California Adult Literacy Professional Development Project

Facilitator: Heide Spruck Wrigley, PhD, Senior Researcher and President of Literacywork International

The coming years will present an interesting challenge for Adult Education in terms of how to prepare students for jobs that pay family-sustaining wages through career pathways. In this webinar, Heide Spruck Wrigley, PhD, Senior Researcher and President of Literacywork International, presented approaches and models that have been used successfully in the field. Each of these have inherent advantages and challenges, but the models can be adapted to meet the needs of different subgroups, including the needs of low-skilled English learners.

Facilitator: Jodi Crandall, Professor Emerita of Education and former Director of the Ph.D. program in Language, Literacy and Culture at UMBC

What does teacher effectiveness mean? In this webinar, we will discuss what teacher effectiveness is and its importance in the context of adult education. The Adult Education Teacher Competencies and professional development around these competencies are one way adult education teachers can develop the teacher effectiveness they need to help their students be successful, not as measured by test scores but by the achievement of broader goals.

Presenter: Mariann Fedele-McLeod is Principal Researcher at the American Institutes for Research (AIR)

There is a growing body of evidence that having an effective teacher is the single most important factor in student success. In this session, Mariann Fedele-McLeod from the American Institutes for Research (AIR) discusses the Adult Education Teacher Competencies developed the through the Promoting Teacher Effectiveness in Adult Education project, under a contract with the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE). The competencies identify the knowledge and skills expected of any adult education teacher. They also offer a structured approach to determining the knowledge and skills that adult education teachers still need to develop and the professional development activities that will help them to acquire them.

Presenter: Dr. John Tibbetts, consultant to the American Institutes for Research for 20 years, is co-founder of San Francisco State University's Center for Adult Education. Dr. Tibbetts has authored many research publications and has taught adult education at the University of Auckland and University of Southern Maine.

In his presentation, Dr. John Tibbetts, co-founder of the San Francisco State University Center for Adult Education and a CALPRO consultant, shifted the focus from instructional practice to student learning. Among the questions Dr. Tibbetts addressed were: Which leadership approach, what instructional facilitation, and what student activities most improve student learning? What supports do students need and what should learners be doing to achieve maximum learning? How do we verify student learning gains?

Presenters: Martin D. Kehe, VP of Products, GED Testing Service, and Joyce Lude, Principal of Roseville Adult School

In this session, presenter Martin Kehe provided an overview of the key features of the new GED test that launched in January 2014 and outlined major differences between the 2012 and 2014 GED tests, such as aligning the new test with college– and career–readiness standards. Mr. Kehe also identified related tools and resources for students, educators, and administrators to analyze student test results and use the data to inform decision–making. Presenter Joyce Lude, Principal of Roseville Adult School, then described what Roseville Joint Union High School District has done to change their practice to accommodate the requirements of the new test and help support improved student outcomes.

Presenter: Mariann Fedele-McLeod, American Institutes for Research

In this 90 minute webinar, facilitator Mariann Fedele-McLeod of the American Institutes for Research discussed the research and literature on the instructional practices known to be most effective with adult learners. For teachers to be effective they must have supportive conditions, Fedele-McLeod presented and discussed the system features needed to support effective teaching and improve student learning.