California Adult Literacy Professional Development Project

Research Brief No. 16 | CALPRO Evidence to Action, September 2022

This evidence-to-action brief reviews the relevant literature on implicit bias and provides examples from agencies in Los Angeles that are working to address equity. This brief also provides research-based examples of the influence of bias on both teacher expectations and student outcomes using both a historic and a contemporary lens. Although equity can be viewed from many areas, the focus of this brief is on racial and ethnic equity.

Volume 9, Issue 2, Winter 2020-2021 | Published by the Coalition on Adult Basic Education

California leads the nation in advancing equity and integration initiatives. Through the creation and dissemination of professional development specific to equity in California, adult educators are encouraged to work with state and local governments to advocate for policies, regulations, and laws that support immigrant and social justice initiatives. The California Department of Education (CDE) Adult Education Office (AEO), and its contractor, the American Institutes for Research (AIR), are proud to be a part of current efforts to seek a more just society. Their work in this area is highlighted by several significant efforts.

The Integrated Education and Training Design Toolkit guides users through a team-based approach to develop customized IET solutions that address the needs of adult learners and local businesses through four iterative phases: Research and Assess, Design and Plan, Develop and Implement, and Evaluate and Improve. Train-the-Trainer materials are also available to support the IET Design process. See the abstract for links.

In this lesson, ABE students develop their awareness about the value of being proactive, both in education and in the workplace. They examine seven habits of highly effective people. In an expansion activity, students write a response to a job application question, in which they illustrate how they have been proactive in overcoming an obstacle.

In this lesson, ABE or ASE students prepare a 60– to 90–second speech in response to a question commonly asked in a job interview. Students study the qualities of a good speaker and evaluate their peers' speeches according to a matrix. This lesson can serve as an introduction to future speech assignments.

Suitable for both ABE and ASE instruction, this lesson asks students to work in teams and collaborate on taking an inventory. Afterward, students identify and describe which skills they practiced transfer to the workplace.