The purpose of the Adult Education Program is to:

(a) Improve educational opportunities for Indian adults who lack the level of literacy skills necessary for effective citizenship and productive employment;

(b) Expand and improve existing programs for delivering adult education services, including delivery of these services to educationally disadvantaged Indian adults; and

(c) Encourage the establishment of adult education programs that will:

(1) Enable Indian adults to acquire adult basic educational skills necessary for literate functioning;

(2) Provide Indian adults with sufficient basic education to enable them to benefit from job training and retraining programs and to obtain and retain productive employment so that they might more fully enjoy the benefits and responsibilities of citizenship; and

(3) Enable Indian adults, who so desire, to continue their education to at least the level of completion of adult secondary education.

As used in this part:

Adult means an individual who has attained the age of sixteen or is beyond the age of compulsory school attendance under State or tribal law and not currently enrolled in a formal secondary or post-secondary educational program.

Adult Basic Education (ABE) means instruction designed for an adult who:

(1) Has minimal competence in reading, writing, and computation;

(2) Cannot speak, read, or write the English language sufficiently to allow employment commensurate with the adult's real ability;

(3) Is not sufficiently competent to meet the educational requirements of an adult consumer; or

(4) In grade level measurements that would be designated as grades 0 through 8.

Adult Education means services or instruction below the college level for adults who:

(1) Lack sufficient mastery of basic educational skills to enable them to function effectively in society, or

(2) Do not have a certificate of graduation from a school providing secondary education and have not achieved a GED.

Adult Education Office means the BIA or tribal office administering funds appropriated to the BIA, under the TPA, for Adult Education programs.

Adult Secondary Education means instruction designed for an adult who:

(1) Is literate and can function in everyday life, but is not proficient as a competitive consumer or employee; or

(2) Does not have a certificate of graduation (or its equivalent) from a school providing secondary education and in grade level measurements that would be designated as grades 9 through 12.

Assistant Secretary means the Assistant Secretary—Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior, or his/her designee.

Bureau means the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Department of Education (ED) means the U.S. Department of Education.

Director means the Director, Office of Indian Education Programs, Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Indian means a person who is a member of, or is at least a one-fourth degree Indian blood descendent of a member of, an Indian tribe, and is eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States through the Bureau of Indian Affairs to Indians because of their status as Indians;

Indian tribe means any Indian tribe, band, nation, rancheria, pueblo, colony or community, including any Alaska native village or regional or village corporation as defined in, or established pursuant to, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (85 Stat. 668) that is Federally recognized by the United States Government through the Secretary of the Interior for the special programs and services provided by the Secretary to Indians because of their status as Indians.

Tribal Priority Allocation (TPA) means the BIA's budget formulation process that allows direct tribal government involvement in the setting of relative priorities for local operating programs.

Secretary means the Secretary of the Department of the Interior.

Service area means the geographic area served by the local Adult Education Program.

Information collection requirements contained in this part have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget under 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. and assigned control number 1076-0120. This information is being collected to assess the need for adult education programs. The information collection is used to manage program resources and for fiscal accountability and appropriate direct services documentation. Response to this request is necessary to obtain or retain a benefit. Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 4 hours per response including time for reviewing instructions, gathering, maintaining data, completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of this form to the BIA Information Collection Clearance Officer, 1849 C Street NW., Washington, DC 20240.

(a) Subject to availability of funds, funds appropriated for the BIA's Adult Education Program may be used to support local projects or programs designed to:

(1) Enable Indian adults to acquire basic educational skills, including literacy;

(2) Enable Indian adults to continue their education through the secondary school level;

(3) Establish career education projects intended to improve employment opportunities;

(4) Provide educational services or instruction for elderly, disabled, or incarcerated Indian adults;

(5) Prepare individuals to benefit from occupational training; and

(6) Teach employment-related skills.

(b) Funds should not be used to support programs designed solely to prepare Indian adults to enter a specific occupation or cluster of closely related occupations.

(c) The Adult Education Program must be implemented in accordance with a plan established by the tribe(s) affected by the program. The tribe(s) may determine to set standards in addition to those established in this part.

(a) The Adult Education Office will implement the program or project that is designed to address the needs of the Indian adults in the service area. To determine the needs of Indian adults in the area, the Adult Education Office must consider:

(1) Elementary/secondary school dropout or absentee rates;

(2) Average grade level completed;

(3) Unemployment rates; and

(4) Other appropriate measures.

(b) The Adult Education Office, to ensure efforts that no duplication of services exists, will identify other services in the area, including those offered by Federal, State and Tribal entities, that are designed to meet the same needs as those to be addressed by the project, and the number of Indian adults who receive those services.

(c) The Adult Education Office must establish and maintain an evaluation plan.

(1) The plan must be designed to measure the project's effectiveness in meeting each objective and the impact of the project on the adults involved; and

(2) The plan must provide procedures for periodic assessment of the progress of the project and, if necessary, modification of the project as a result of that assessment.

(d) Subject to the availability of funds, the project is to be supported under the funding level established for Adult Education in the formulation of the budget under the TPA process.

(a) The Adult Education Office will annually submit a report on the previous project year's activities to the Director, Office of Indian Education Programs. The report must include the following information:

(1) The type of eligible activity, under § 46.10, conducted under the project(s);

(2) The number of participants acquiring the GED, high school diploma, and other certificates of performance; and

(3) A narrative summary of the activities conducted under the project.

(b) Each Adult Education Office must:

(1) Submit any records and information that the Director requires in connection with the administration of the program; and

(2) Comply with any requirements that the Director may impose to ensure the accuracy of the reports required by this part.