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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4510 FILED ON: 8/3/2023
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 4119
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Jeffrey N. Roy
_________________
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act relative to adult education and workforce.
_______________
PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Jeffrey N. Roy10th Norfolk8/3/2023 1 of 9
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4510 FILED ON: 8/3/2023
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 4119
By Representative Roy of Franklin, a petition (subject to Joint Rule 12) of Jeffrey N. Roy that
the Executive Office of Education establish an adult workforce diploma program to assist certain
adults in obtaining high school diplomas and developing employability and career technical
skills. Education.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)
_______________
An Act relative to adult education and workforce.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. The executive office of education shall establish an adult workforce
2diploma program to assist adults age 22 and older to obtain a high school diploma and develop
3employability and career technical skills. The workforce diploma program may be delivered in
4campus-based, online, or hybrid modalities or a combination thereof.
5 For the purposes of this section the following words shall have the following meanings:
6 “Academic skill intake assessment,” a criterion-referenced assessment of numeracy and
7literacy skill with high reliability and validity. Assessments can be administered in person or
8online.
9 “Accredited”, holding an active accreditation from one of the seven United States
10regional accreditors, including:
11 (i) Middle States Commission on Higher Education; 2 of 9
12 (ii) New England Association of Schools and Colleges;
13 (iii) Higher Learning Commission;
14 (iv) Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities;
15 (v) Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges;
16 (vi) Accrediting Commission for Schools, Western Association of Schools and Colleges;
17 (vii) Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges; or
18 (viii) any successor entities or consolidations of the above, including Cognia.
19 “Approved program provider,” a public, non-profit, or other entity that meets the
20requirements of Section 2 below.
21 “Average cost per graduate,” total program funding dispersed to an approved program
22provider for a cohort during the time period from the beginning of the cohort through the end of
23the measurement period divided by the total number of students who graduated from the cohort
24during the measurement period.
25 “Career pathways coursework,” one or more courses that help a student enter or advance
26within a specific occupation or occupational cluster.
27 “Career advising services,” services designed to assist students in obtaining employment,
28including but not limited to resume development and mock interviews.
29 “Coaching,” proactive communication between the approved program provider and the
30student related to the student’s pace and progress through their learning plan. 3 of 9
31 “Cohort,” students who enter the program between July 1 and June 30 of each program
32year.
33 “Employability skills certification,” a certificate earned by demonstrating professional
34non-technical skills through assessment, and shall include but are not limited to the program
35standards of the United States Department of Labor’s “Skills to Pay the Bills: Mastering Soft
36Skills for Workplace Success.”
37 “Executive office”, the executive office of education.
38 “Graduate,” a student who has successfully completed all of the approved program
39provider requirements in order to obtain a high school diploma.
40 “Graduation rate,” the total number of graduates from a cohort who graduated during the
41measurement period divided by the total number of students included in the same cohort for
42which a provider has received funding.
43 “Graduation requirements,” course and credit requirements needed to earn a high school
44diploma from an approved program provider.
45 “High school diploma,” a diploma issued by an Accredited institution. A diploma issued
46under this section is recognized as a secondary school diploma by the commonwealth of
47Massachusetts.
48 “Learning plan,” a documented plan for courses and/ or credits needed for each
49individual in order to complete program and approved program provider graduation
50requirements. 4 of 9
51 “Measurement period,” the two-year period beginning July 1 of the year the cohort
52begins through June 30 of the subsequent state fiscal year.
53 “Mentoring,” a direct relationship between a coach and a student to facilitate the
54completion of the student’s learning plan designed to prepare the student to succeed in the
55program and their future endeavors.
56 “Milestones,” objective measures of progress for which payment is made to an approved
57program provider under this section, including earned units of high school credit, attainment of
58an employability skills certificate, attainment of an industry-recognized credential or stackable
59credentials, and attainment of an accredited high school diploma.
60 “Probationary status,” the status of any approved program providers that does not meet
61the program performance standards as identified in Section 3 and 4.
62 “Request for qualifications,” A request for interested public, non-profit, or other entities
63to submit evidence that they meet the qualifications established in section X all of which once
64confirmed by the executive office of labor and workforce development that they meet the
65qualifications become approved program providers.
66 “Student,” a participant in the workforce diploma program who is age 22 or older, who is
67a resident of the commonwealth, and who has not yet earned a high school diploma.
68 “Transcript evaluation,” a documented summary of credits earned in previous public or
69private accredited high schools compared with program and approved program provider
70graduation requirements. 5 of 9
71 “Unit of high school credit,” credit awarded based on a student’s demonstration that they
72have successfully met the content expectations for the credit area as defined by subject area
73standards, expectations, or guidelines.
74 “Workforce credential,” a third-party credential that is either a part of a sequence of
75credentials that can be accumulated over time to build an individual’s qualifications to advance
76along a career pathway and results in a certificate, or verifies an individual’s qualification or
77competence and that is issued by a third party with the relevant authority to issue said credential.
78 “Workforce diploma program,” program to assist adults 22 and older to obtain a high
79school diploma and develop employability and career technical skills.
80 SECTION 2. The executive office shall issue a request for qualifications for entities to
81become approved program providers and participate in the workforce diploma program by
82August 15 or annually thereafter. The criteria for approved program providers shall include, but
83shall not be limited to:
84 i) regionally accredited high school diploma-granting entity;
85 ii)ability to provide Academic Skill Intake Assessments and Transcript Evaluations;
86 iii)ability to develop a Learning Plan for each Student that integrates Graduation
87Requirements and career goals;
88 iv)provides a course catalog that includes all courses necessary to meet Graduation
89Requirements;
90 v) ability to provide remediation opportunities in literacy and numeracy; 6 of 9
91 vi)ability to provide Employability Skills Certification;
92 vii)ability to provide Career Pathways Coursework;
93 viii)ability to provide preparation for Workforce Credentials;
94 ix)ability to provide Career Advising Services.
95 An approved program provider may not receive funding for a student under this section if
96the approved program provider receives federal or state funding or private tuition for that
97student.
98 The executive office shall announce the approved program providers no later than
99October 15, with authorization for the approved program providers to begin enrolling students
100starting no later than November 15, annually. Approved program providers shall maintain their
101approval without reapplying annually provided that the provider has not been removed from the
102approved program provider list in accordance with section 4.
103 The executive office shall pay approved program providers for the completion of the
104following milestones by each student.
105 a. $250 for the completion of each half Unit of High School Credit
106 b. $250 for the attainment of an Employability Skills Certification
107 c. $250 for the attainment of a Workforce Credential Requiring up to 50 hours of
108training
109 d. $500 for the attainment of a Workforce Credential Requiring between 51-100
110hours of training 7 of 9
111 e. $750 for the attainment of a Workforce Credential requiring more than 100 hours
112of training
113 f. $1,000 for the attainment of an Accredited High School Diploma
114 Approved program providers shall submit monthly invoices to the executive office no
115later than the 10th calendar day of each month for milestones met in the previous calendar
116month. The executive office shall pay approved program providers in the order in which invoices
117are submitted until all available funds are exhausted. The executive office shall provide a written
118update to approved program providers by the last calendar day of each month including the
119aggregate total dollars that have been paid to approved program providers to date and the
120estimated number of enrollments still available for the program year.
121 SECTION 3. On or before August 15 of the second fiscal year of the program, Approved
122Program Providers shall provide a report covering paragraphs (i) through (vii) of this section.
123On or before August 15, after the conclusion of the first measurement period of the program and
124each year thereafter in which program payments were disbursed for the prior state fiscal year,
125each approved program provider that received payments pursuant to Section 2 under the program
126for the preceding state fiscal year shall report the following information to the department by
127cohort:
128 i) the total number of students for whom the approved program provider has
129received payments;
130 ii)the total number of credits earned by students for whom the approved program
131provider is receiving payments; 8 of 9
132 iii)the total number of employability skills certifications issued to students for whom
133the approved program provider is receiving payments;
134 iv)the total number of workforce credentials earned for each tier of funding
135described in section 2 by students for whom the approved program provider is receiving
136payments;
137 v) the total number of students for whom the approved program provider is receiving
138payments who receive high school diplomas;
139 vi)the average cost per graduate for the cohort for which the measurement period
140ended in the prior state fiscal year and updated average cost per graduate for any previous cohort
141for which the measurement period has ended but the students from the cohort achieved one of the
142outcomes described in section 3 in the prior state fiscal year;
143 vii)The graduation rate for the cohort for which the measurement period ended in the
144prior state fiscal year and updated graduation rate from any previous cohort for which the
145measurement period has ended but students from the cohort achieved one of the outcomes
146described in section 2.
147 SECTION 4. Beginning at the end of the second fiscal year of the program, the executive
148office shall review data from each approved program provider to ensure that each is achieving
149minimum program performance standards, including minimum of 50% graduation rate for each
150cohort measurement period, as developed by the department. The average cost per graduate shall
151be $7,000 or less for each cohort’s measurement period.
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153 The executive office shall place an approved program provider that does not meet the
154minimum program performance standards identified in Section 3 and 4 probationary status for
155the remainder of the fiscal year. During this period, an approved program provider must provide
156any additional reporting required by the department. The provider must provide biweekly reports
157as prescribed by the requirements in Section 3. An approved program provider that does not
158meet the minimum performance standards for two consecutive years shall be removed from the
159approved program provider list.