ONA Opportunity Center – ESOL RFA

The main goal of the Opportunity Center ESOL-RFA is to fund up to 25 qualified not-for-profit organizations to provide adult ESOL classes to the new American community. The program will prepare the participant with skills and knowledge to facilitate their social, economic, and civic long term-integration.

The target population for these funds are: (i) immigrants residing in New York (ii) families of mixed status with at least one family member in New York (iii) immigrants with a sponsor in New York (iv) and/or immigrant business owners in New York.  This grant serves individuals ages 18 and older.

The grantee will collect information from all clients to verify that the clients meet the target population requirements listed above.

The counties in which DOS/ONA proposes to make awards and the number of awards per county is outlined in Appendix B.

Services provided with these funds must be free of cost to clients.

English Language Training

Overview

Every new American who desires to learn English should have the opportunity to do so. Ensuring access to ESOL training is crucial to facilitate the participation and integration of new Americans into New York State civic, social, and economic life.

Instruction and Programming

Each ONA Opportunity Center – ESOL will provide English language classes either in person, remotely, or through a hybrid of remote and in person classes on a quarterly basis. These classes will cater to various proficiency levels. Classes should be structured to best accommodate the diverse schedules of new Americans, which may include classes scheduled during the day, night, and weekends.

Services provided virtually must adhere to New York Information Technology policies regarding accessibility of information communication technology.[1]

All classes held in person at a physical location should be easily accessible to new American populations. This includes, close proximity to public transportation and ADA accessible. Each ONA Opportunity Center – ESOL offering in-person services will be allocated a designated space by the grantee with clearly identified branded signage.

ESOL Instructional Hours

Every ESOL Opportunity Center will be required to provide at least 75 hours of ESOL instruction each quarter. At least 60 hours of this ESOL instruction must be devoted to teacher-led instruction, conducted either in person or through an online platform. In the cases of online instruction, classes must be synchronous, allowing students to interact with the instructor in real time, fostering face-to face communication opportunities.

Supplemental Learning Hours

Up to 15 hours of ESOL instruction may be offered to students by the grantee outside of the 60 synchronous learning hours described in the ESOL Instructional Hours section above.  These hours will be considered supplemental hours.

Supplemental hours offer students non-traditional ways to practice English speaking and listening skills. The Supplemental hours will consist of utilizing mobile English platforms such as Cell-Ed funded by ONA through separate grant and will provide opportunities for students to receive feedback on their English language skills. Supplemental hours may include engaging in conversation groups for ESOL students to practice listening and speaking and participating in one-on-one tutoring sessions with teachers or volunteers.

Additionally, the grantee may also offer students the opportunity to access supplemental instructional hours through volunteering or participating in internships where students can have the opportunity to practice and improve their English language skills and develop social, civic or economic skills, that will help them integrate in their new communities. The grantee would facilitate the matching of students in volunteer and internship opportunities.

All time spent on supplemental learning activities by the student must be documented by the student and verified by the grantee.

Hours spent on completion of worksheets and homework cannot be counted towards supplemental hours.

Courses

Each ONA Opportunity Center - ESOL will be required to offer at a minimum, a pre-literate/beginner, intermediate, and advanced level course each quarter, however, based on need driven by student testing, the grantee may apply for a waiver from ONA to readjust classes offered.

Each course offered must provide English language students with the ability to achieve competence in reading, writing, speaking, and comprehension of the English language.

All classes, whether taught in person or via online platform, must be led by a paid qualified instructor.

Classes that are solely to prepare students for the Citizenship exam are not permitted.

Curricula

The curriculum used will maintain central focus on English acquisition, in which teaching new Americans how to read and write in English is the main goal.

High school equivalency and GED preparation may be included in curriculum if there is a demonstrated need for such topics. 

Qualified Instructors

All instructors teaching ESOL classes under this grant must be paid for their services. 

The minimum qualifications for the ESOL instructor on this grant are a certificate in teaching ESOL, such as Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (CELTA), or two years of demonstrated ESOL teaching experience. In addition, for American Sign Language (ASL) instructors teaching both ESOL and ASL students, the instructor must have either Provisional or Qualified and Professional certifications from the American Sign Language Teachers Association (ASLTA) or equivalent certification from an accredited source. If a supplemental instructor is only teaching an ASL class, that individual does not need the CELTA and/or two years of demonstrated ESOL teaching experience.

Opportunity Centers may repurpose existing staff members for the ESOL instructor position as long as they meet the minimum qualifications.

Applicants are required to submit documentation supporting the certification/teaching experience of their ESOL instructors as part of the application and retain such documentation throughout the duration of the grant.

Volunteers

ONA Opportunity Centers - ESOL are strongly encouraged to recruit, train, and incorporate community volunteers to support ESOL programming. Applicants proposing to use volunteers will receive additional points in the evaluation.

These community volunteers may assist with supplemental activities including one-on-one tutoring, conversation groups, provide students with volunteer or internship opportunities, provide administrative support, assist with client registration, and provide outreach assistance for the ESOL program.

Applicants choosing to utilize volunteers must train volunteers, document the training, and such documentation must be made available at ONA’s request. Volunteers are required to always maintain client confidentiality.

Opportunity Centers - ESOL must track volunteer hours, services provided, and report said hours and services to ONA.

Registration

Each ONA Opportunity Centers – ESOL will be expected to have enrolled a total of 220 unique students by the end of the grant year. Students may register for classes at any point during the grant year.

At any point in time during the year, a minimum of 40 students must be enrolled.

Grantees must ensure that a minimum of 154 unique students complete a minimum of 75 hours of instruction in a year, or obtain employment, whichever comes first. If students complete 75 hours prior to the end of the year, they may be re-registered.

[1] https://its.ny.gov/sites/default/files/documents/nys-p08-005_accessibility_of_information_communication_technology_2.pdf

 See attached RFA for more detailed information.