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RPDAC Directory | Work Plan | Meetings | Upcoming Calendar | Homework Assignments | Mailing List Contact Person: Cyndi Godbey (clg5723@garnet.acns.fsu.edu) REGION 25 - 24 - 99 Meeting Minutes
Chairman Lyndarae Martin called the meeting to order at 10:15 a.m. Chairman Martin asked Dr. Glenna Kyker to briefly discuss the various facilities that are in the vicinity. Dr. Kyker reported that the facility where we were meeting was Raiford, the oldest prison in the state. This facility is a maximum security institution which houses 10% of all death row inmates in the country. Florida State Prison in Starke is the next facility which is where the electric chair is maintained. Behind that is New River West, a minimum to medium security facility. New River East is across the street. About three miles away is the North Florida reception center where new North Florida admissions to the prison system are taken for assessment prior to placement. Chairman Martin pointed out that Dr. Kyker had recently been recognized for her volunteer service in literacy training at the prison. She has also been recognized for her success in the generalization of education from the classroom to the facility at large. She uses a management system called Cooperative Discipline in the classroom. This teaches social and emotional skills. She is also involved with a ministry which seeks out support for the program. Chairman Martin asked those present to introduce themselves.
COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT:
COUNCIL MEMBERS ABSENT:
GUESTS PRESENT:
FSU TEAM MEMBERS PRESENT:
DOE TEAM MEMBERS PRESENT:
Housekeeping/Announcements Cyndi Godbey passed out the handouts from the Florida Literacy Conference. Jane Murray indicated that she and Dr. Kyker talked about what was going on regarding the project in Region 2. Dr. Kyker said that they handed out the constituency diagram that has been being used and people really liked that as a tool. Chairman Martin asked that the Council members hand in their constituency diagrams for compilation by the project team. Upon initial review, Ms. Godbey indicated that she would need more information in order to compile this to reflect the network that is readily accessible to the Region 2 Council. She pointed out that this network should focus on identifying persons who have an interest - are stakeholders - in adult education. She added that this exercise is similar to how some politicians implement public awareness campaigns in order to ensure that they are reaching their constituencies. She asked that the Council review what they have completed and make adjustments accordingly. The Project Team will compile this for discussion at the next meeting. Travel reimbursement requests were gathered by Eqbal Darandari. 2. Old Business Review/Adoption of Minutes Dr. Kyker requested the following modifications to the minutes. She pointed out that the minutes need clarification on page 3, the second paragraph, last sentence as follows: "He clarified that when he refers to the Council, he is actually including the Council members and other individuals and entities which the Council members can engage and mobilize. It is not intended that the Council members, themselves, are the only ones who carry out all of the described tasks. Ms. Godbey pointed out that this is a primary reason for establishing the constituency network which is a focus of this project." Dr. Martin asked about whether the Councils will get to have input on planning for Year 2 of this initiative. Ms. Godbey responded that the Department of Education has indicated that they will arrange for a cross-regional meeting around the second week of July to evaluate what has been accomplished this first year. That meeting will probably determine if there is a second year; actual planing for the second year won't actually take place until after the deliverables are met and each Council knows where they want to go in the future. Ms. Godbey added that she is appreciative of the fact that the first year has been very demanding. Dr. Kyker had several other points in the minutes that required clarification on page 7, the first paragraph. In addition, Dr. Martin asked that the TABE not be followed by "test", since the acronym already incorporates this: Test of Adult Basic Education. There were several other corrections. Page 8, the second sentence should begin with Marilynn Stevenson. Page 8, the first paragraph should recognize Ernie Matthews as Dr. Ernie Matthews. Page 10, the last paragraph, the fourth sentence should be clarified: "Dr. Easton suggested that one alternative for selection of the institution could be to have them do an audition training instead of submitting a written proposal; this would be one way to deliver the required training this year in spite of the limited funds available for the regional support institution." The minutes were adopted with the changes that were requested. Regional Support Consortium Dr. Martin discussed a proposal for a regional support consortium. Her concept of this is that each institution could approach the Council with an idea for a training workshop and the Council could then determine whether they want to support that training. Dr. Martin reviewed the proposal that she and Ms. Godbey prepared regarding the support institution. She enumerated that the projected tasks could be divided between the partners in the consortium by having each assume full responsibility for all aspects of providing a given workshop which they have proposed to provide. Ms. Godbey pointed out that there will still need to be one lead institution, i.e., a fiscal agent for the consortium. Ms. Godbey asked for the floor to review the deliverables for the project:
In the context of Dr. Martin's proposal to have institutions present training proposals to the Council, Ms. Godbey added that her concern is that any training that is delivered is well-founded in the findings of a systematic and representative needs assessment. Dr. Martin clarified that there may be some training that the various partners or institutions want to do that is supported by the needs assessment. That is what they bring to the Council. John Denmark added that there needs to be some leadership or point at which the buck stops which suggests a bigger role for the regional support institution. This led to a discussion about the need for staff. Dr. Peter Easton pointed out that is why there needs to be a regional institution supported by the DOE. Dr. Martin expressed concern that there is so much to do and so little money. She added that each partnering institution is small and doesn't really have staff that they could free up to carry out this work. She added that each partnering institution is small and doesn't really have the staff that they could free up to carry out this work, but teamwork with shared responsibilities would help get the job done. Dr. Easton clarified that the Project Team can probably handle the bulk of the workload to ensure that deliverables are met this first year to alleviate some of the pressure in region 2, since sufficient funds are not available to entice any one institution to take on the associated responsibilities for a regional support institution. Mr. Denmark added that the whole idea behind the Council was to better bring together and coordinate what already exists; that should alleviate some of the need for additional funding this year. Dr Easton said the DOE is going to be looking at whether the Council has achieved the representativity in the needs assessment that exists in the various providers in the region. Curriculum Presentations Barbara Elzie was introduced to present materials on career development. She began by using an exercise on career exploration. She pointed out that she used to be administrator for the statewide dropout prevention programs. She described the CHOICES Program, which is a DOE product - specifically licensed by DOE. It costs about $8-900 a year for a site license. This site license is permissive in that the software can be installed on as many computers as necessary at the site. CHOICES is a state of the art comprehensive career information system that takes full advantage of expanding computer technology and the dynamic search engines of the Internet. CHOICES employs a flexible, client-centered approach that combines multimedia, graphics, seamless interface, and search strategies that empowers users to fully explore career and education options. CHOICES is a dynamic system that is annually updated with the latest information from the Department of Labor, Peterson's College and University database, Florida's educational institution governing boards, America's Job Bank, O-NET, and websites. Students can apply to colleges on-line, request financial information and use the CHOICES tools to create customized correspondence and resumes. The system includes Interest and Skills Checklists and a database of occupations and their outlook in Florida. It also allows clients who have been in the workforce to identify transferable work content skills from former positions to assist in the exploration of new work options. Ms. Elzie pointed out that 50 occupations have been adapted to welfare to work needs in a series of videos that accompany a career planning program called "Enter Here" which is also available through the DOE. The DOE additionally publishes a catalogue of curricula to assist providers in purchasing products. Regionally Based Training Dr. Easton continued the earlier review of the activities that were proposed in he original grant application and the corresponding permanent functions that those activities would transform to for the Councils. He pointed out the importance of the Council members recognizing that the designated permanent functions are expected to be ongoing activities even after FSU is no longer involved. He then reviewed the tasks that will need to be completed to achieve those and what the deliverables are that must be met by the end of September (see attached table of deliverables) to ensure funding to support the Council in the next year. He explained that this designation of tasks is what underlies every meeting. He reviewed the following as a summary of where the Region 2 is and where they need to go as it relates to carrying out the training:
Teresa Bestor discussed some of the curricula that DOE has on workforce readiness which Ms. Elzie didn't have time to cover. In particular, the GROW program is one that has just been delivered to DOE which has a ton of workforce readiness training curricula. Dr. Martin discussed what her facility has available. They are currently using two different curriculum within a Work Force Preparation Action Plan. This program is designed to meet the needs of adults entering the job market, either for the first time or returning after a period of unemployment. After a comprehensive assessment of ABE skills, needs, interests and aptitudes, the students develop a customized program tailored to their circumstances. The curriculum includes modules on: Career Path; Job Applications; Interview Preparation; Securing a Job; Maintaining a Job; Exploring Job Opportunities; Time Management; On the Job Behavior; References; Consumer Information; Maps, Charts and Graphs; Money Management; Salary Analysis; Understanding Your Paycheck; and Reading/Writing/Math Career Sets specific to certain occupational areas. Dr. Easton pointed out that the group needs to move ahead with a determination of what content should be included and acknowledged that there is still a lot of work to be done. He asked the group about the possibility of getting someone locally who can help generate the work that needs to be done in the region. He added that the project could pay for that person. The group agreed that the Project Team needs to get the word out to the Council about the need for a staff person who could free up 10-20 hours per work to work on this project to help get the training done. This solicitation should include a description of the duties of this person which would include the review/selection of the content/curricula for the training. (Ms. Bestor indicated that the DOE has a lot of good materials such as Enter Here and Walkabout; she will help review curricula so that these are considered.) The group asked that the solicitation also ask if there is material/information that they would like to have incorporated or exhibited at a resource table. The group then discussed the logistics for delivering the training. Dr. Pat Smittle said she could probably host the training at Santa Fe. Dr. Easton indicated that they may want to consider doing this in several locations to get out to a larger group of teachers. They agreed to identify three sites: Jacksonville, Gainesville, and Madison or Suwannee to cover the region. Dr. Kyker will secure a location in Fernandina Beach, Mr. Denmark and Ms. Bestor will check on Madison and Dr. Smittle will host the training in Gainesville. The schedule will tentatively be as follows:
It was pointed out that teachers will be paid if they attend the training on their own time. Dr. Martin suggested a round table format with six tables set up to cover various content/curricula related to workforce development/job readiness and career choices/ preparation/selection. People need to know that this area is now a part of adult education; it's not just vocational. This curricula will cover all areas. Dr. Martin added that one table might even include Department of Labor Job Market data. Ms. Bestor agreed to follow up on this. In consideration of the need to complete a more comprehensive needs assessment the group agreed that this model would provide the curricula that have been gathered and the needs assessment could be done with the training participants and they could be told that the information would be compiled and fed back to them for use in grant applications next year. Dr. Martin added that they could also have an open exchange between participants and DOE to offer input that might shape DOE grant guidelines next year. When the question arose whether this training would be acceptable to DOE, Mr. Denmark pointed out that this training could primarily be focused on enrichment as opposed to training. Tim Mahler suggested a theme of "Increase Your Hits" to try to make this training more attractive. He also volunteered to videotape the presentations for later use. Another marketing strategy could be to point out that inservice points may be available in the context of their county plan. (Mr. Mahler agreed to write this up.) Mr. Mahler pointed out that they need to do certificates of completion also. Dr. Martin suggested a schedule for the session; it was agreed that this could be planned out in more detail prior to the next Council meeting. Dr. Marin also pointed out that there will be a need to deal with copying costs. Dr. Easton indicated that this could be covered with the Region's allotment from the project budget. Training Evaluation Dr. Easton pointed out that a transfer assessment needs to be built into the training, so we need to know what it is that we want to achieve or transfer. What are the objectives? The group brain stormed on the following:
3. New Business There was no new business raised. 4. Close Meeting Set Next Meeting The next meeting was set for June 21, 1999 at Memorial United Methodist Church in Fernandina Beach. (This was subsequently changed to June 28.) Homework Assignments
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