Essay Contest

Contest Topic and Guidelines
Essay Topic: How Has Adult Education Helped Me to Reach
the Next Level of My Career Goal?
 Submission: Essays should be submitted to the State Professional
Development Team. The following staff should be copied on the submission: Dan
DeVers ddevers@dwd.in.gov , Nancy Karazsia nkarazsia@dwd,in.gov , and
Jose Torres jtorres@dwd.in.gov . In addition to the essay, a photo of the
contestant and brief profile of the adult education student must be included.
 Deadline: Entries must be received by Thursday March 12, 2020.
 Length: Essays should be no longer than 750 words. This is a maximum word
count; if your response to the prompt can
be clearly and powerfully communicated in fewer than 750 words, that is great.
 Eligibility: Any adult education student enrolled during the program year of the
contest may participate. The student must also agree to attend the
award/recognition ceremony, and agree to sign a release form for marketing
purposes.
 Language: Essays should be written in English and represent the student’s
original work.  Students are welcome to write their essay in their native language
(if not English) but it must be translated into English for submission.
 Original Work: A teacher can provide pre-writing activities and appropriate
review, editing, and translation support, but the ideas, content, structure and style
of the actual essay MUST come from the student alone.
 Titling Documents for Submission: To help us organize and manage the
significant number of files that are submitted, please use the following guidelines
when titling your file prior to submission. Essays that are not saved with this
naming format will lose 2 of a total possible 15 points in the review
process.
 Name the file “LastnameFirstinitial_Essay2020”. For example, Whitney
Retallic – “RetallicW_Essay2020”.
 Winners: A panel of judges will award one Winner and a limited number of
Honorable Mentions. The Winner’s essay, as well as the Honorable Mentions,
will be featured on our website, alongside a brief profile and picture of the
authors. In addition the Winner and the Honorable Mentions will receive
recognition at the state IAACE conference and will have the opportunity to read
his/her essay to the membership.
 Evaluation Criteria: Essays will be evaluated using the following criteria:

 INTRODUCTION/THESIS — The essay effectively takes into account, the
entirety of the prompt. If an essay does not make an earnest attempt to
address the Contest’s prompt, it will not be considered for review.
 MAIN POINTS/Body Paragraphs — The essay is organized and well-structured.
 ORGANIZATION Structure Transitions — The thesis/main message is clear and
supported throughout. The essay does not stray from the main message.
 STYLE Writer’s Voice, Audience Awareness — The essay uses a highly engaging
and personal style. The author finds fresh or interesting ways to convey ideas.
The author approaches the topic from a unique perspective.
 MECHANICS — Punctuation, spelling, capitalization are correct.
Tips & Suggestions for Writing Your Essay
1. Make the essay personal. Make a personal statement or tell a story that provides
insight into your own experiences and views. Make sure you address how adult
education has changed your life by helping you to attain your Next Level of
Career Advancement. Use the pronoun “I”.
2. Use “talk it out” or “rapid free write” activities to spark ideas. Pretend a journalist
or interviewer has asked you to comment on the essay prompt. Respond out
loud, off the top of your head. Record your response or have a friend take notes
about what you said. Alternatively, give yourself five minutes to write a response.
Don’t stop to edit yourself. Just write. Analyze your response. What worked?
What didn’t? Were there any particularly strong points or angles?  Repeat the
activity. This time, deliberately change your approach (try to answer the question
a different way).
3. Try an idea web or mapping brainstorm activity. Use a graphic organizer or make
your own. Draw a circle or bubble at the center of a piece of paper. Write 1-3
words that capture the essay topic or theme inside the bubble. Think about
words, ideas, memories associated with the theme. Write each in other bubbles
surrounding the one in the center.

Announced September 23, 2019

Have you seen the success story page?

Check it out, click here!

Announced August 15, 2019

***If you have WEIs that were approved last fiscal year, and you will be rolling those courses over to the current 2019-2020 fiscal year, email the WEI coordinator with approved WEI application and WEI Inters spreadsheets.

WEI Process 2019-2020

The following steps should be followed to get WEI courses approved.

1. Develop curriculum with Employer to meet their specific training needs.
2. Fill out WEI application, WEI Inters spreadsheets, and include supporting documents.
3. Create the course in Inters, and ensure the information matches the information on the WEI spreadsheet.
4. Submit to AEC for review.
5. AEC will approve by forwarding application materials to WEI Coordinator.
6. WEI Coordinator will give final approval, and course will be activated in Inters by Data Team.
7. Final approval with approval number will be sent to AEC and Provider.

The purpose of WIOA, as written in the bill (HR 803), is just six sentences:

“(1) To increase, for individuals in the United States, particularly those individuals with barriers to employment, access to and opportunities for the employment, education, training, and support services they need to succeed in the labor market.
“(2) To support the alignment of workforce investment, education, and economic development systems in support of a comprehensive, accessible, and high-quality workforce development system in the United States.
“(3) To improve the quality and labor market relevance of workforce investment, education, and economic development efforts to provide America’s workers with the skills and credentials necessary to secure and advance in employment with family-sustaining wages and to provide America’s employers with the skilled workers the employers need to succeed in a global economy.
“(4) To promote improvement in the structure of and delivery of services through the United States workforce development system to better address the employment and skill needs of workers, jobseekers, and employers.
“(5) To increase the prosperity of workers and employers in the United States, the economic growth of communities, regions, and states, and the global competitiveness of the United States.
“(6) For purposes of subtitle A and B of title I, to provide workforce investment activities, through statewide and local workforce development systems, that increase the employment, retention, and earnings of participants, and increase attainment of recognized postsecondary credentials by participants, and as a result, improve the quality of the workforce, reduce welfare dependency, increase economic self-sufficiency, meet the skill requirements of employers, and enhance the productivity and competitiveness of the nation.”

WIOA was designed to meet needs of the current economy. In general, it includes the same core programs as WIA, maintains separate funding streams, creates common measures across programs for youth and adults, and requires a unified state plan for programs. It is intended to streamline program services, reporting, and administration, and encourages strategic alignment and coordination to strengthen and improve the broad workforce development system. Transition to WIOA requires strong partnerships at the state and local level.

WIOA retains and expands the purposes of AEFLA in assisting adults to become literate and achieve the knowledge and skills necessary for employment and economic self-sufficiency. Helping adults achieve high school equivalency level is critical, but is not the end goal. In addition to addressing transition from adult education to post-secondary education and training in performance measures, the purpose of the Act has been expanded to include transition to postsecondary education and training through career pathways.

Additionally, services to immigrants and English language learners is expanded from reading, writing, speaking and comprehending English language to include improving math skills and understanding American government, individual freedoms, and responsibilities of citizenship.

• For more information on WIOA, read Linda Warner’s blog piece “From WIA to WIOA – What Does it Mean.”
• The OCTAE website is a good resource for materials regarding WIOA and AEFLA –
  http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/AdultEd/wioa-reauthorization.html#3