https://hiset.org/

Test takers can find additional information on each exam and testing policies here: Test Takers

The ICCB is continuing to monitor the situation and will provide updates through our website: www.iccb.org. If you have any questions, please free to email us at: hse@illinois.gov.

The Illinois State Constitution Test Requirement Returns

As of July 1, 2022, the Constitution requirement for awarding the Illinois High School Equivalency Certificate returns. It was previously suspended due to the COVID-19 virus and the limited access to testing. In order to complete the requirement, a test-taker will only need to complete the new State of Illinois Constitution Module.

The new online Illinois Constitution Module (Constitution Module) is available beginning July 1 at http://ilconstitution.org/. It is estimated it will take two hours for a student to complete. It is available for HSE candidates to take independently and does not require proctoring at a testing center. Testing Centers will no longer offer the previous Constitution Test. After completion of the Constitution Module, completers will be asked to provide information about themselves that will be used to match the completion with HSE records in the Illinois High School Equivalency Portal. Completers will also be able to print or download a certificate showing the completion.

A student who completed the previous Constitution Test or can demonstrate passing the Constitution Test in high school does not need to complete the Constitution Module.

The suspension of the Constitution Test requirement between February 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022 means:

Anyone who completed and passed an ICCB-approved high school equivalency exam (GED® or HiSET®) based on the State of Illinois requirements between February 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022 will be issued an Illinois High School Equivalency (ILHSE) Certificate without the need to complete the Constitution requirement.
Anyone who completed and passed a high school equivalency exam (GED®, HiSET®, or TASC™) but did not pass the constitution test prior to February 1, 2021, will be issued an Illinois High School Equivalency (ILHSE) Certificate upon request without the need to complete the Constitution requirement

High school equivalency records are held at the county level in Illinois. To request copies of an official transcript or Illinois High School Equivalency Certificate, candidates must contact the Regional Office of Education for the county where the test was taken.

High school equivalency candidates may find the appropriate Regional Office of Education to contact by searching our ROE locator at: http://iccbdbsrv.iccb.org/roesearch/citysearch.cfm

If you have any questions, please contact the ICCB at: iccb.hse@illinois.gov

Resources

Advisory Council

Public Act 91-0830 provides for governance of Adult Education and Family Literacy (AEFL) by the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB), stating the agency “shall establish an advisory council consisting of all categories of eligible providers; agency partners, such as the State Board of Education, the Department of Human Services, the Illinois Department of Employment Security, the Secretary of State Literacy Program; and other stakeholders to identify, deliberate, and make recommendations to the State Board on adult education policy and priorities.”

Membership – FY 2022, FY 2021

Minutes

Adult Education Equity Survey

Equity Survey

Adult Education Advisory Council Recommendations
Curriculum & Instruction Recommendations:

WIOA

The Draft 2020 WIOA Unified State Plan

Welcome to the ICCB’s Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) web page. On this page we will post links to important documents such as the WIOA law, proposed rules, critical sites, and archived copies of the new WIOA newsletter, which will go out via email every other week with important updates and links. Information reference in the newsletters will be linked to this page.

What is WIOA?

WIOA is the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014. WIOA retains many of the functions and structures of WIA, the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, and incorporates certain new components, including expanded partnerships and greater coordination and alignment between education and workforce entities.

WIOA Authorization Website

WIOA comprises four primary core partners and twelve required partners:

Title I – Workforce (adult, youth, & dislocated workers) [DCEO]
Title II – Adult Education [ICCB]
Title III – Wagner Peyser [IDES]
Title IV – Vocational Rehabilitation [DHS]

WIOA: The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act

Full Text and WIOA Resources

Proposed Rules, First Round:

ICCB Comments on the Notice for Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) for WIOA:

ICCB WIOA Newsletters:

Illinois Works Together Newsletters can be found here.

LWIA Contact List Now Available

The Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity (DCEO) keeps a listing with the contact information for key individuals affiliated with each of the LWIAs and LWIBs.

The purpose of the list is to serve as the official list of contacts for each local workforce investment area’s Chief Elected Official(s), LWIB Chair, LWIB Staff, WIA Program Services Administrator and DCEO Office of Employment & Training Staff.

To access this contact list, click here.

WIOA Implementation Task Advisory Groups (TAGs)

In Illinois, several local level Task Advisory Groups have been established to provide a local perspective on issues related to the implementation of the Federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). The seven groups follow:

Governance
Planning
Policy
Operations
Performance
Technology
Youth

Each group has two primary tasks:

To make recommendations to State policymakers in specific areas identified for each group, and
To identify significant requirements of the WIOA for which Illinois will provide specific comments in conjunction with Federal rulemaking.

The current membership from the community college system, members of Adult Education (AE) and Career & Technical Education (CTE) administration and staff, as well as ICCB staff, of each TAG follows and will be updated as needed:

1. Governance

Joanne Kantner, AE – Kishwaukee College
Peggy Heinrich, AE – Elgin Community College
Jean Kartje, CTE – College of DuPage
Karen Hunter Anderson – ICCB
Jennifer Foster – ICCB
Lavon Nelson – ICCB

2. Planning

Tawanna Nickens, AE – Parkland College
Val Harris, AE – Lewis & Clark Community College
Ali O’Brien, CTE – College of Lake County
Jennifer Foster – ICCB
Lavon Nelson – ICCB

3. Policy

Rocki Wilkerson, AE – Decatur Public Schools
David Wu, AE – Pui Tak, Chicago
Michael Boyd, CTE – Kankakee Community College
Jennifer Foster – ICCB
Brian Durham – ICCB
Lavon Nelson – ICCB

4. Operations

Glenda Nicke, AE – Black Hawk College
Lisa Atkins, AE – Southwestern Illinois College
Dave Kietzmann, CTE – Danville Area Community College
Lavon Nelson – ICCB
Marilyn Schmidt – ICCB

5. Performance

Dan Deasy, AE – College of DuPage
Bob Fittin, AE – Greater West Township Project
David Beer, CTE – Waubonsee Community College
Nathan Wilson – ICCB
Jay Brooks – ICCB

6. Technology

Randy Fletcher, CTE – Joliet Junior College
Jeff Newell – ICCB
Todd Jorns – ICCB

7. Youth

Val Harris, AE – Lewis & Clark Community College
Wendy Howerter, CTE – Lincoln Land Community College
Amanda Corso – ICCB
Ben McDaniel – ICCB

Funding Opportunities

Funding

Early School Leaver Transition Program

Allocations and Appropriations & Supporting Technical Data Appendix

View the Annual Data

Fiscal Year 2022

FY 2022 Adult Education and Literacy Awards

FY 2022 Early School Leaver Transition Program (ESLTP) Grant Notice of Funding Opportunity

Fiscal Year 2020

FY 2020 Adult Education and Literacy Additional Federal Basic Allocations

Area Plans

According to 105 ILCS 405/2-4, the Area Planning Council shall provide for the development and coordination of adult education programs in an Area Planning Council Region. The Plan has broad purposes including: identifying services currently being offered to the identified population, producing a plan for continuing services, identifying gaps in services, identifying reasons for these gaps and as a planning tool to identify ways to service the identified service gaps.

Provider Resources

#APC Manual

Fiscal Year 2024 Provider Manual

APC
Please find the Area Planning Council forms below. The Area Plan must be submitted to the ICCB Compliance email (ICCB.ael.compliance@illinois.gov) by February 1, 2024. Please reach out to your ICCB Program Support for questions.

Ability to Benefit
Ability to Benefit (ATB), a provision of section 484(d) of the Higher Education Act (HEA), aids in equity of access to Federal Financial Aid for adult learners lacking a high school diploma. The ATB provision allows eligible adult learners who are participating in a career pathway program as amended in Public Law 114-113 under section 484(d)(2) of the HEA at a Title IV eligible institution to have access to financial aid. However, the two currently US Department of Education approved methods of ATB are underutilized due to the challenges they place on students. Thus, an alternative plan has been created by Illinois, and approved by the U.S. Department of Education, to overcome barriers to postsecondary attainment and scale ATB use. The purpose of Illinois’ Ability to Benefit State-Defined Process is to increase access to federal financial aid for eligible adults without a high school diploma, who with proper support can be as successful as their peers in postsecondary

Other ATB Resources:

Adult Learner Forms

Adult Education and Literacy Reporting

FY24 Adult Education Grant Budgets

Requests for extensions must be submitted in writing at least 10 days prior to the report due date.

Request for Extension Form
All reports, budget modifications, and payment requests must be submitted to grantpayments@illinois.gov
Expenditure Reports, Payment Request Templates, and Budget Modification templates can be found on the Grant Opportunities Page found here https://www.iccb.org/grant-opportunities/

Fiscal Documents

Programmatic Documents

AEFLA Programmatic Quarterly Report
IELCE Programmatic Quarterly Report**Note: This is the same report as the AEFLA Work Plan but placed here for your convenience since there needs to be a separately submitted report for AEFLA and IELCE.

Quarter Reports – DUE October 30

Submit your AEFLA and IELCE Expenditure Reports and Programmatic Quarterly Reports.

Quarter 2 Reports – DUE January 30

Submit your AEFLA and IELCE Expenditure Reports and Programmatic Quarterly Reports.

Quarter 3 Reports – DUE April 30

Submit your AEFLA and IELCE Expenditure Reports and Programmatic Quarterly Reports.

FINAL BUDGET MODIFICATION – Due May 31

Budgets within a single funding source may be modified without requesting approval from the ICCB as long as the changes do not affect 2 CFR 200.308. Budget modifications needing ICCB approval must be signed by the Grantee’s authorized representative upon submission for approval.

Quarter 4 Reports – DUE July 30

Submit your AEFLA and IELCE Expenditure Reports and Programmatic Quarterly Reports. Additional reports include the Data Quality Checklist and the ADA Report.
Data Quality Checklist
The ADA Report

FINAL DATE FOR A REQUEST FOR FEDERAL FUNDS
All federal funds must have been requested no later than August 1. Funds requested after this date will not be processed. It is strongly encouraged that all Federal funds be requested prior to the August 1^st

End of Year Reports – DUE August 31

Submit the following reports.
One Stop Infrastructure Report
Career and Training Report
Equipment Inventory Report
DAISI Data Verification **From DAISI**
Certified Units of Instruction **From DAISI**
Signed Enrollment Report **From DAISI**
Time Distribution Sheets are required to be maintained at the program level. These do not need to be submitted to ICCB but should be made available upon request.
Time Distribution Sheet

Course Approvals

PCS CIP Code Combinations

Directions for submitting course approvals and / or course modifications can be found in the Adult Education Provider Manual. Below are the forms and the links necessary to complete the submissions.

Data Management – Resources to help manage your program data.

High School Equivalency Resources

All forms related to the High School Equivalency, Access to the GED Manager, Corrections Request for GED Manager Access, HiSET, and testing are found here: http://www2.iccb.org/adult_ed/hse/administrators-and-roes/

Integrated English Language and Civics Education

IELCE Class Competencies Checklist
IELCE Individual Competencies Checklist

Remote Learning Find approved distance learning platforms or submit information for approvals.

Remote and Distance Learning Approvals and Information

Provider Updates Jot Forms

Provider Updates

Work based Learning Resources and Documents

- Bridge Programs
  - Every adult education provider is required to have an active Bridge Program with enrolled learners. If you have questions about developing a program or any ICCB expectations, please reach out to your Regional Support and they will connect you to appropriate resources and professional development.
  - Bridge Program Approval Form
- Integrated Career and Academic Preparation System (ICAPS)
  - Every adult education provider is required to have an active ICAPS Program with enrolled learners. Resources and information about developing and maintaining an ICAPS program.
  - ICAPS Information
  - ICAPS Approval Form

Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act: Title II Partners and Information
Link to resources related to the implementation of the Adult Education and Family Literacy Grant under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act.

Student Resources

Finish your GED®

Find your adult education provider

Use the Program Directory link above to find an Adult Education program to help you prepare for testing. Use the GED Testing Service link above to register for testing.

When your GED is finished, you will need to meet the Illinois Constitution Requirement (https://www2.iccb.org/adult_ed/hse/students-test-takers/the-u-s-and-illlinois-constitution-test/) to complete your State of Illinois High School Diploma.