S. 1400 — Adult Education WORKS Act

This section amends the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) as follows: (1) revises section 3 definitions by striking one term, redesignating others, and adding new terms including "college and career navigator" (i.e., an individual providing tailored guidance on workforce development, postsecondary education, financial aid, and related services such as job readiness, digital and information literacy, and co-enrollment in WIOA titles I and II), "concurrent enrollment," "digital literacy skills," "foundational skill needs" (i.e., skills at or below 8th-grade level for youth or basic functioning levels necessary for adults), and "information literacy skills," with conforming amendments to cross-references in sections 121, 134, 170, and 211; (2) amends section 101 on state workforce development boards to require representation from adult education organizations and to direct boards, in collaboration with adult education providers, to promote one-stop centers' employment of college and career navigators; and (3) amends section 102(b)(2) state plan requirements to specify cost-sharing for integrated education and training and to prioritize professionalization of adult education through teacher credentialing, standards, in-service development, and career ladders. This section also authorizes $135 million for FY2026 and each of the four succeeding fiscal years to carry out WIOA section 171A on library-based and community-based navigators.

This section revises the purpose of the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (i.e., the first purpose of adult education and literacy activities) to specify that necessary skills include digital literacy skills and information literacy skills and to expand the goals from employment and economic self-sufficiency to employment, economic self-sufficiency, and full participation in all aspects of adult life. (As background, the act authorizes formula grants to states to support literacy, numeracy, and related activities for adults lacking a secondary school diploma or equivalent.)

This section revises definitions in the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act by (1) amending the definition of "adult education" to mean academic instruction and education services below the college placement level (from postsecondary level) that increase an individual's ability to read, write, and speak in English; perform mathematics or other activities necessary for a secondary school diploma or equivalent; transition to postsecondary education and training; develop and use digital literacy skills and information literacy skills (both new); and obtain employment; (2) adding definitions for "college placement level" (i.e., level required for placement in college-level coursework rather than developmental education, as demonstrated by a designated score on a placement test or other college-identified measure), "concurrent enrollment" (i.e., intentional simultaneous enrollment in more than one one-stop partner program to leverage resources and eliminate service duplication), and "digital literacy skills" (i.e., skills for using technology to find, evaluate, organize, create, and communicate information and for developing digital citizenship and responsible technology use); (3) adding a definition for "information literacy skills" (i.e., skills needed to find, retrieve, understand, evaluate, analyze, discern reliability and accuracy of, and effectively use information from spoken/broadcast words and videos, printed materials, digital content, data, and images); (4) in the definition of "eligible individual," replacing "is basic skills deficient" with "has foundational skills needs"; and (5) making conforming and technical changes throughout to incorporate digital literacy skills, information literacy skills, concurrent enrollment, and related concepts (e.g., inserting "and educational" after "in the economic" in the definition of "literacy"; authorizing workforce training to be provided concurrently with other activities such as adult basic education; and expanding "workforce preparation activities" to include development of digital and information literacy skills).

This section revises the authorization of appropriations for the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act—under which states receive formula grants to support adult basic education, literacy, English language acquisition, and family literacy programs—to $810 million for FY2026, $945 million for FY2027, $1.08 billion for FY2028, $1.215 billion for FY2029, and $1.35 billion for FY2030 (replacing authorizations of $577,667,000 for FY2015 through $678,640,000 for FY2020).

This section revises the performance accountability system for adult education and family literacy programs (i.e., those authorized under title II of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act) by subjecting such programs to the performance accountability provisions of WIOA §116 (previously, §3141 of title 29) and allowing measurable skill gains under that section to include those related to AEFLA purposes described in §202. The section further establishes a pilot program under which the Secretary of Education may approve applications from eligible agencies (i.e., state AEFLA agencies) to implement, for up to five years with possible extensions, alternative performance indicators for a subset of eligible providers if the indicators more accurately reflect adult education objectives; applications must be reviewed within 90 days, with a chance to revise upon disapproval. The Secretary must evaluate pilots nationally (first report due five years after the initial approval), identify and disseminate best practices, and report results to Congress, including comparisons to standard §116 measures.

This section requires each eligible agency receiving grants under the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act to maintain on its website, in an easily accessible format, information documenting non-Federal matching contributions for adult education and literacy activities (i.e., the 12% match for outlying areas and 25% match for states), including sources of such contributions and, for state funds, their distribution to eligible providers.

This section modifies state leadership activities under the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act by revising required activities for eligible agencies (i.e., states and outlying areas) using specified funds to develop and enhance their adult education systems. Specifically, it (1) adds family literacy to the areas of research-based instructional and programmatic practices eligible for technical assistance to providers and (2) expands assistance in technology use to include improving system efficiencies and expanding options for adult education. The section further revises permissible activities by (1) inserting "digital" before "implementation" in subparagraph (B); (2) adding a new subparagraph (E) authorizing development of content and models for family literacy programs; (3) in redesignated subparagraph (J), adding digital literacy skills and information literacy skills to coordination activities for English language acquisition; (4) in redesignated subparagraph (K), adding as an example of personnel development and retention the development and retention of policies for credentialing effective adult educators; (5) in redesignated subparagraph (L), broadening support for adult learners from those with learning disabilities or at lowest achievement levels to specific groups such as those with learning disabilities, at lowest literacy levels, or others, served in appropriate and meaningful ways; and (6) adding a new subparagraph (N) authorizing support for improved credentials, program quality standards, and certification and accreditation requirements to strengthen adult education and literacy programs.

This section amends grant requirements under the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (i.e., state awards of multiyear grants or contracts, on a competitive basis, to eligible providers of adult education and literacy activities) by (1) revising the special rule's cross-reference prohibiting use of funds for non-eligible individuals from subparagraphs (A) and (B) of section 203(4) to those of section 203(8); and (2) in considerations for awarding grants, replacing "learning disabilities" with "learning differences."

This section modifies local administrative cost limits under the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act by including professional development within the minimum 95% of funds that eligible providers must expend on adult education and literacy activities (previously categorized within the remaining amount, not to exceed 5%, used for planning, administration, and activities under 29 U.S.C. 3322(3) and (5)). (Thus, professional development activities are no longer subject to the 5% cap on noninstructional purposes.)

This section revises the required national leadership activities under the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (i.e., technical assistance, research, and evaluation to improve adult education and literacy programs nationwide) by (1) replacing assistance to States for meeting performance accountability requirements under section 3141 with assistance for section 116 data collection, timely and accessible reporting, and federal review for quality and consistency; (2) adding new requirements for technical assistance and grants to eligible agencies and providers implementing innovative performance accountability systems under section 212(b)(1), and for carrying out national evaluations required under section 212(b)(5)(A); and (3) redesignating existing paragraphs (2) through (4) as paragraphs (5) through (7). It further modifies allowable activities by (1) specifying digital literacy skills and information literacy skills in technical assistance for adults; and (2) expanding support in subsection (c)(2) to include effective practices and model programs for specific populations (e.g., adults with learning differences, lowest literacy/numeracy levels, parents supporting children's education, and family literacy programs); education and training for adults and their children; support services such as counseling, transportation, and child care; model programs and professional development for highly effective adult educators; initiatives for full-time staffing models; pathways to future success for adult learners; and voluntary State credentials, quality standards, certification, and accreditation.

This section revises the integrated English literacy and civics education program (i.e., state grants under the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act for adults who are English learners) by (1) eliminating the requirement that such education be provided in combination with integrated education and training activities, and (2) replacing the program's goal of preparing English language learners for unsubsidized employment in in-demand industries and occupations leading to economic self-sufficiency, with required integration into the local workforce development system, to instead preparing English learners for full participation in the economic, educational, and civic life of the community, which may include integration with the local workforce development system.