Hiring Adult and Continuing Education (ACE) Instructors

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Learn more about adult and continuing education requirements.

District personnel involved in delivering Adult and Continuing Education (ACE) courses must be familiar with Guideline 49 titled "Certification Process for Adult and Continuing Education." This guideline applies to aidable courses that are not part of state approved programs. Please note that certification is not granted to individuals teaching ACE courses. Guideline 49 does identify what documentation must be on file for audit purposes.

Many academic instructors fail to list their occupational experience on their application for employment. They may or may not have the required occupational experience. If such a case is reviewed during the sample audit, the district will have to obtain verified occupational experience. Failure to obtain the verified occupational experience within the required time period will result in loss of state aid. The individual may not cooperate with the district at that point in time, or the individual may have moved from the district. The situation can be avoided by obtaining the required information on the application form at the time of hire.

The alternative certification criteria recognize the many unique situations where WTC districts are involved with other sanctioning groups, such as the American Red Cross and the American Heart Association. The alternative criteria recognize the instructor standards that are already established by the sanctioning group. The alternative certification criteria usually involve situations that do not easily fit under the WTCS certification code, which is occupationally based.

Individuals working with ACE courses have all of the taxonomy problems associated with regular programs and sometimes additional problems to face. The variety of topics covered by ACE courses is even broader than what is covered by courses associated with programs. There are also variances in the instructional areas utilized from district to district. ACE courses are often numbered to identify the target group to which the instruction is being provided, as opposed to the content of the course and the staff necessary to deliver the content. Numbering is usually not a serious problem when the sample audit is performed by the State Certification Officer. When problems do occur the judgment is based upon the content of the course and not just the number that has been used to identify the course.

Situation 8: Sam Adams holds a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering and has ten years of experience in designing and manufacturing wood burning stoves. A district wishes to have Mr. Adams teach an Adult and Continuing Education course to members of a local fire department. The course is identified as 47-503-482 Problems with Wood Burning Stoves. Is there a problem in making this assignment?

Situation 8 represents a type of circumstance that often occurs with regard to ACE courses. While Mr. Adams could not meet the standards for certification for instructional area 503, there should be little doubt that he does have the background necessary to teach this one course. Any manager that has responsibility for staffing ACE courses should be very familiar with Guideline 49 and the section dealing with new or unique courses. Not all situations are as obvious as the one dealing with Sam Adams. The district can obtain a response from the state if there is any question whether someone can be covered under the provision of new and unique.

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Situation 9: Elmer Sparkle is a local high school business education instructor. He has ten years of experience teaching high school, but he does not have any occupational experience that would be appropriate to instructional area 106 Secretarial Science. Mr. Sparkle does have a B.S. degree in Business Education. A WTC district would like to offer a beginning typing course at the high school where Mr. Sparkle teaches, but the use of the facility is contingent upon the district utilizing Mr. Sparkle as the instructor for the course. The course will be 47-106-432 Beginning Typing. Can the WTC district use Mr. Sparkle to teach this course?

In most cases instructors will be hired to teach ACE courses that are able to meet the standards necessary for certification. However, Guideline 49 does allow some alternative criteria under certain situations. Situation 9, involving Mr. Sparkle, represents a very common example. Please note the alternative applies only to "Basic Keyboard Skills." The district should not utilize Mr. Sparkle for teaching any 106 courses that would not be considered under this alternative.

Situation 10: A district would like to hire Emily Charter to teach a group dynamics course to individuals required to take such a course as the result of their drunk driving conviction. What occupational experience would qualify Emily Charter to teach this course?

Situation 10 represents another very common situation faced by individuals involved in the delivery of ACE courses. There is no appropriate occupational experience that could be required of Emily Charter for the group dynamics course. In this case, as in many, the alternative listed in Guideline 49 is the only option available to the district. Ms. Charter must hold instructor approval from the Department of Transportation. This will be either in the form of a card or a letter which is issued by the Department of Transportation. This card or letter does provide for an expiration date of this approval. A copy of this card or letter must be on file with the district and must have a valid expiration date.

Situation 11: Joe Hardy applies for a job teaching an Adult and Continuing Education math course. His application indicates that he has a B.S. degree and that he has taught eighth grade mathematics in a public school for three years. Can Mr. Hardy be employed to teach an ACE math course?

The applicant may simply state that he/she has a B.S. degree on the application. This information, without the applicant identifying an appropriate major, would not be sufficient for audit purposes. Mr. Hardy could be teaching eighth grade mathematics as a result of his DPI certification as an elementary school teacher. His academic preparation in this area may not provide the necessary number of credits in mathematics. An application that indicates a college degree, with a major in mathematics, would support the utilization of Mr. Hardy for teaching a basic mathematics course.