Project Details

Agency Name: U.S. Department of Education (the Department), Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE), Division of Adult Education and Literacy (DAEL)

Agency Type: Federal

Services: Strategic Communications

Client Goals

Safal was engaged to develop a plan and agenda for the Department’s research and evaluation activities required by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).

Safal Approach

Safal assisted OCTAE with meeting the statutory requirements in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act (WIOA), Section 242 regarding the ongoing research and evaluation of adult education and literacy national activities. Safal was solely responsible for an analysis of all statutory requirements under WIOA for all titles; an extensive literature review of relevant resources; identification of potential federal inter-agency collaboration and coordination opportunities, recommendations for prioritization of potential adult education research questions, possible methodological approach options, recruitment of knowledgeable SMEs, facilitation of federal inter-agency convenings, development of a dashboard providing a searchable, visual display of the literature review resources; and presentation of the findings and the visual data dashboard at the 2018 Annual State Directors’ Meeting (ASDM). These formative activities culminated in the development of a research framework for conducting adult education research and evaluation activities and an oral briefing with written briefing materials provided to senior officials.