ADVANCE IET
The Workforce Investment and Opportunity Act released federal legislation in 2014 which requires states to provide integrated education and training services for adult learners. The Integrated Education and Training (IET) model of instruction includes a combination of adult education and literacy, workforce preparation, and workforce training activities centered around a single learning objective provided concurrently and contextually. IET programs based on best practices increase adult learners’ equitable access to credential training, prepare them for success in quality jobs, and provide them with the skills needed to gain employment in high-demand fields.
From 2019-2022, the Increasing IET Opportunities for Adults technical assistance project, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education (OCTAE), assisted 37 state teams as they built and expanded IET programs to strengthen the educational attainment and employment outcomes of adult learners. The project provided foundational technical assistance resources and professional development opportunities and resulted in a Basic Design Camp, an IET Design Toolkit, and Train-the-Trainer resources.
The ADVANCE IET Project
Building upon the Design Camp work, AIR is leading the OCTAE-funded ADVANCE IET project (2022–2025). Technical assistance will be provided with an emphasis on systems change and the application of Equity and Quality, Data and Outcome-Based Decision Making, Collaboration and Industry Engagement, and Sustainability and Scale. This project will feature new IET training opportunities and resources including:
- Two Basic IET Design Camp cohorts in spring and summer 2023;
- Five Advanced Design Camp cohorts in winter and spring 2024;
- Deployment of a National IET Coaching Cadre to provide customized and targeted state technical assistance;
- Curation and distribution of IET program and instructional resources;
- A new IET video series documenting implementation strategies, promising program design, and specialized models that serve diverse learners in a variety of settings; and
- Three new online self-paced IET courses.