SECTION 1. The executive office of education shall establish an adult workforce diploma program to assist adults age 22 and older to obtain a high school diploma and develop employability and career technical skills.  The workforce diploma program may be delivered in campus-based, online, or hybrid modalities or a combination thereof.

For the purposes of this section the following words shall have the following meanings:

“Academic skill intake assessment,” a criterion-referenced assessment of numeracy and literacy skill with high reliability and validity. Assessments can be administered in person or online.  

“Accredited”, holding an active accreditation from one of the seven United States regional accreditors, including:

(i) Middle States Commission on Higher Education;

(ii) New England Association of Schools and Colleges;

(iii) Higher Learning Commission;

(iv) Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities;

(v) Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges;

(vi) Accrediting Commission for Schools, Western Association of Schools and Colleges;

(vii)  Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges; or

(viii) any successor entities or consolidations of the above, including Cognia.

“Approved program provider,” a public, non-profit, or other entity that meets the requirements of Section 2 below.     

“Average cost per graduate,” total program funding dispersed to an approved program provider for a cohort during the time period from the beginning of the cohort through the end of the measurement period divided by the total number of students who graduated from the cohort during the measurement period.

“Career pathways coursework,” one or more courses that help a student enter or advance within a specific occupation or occupational cluster.

“Career advising services,” services designed to assist students in obtaining employment, including but not limited to resume development and mock interviews.

“Coaching,” proactive communication between the approved program provider and the student related to the student’s pace and progress through their learning plan.

“Cohort,” students who enter the program between July 1 and June 30 of each program year.

“Employability skills certification,” a certificate earned by demonstrating professional non-technical skills through assessment, and shall include but are not limited to the program standards of the United States Department of Labor’s “Skills to Pay the Bills: Mastering Soft Skills for Workplace Success.”

“Executive office”, the executive office of education.

“Graduate,” a student who has successfully completed all of the approved program provider requirements in order to obtain a high school diploma.

“Graduation rate,” the total number of graduates from a cohort who graduated during the measurement period divided by the total number of students included in the same cohort for which a provider has received funding.

“Graduation requirements,” course and credit requirements needed to earn a high school diploma from an approved program provider.

“High school diploma,” a diploma issued by an Accredited institution. A diploma issued under this section is recognized as a secondary school diploma by the commonwealth of Massachusetts. 

“Learning plan,” a documented plan for courses and/ or credits needed for each individual in order to complete program and approved program provider graduation requirements.

“Measurement period,” the two-year period beginning July 1 of the year the cohort begins through June 30 of the subsequent state fiscal year.

“Mentoring,” a direct relationship between a coach and a student to facilitate the completion of the student’s learning plan designed to prepare the student to succeed in the program and their future endeavors.

“Milestones,” objective measures of progress for which payment is made to an approved program provider under this section, including earned units of high school credit, attainment of an employability skills certificate, attainment of an industry-recognized credential or stackable credentials, and attainment of an accredited high school diploma.

“Probationary status,” the status of any approved program providers that does not meet the program performance standards as identified in Section 3 and 4.

“Request for qualifications,” A request for interested public, non-profit, or other entities to submit evidence that they meet the qualifications established in section X all of which once confirmed by the executive office of labor and workforce development that they meet the qualifications become approved program providers.

“Student,” a participant in the workforce diploma program who is age 22 or older, who is a resident of the commonwealth, and who has not yet earned a high school diploma.

“Transcript evaluation,” a documented summary of credits earned in previous public or private accredited high schools compared with program and approved program provider graduation requirements.

“Unit of high school credit,” credit awarded based on a student’s demonstration that they have successfully met the content expectations for the credit area as defined by subject area standards, expectations, or guidelines.

“Workforce credential,” a third-party credential that is either a part of a sequence of credentials that can be accumulated over time to build an individual’s qualifications to advance along a career pathway and results in a certificate, or verifies an individual’s qualification or competence and that is issued by a third party with the relevant authority to issue said credential.

“Workforce diploma program,” program to assist adults 22 and older to obtain a high school diploma and develop employability and career technical skills.

SECTION 2. The executive office shall issue a request for qualifications for entities to become approved program providers and participate in the workforce diploma program by August 15 or annually thereafter. The criteria for approved program providers shall include, but shall not be limited to:

i)regionally accredited high school diploma-granting entity;

ii)ability to provide Academic Skill Intake Assessments and Transcript Evaluations;

iii)ability to develop a Learning Plan for each Student that integrates Graduation Requirements and career goals;

iv)provides a course catalog that includes all courses necessary to meet Graduation Requirements;

v)ability to provide remediation opportunities in literacy and numeracy;

vi)ability to provide Employability Skills Certification;

vii)ability to provide Career Pathways Coursework;

viii)ability to provide preparation for Workforce Credentials;

ix)ability to provide Career Advising Services.

An approved program provider may not receive funding for a student under this section if the approved program provider receives federal or state funding or private tuition for that student.

The executive office shall announce the approved program providers no later than October 15, with authorization for the approved program providers to begin enrolling students starting no later than November 15, annually. Approved program providers shall maintain their approval without reapplying annually provided that the provider has not been removed from the approved program provider list in accordance with section 4.

The executive office shall pay approved program providers for the completion of the following milestones by each student.

a.$250 for the completion of each half Unit of High School Credit

b.$250 for the attainment of an Employability Skills Certification

c.$250 for the attainment of a Workforce Credential Requiring up to 50 hours of training

d.$500 for the attainment of a Workforce Credential Requiring between 51-100 hours of training

e.$750 for the attainment of a Workforce Credential requiring more than 100 hours of training

f.$1,000 for the attainment of an Accredited High School Diploma

Approved program providers shall submit monthly invoices to the executive office no later than the 10th calendar day of each month for milestones met in the previous calendar month. The executive office shall pay approved program providers in the order in which invoices are submitted until all available funds are exhausted. The executive office shall provide a written update to approved program providers by the last calendar day of each month including the aggregate total dollars that have been paid to approved program providers to date and the estimated number of enrollments still available for the program year.

SECTION 3. On or before August 15 of the second fiscal year of the program, Approved Program Providers shall provide a report covering paragraphs (i) through (vii) of this section.  On or before August 15, after the conclusion of the first measurement period of the program and each year thereafter in which program payments were disbursed for the prior state fiscal year, each approved program provider that received payments pursuant to Section 2 under the program for the preceding state fiscal year shall report the following information to the department by cohort:

i)the total number of students for whom the approved program provider has received payments;

ii)the total number of credits earned by students for whom the approved program provider is receiving payments;

iii)the total number of employability skills certifications issued to students for whom the approved program provider is receiving payments;

iv)the total number of workforce credentials earned for each tier of funding described in section 2 by students for whom the approved program provider is receiving payments;

v)the total number of students for whom the approved program provider is receiving payments who receive high school diplomas;

vi)the average cost per graduate for the cohort for which the measurement period ended in the prior state fiscal year and updated average cost per graduate for any previous cohort for which the measurement period has ended but the students from the cohort achieved one of the outcomes described in section 3 in the prior state fiscal year;

vii)The graduation rate for the cohort for which the measurement period ended in the prior state fiscal year and updated graduation rate from any previous cohort for which the measurement period has ended but students from the cohort achieved one of the outcomes described in section 2.

SECTION 4. Beginning at the end of the second fiscal year of the program, the executive office shall review data from each approved program provider to ensure that each is achieving minimum program performance standards, including minimum of 50% graduation rate for each cohort measurement period, as developed by the department.  The average cost per graduate shall be $7,000 or less for each cohort’s measurement period.

The executive office shall place an approved program provider that does not meet the minimum program performance standards identified in Section 3  and 4 probationary status for the remainder of the fiscal year. During this period, an approved program provider must provide any additional reporting required by the department. The provider must provide biweekly reports as prescribed by the requirements in Section 3.  An approved program provider that does not meet the minimum performance standards for two consecutive years shall be removed from the approved program provider list.