About

Who we are and what we do

OUR MISSION

Mendocino/Lake Consortium members are committed to collaborating and sharing resources across historical and institutional boundaries to provide adults in our region seamless and integrated educational and career pathways and services with multiple opportunities for successful entry and exit.

OUR HISTORY

The Mendocino Lake Adult & Career Education (MLACE) was formed in 2013 under the AB 86 Adult Education Regional Planning Process. AB 86 mandated that the California Department of Education (CDE) and the California Community Colleges Chancellors Office (CCCO) create 72 consortia across California that aligned geographically with community college districts.

Each consortium was tasked with a 3-year planning process to rethink and redesign the way Adult Education Services are provided across the state region by region. This process was necessary due to a huge decline in provisions of Adult Education after the 2008 recession. The ML-ACE is made up of nine voting member organizations and multiple partner organizations and community stakeholders in Mendocino and Lake Counties. In 2015, the State Legislature passed AB 104 the Adult Education Block Grant (AEBG). In 2018, AEBG became CAEP, California Adult Education Program. ML-ACE was granted approximately $1.7 M for three years to implement their AB 104 plan. ML-ACE is now in their third strategic planning cycle 2022-2025. Click here for our current three-year plan.

AFFILIATIONS

State of California Department of Education

California Community Colleges

RESOURCES

MLACE Structure

VOTING MEMBERS

Mendocino County Office of Education

Lake County Office of Education

Mendocino Community College

Ft. Bragg USD

Willits USD

CONSORTIUM PARTNERS

Upper Lake USD
Laytonville USD
Potter Valley USD
Lake Port USD
Correctional Facilities
Ukiah Valley Assoc. for Habilitation
WIOA Title II

COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS

Department of Labor
Employment Development
Health and Human Services
Redwood Coast Regional Center
Mendocino WIB
Mendocino Private Industry Council
Mendocino Works
Social Services Cal Works
Workability TPP

AEBG Requirements

The AB 104 Adult Education Block Grant (AEBG) requires that MLACE focuses on seven program areas in the realm of Adult Education:

1. Elementary and Secondary Education
2. ESL, Citizenship
3. Adults with Disabilities
4. Short-term Career Technical Education
5. Pre-apprenticeship Programs
6. Older Adult Programs for Entry into Workforce
7. Programs for Adults to Assist Children to Develop Academic Skills

The MLACE has mostly focused on Elementary and Secondary Education, ESL and Citizenship, Adults with Disabilities and Career Technical Education.

(for more information about the definition of these program areas click here)

In addition the AEBG requires that the MLACE focuses on five main Objectives within these program areas:
1. Seamless Transition
2. Gaps in Services
3. Accelerated Learning
4. Professional Development
5. Leveraging Structures

(for more information about the definition of these Objectives click here)

AEBG funds can only be used for programs that are targeted at students that are 18 years or older.

MLACE Priority Activities

MLCAE Priorities

The MLCAE works from a list of priorities set in our 3-year planning process, our 15-16 annual plan and our 16-17 annual plan. The priorities were created through a collaborative process with MLCAE members and active partners. The priority activities were created keeping in mind the AEBG program areas and Objectives.

All AEBG Activities Prioritized with their # of votes
4 Create vocational programs to meet labor market needs e.g. teacher credentialing program 13
3 “Embedded” access in adult education to student services, including counseling, guidance and follow-up 11
3 Take the consortium to the public with a marketing and outreach strategy that targets potential students, employers and counties 9
4 Developing non-credit basic skills HiSet and diploma program in Round Valley 8
4 Create opportunities for students to learn through work place experiences including partnering with employers to develop pre- apprenticeships and coordinating and aligning student internships 8
3 Align the curriculum and cost of all adult programs (CTE, HS Diploma, HiSET testing, ESL) in Mendocino and Lake Counties 7
4 Get students with disabilities into competitive integrated employment 6
4 HiSET prep and testing in North County 5
5 ESL incorporated with workforce preparation integrated training model; IBEST model for pairing ESL with CTE; 5
3 Collaborate to develop curriculum which promotes successful transition from various locations and educational programs 4
4 Explore Mendocino College offering courses at consortium sites beginning with C.N.A. 3
6 Form Professional Learning Communities within disciplines and across locations. 3
6 Support local summits around AEBG program areas. 2
4 Identify gaps and redundancies in services and ensure that students have equal access to programs (i.e. medical, ESL, ABE) both physically and electronically in Lake and Mendocino Counties 2
3 Align levels of math English and ESL (across members) so that students can move seamlessly from locations 2
7 Work with WDB to develop and strengthen career pathways and in developing opportunities for pre-apprenticeships and internships 2
3 Develop strategies or protocols between partners in addressing gaps in services/ programs 1
4 Training in job development and job matching skills for students with disabilities 1
7 Define and “map” pathways with multiple entry and exit points for each student (in-progress) 0
6 Support consortium member and regional partners in pursuing professional development opportunities with emphasis in across institution team attendance. 0
4 Develop distance learning for Adult Education basic skills, citizenship, ESL, academically assisting K-12 school children. 0
3 Provide regional college model “educational plan” for adult students service providers. 0
4 Citizenship classes include worker responsibilities and rights. 0
5 Create clear expectations for learning outcomes within programs and courses and identify major milestones along pathways to indicate progress points 0
3 Develop common tools for gauging students’ readiness for the next levels of a pathway 0
4 Create more computer lab settings in member and partner locations including high speed internet to facilitate synchronistic online learning 0
4 Work with established collaboration in the Career Pathways Trust Grant to identify willing partners for pre-apprenticeship 0
3 Study current placement tools & reconfigure course pathways including adult school through community college 0
5 “Just in Time” remediation 0
6 Provide professional development opportunities in online distance learning, BSE skills for college readiness; Just in Time remediation, strategies of accelerated learning, educational pathways, ESL strategies across consortium 0
7 Work with Local Chamber of Commerce on providing pre-apprenticeships and internships as well as educational training through providing workshops and up-to-date information for teachers and students about employment skills 0
3 Maintenance of webpage for adult learning in the region n/a
3 AEBG Program outreach to WDB, Social Services, CAL Works, EDD WIOA, Title II by consortium members to share AEBG implementation and scope of work. n/a
4 Develop Testing Center at Mendocino College n/a
3 Each consortium member and partner site location will have access to online placement tools at Mendocino College n/a
3 Discipline specific planning groups for consortium members n/a
5 Develop acceleration in math and English in the basic skill levels at Mendocino College. n/a
3 Develop integrated resource team to support students with disabilities. n/a
6 Send consortium team to IBEST professional Learning Conference n/a
6 Involve Consortium in planning for Teachers on Teaching conference. n/a
4 Improve access and alignment of HSE and HiSET throughout the region based on best practices n/a
4 Develop parent education for supporting K-12 students n/a
3 Facilitate existing disability roundtable group to focus on creating clear pathways for adults with disabilities.