California Adult Literacy Professional Development Project

Authors: Anthony Burik, Mariann Fedele-McLeod, Debalina Ganguli, Martin D. Griffin, Hilary Iserman, Nicole Jordan, Stephanie Kriebel, Yecsenia Lorenzo, Courtney McMahon, Katie Callahan Neginskiy, Penny Pearson, Theresa Petersen, Kristi Reyes, Thoibi N. Rublaitus, Shannon Swain, Lila Young, Carolyn ZachryThis evidence to action brief presents recent research on distance learning in adult education and provides an important contemporaneous account of how California adult education rose to meet the challenge of continuing to serve adult learners during the pandemic. This brief captures a snapshot of the current state of practice and evidence, including identified challenges and corresponding best practices. Additionally, it looks towards the future as adult education continues to address the identified challenges of distance learning in innovative ways, as well as to harness the ample benefits and potential for students.

Author: Amy R. TrawickProduced by the American Institutes for Research through a contract with the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the U.S. Department of Education, May 2018.This 2018 report supplements the previously published Using the PIACC Literacy Framework to Guide Instruction: An Introduction for Adult Educators and provides literacy instructors ways to implement contextualized reading instruction to a population with varied needs and educational backgrounds. By connecting real-world reading tasks and standards-based instruction, this report provides resources for teachers to consider when planning a contextualized reading curriculum. The supplemental report is based on data originally released by the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIACC) in September 2016 and was produced by the American Institutes for Research through a contract with the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the U.S. Department of Education.

Author: John Tibbetts and Anestine Hector-Mason, September 2015Produced by California Adult Literacy Professional Development ProjectCollaboration has been shown through research to be an effective strategy both in the classroom and in program management. This CALPRO Research Brief examines the research as it applies to both Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) at the program level, and to classroom instruction, and finds that in both applications collaboration improves outcomes.

Author: Anne Mishkind, CALPROThis brief provides an overview of research on effective teaching that can be applied in multiple settings by a broad range of teachers across diverse settings. Adult education in California takes place in environments including school districts, community colleges, community-based organizations, libraries, and correctional facilities, and serves students with skills that range from basic literacy to international professional training. Across contexts, research finds that effective teaching is enriched by:thoughtful attention to student backgrounds,collecting and using student data to inform the implementation of evidence based practices including (1) learner-centered instruction, (2) rich and contextualized content knowledge, (3) use of standards to inform learning objectives, and (4) attention to foundational skills and higher-order thinking, and planning for professional development that targets specific teacher competencies

Authors: Martha Bigelow and Robin Lovrien Schwarz, September 2010Produced by Literacy Information and Communication System/National Institute for LiteracyThis paper reviews a variety of research, including that on language acquisition, literacy development in adults and children, cognition and brain functioning, adult education, and professional development.

Authors: Rebecca Bergey, Marcela Movit, Ashley Simpson Baird, and Ann-Marie FariaProduced by the American Institutes for Research, March 2018.The American Institutes for Research addresses how the growing English Language Learner (ELL) population in higher education is served and the challenges it presents given the vast array of student needs. Three student profiles exemplify the broad categories generally used to classify the ELL higher education population: international students, recent immigrants. or Generation 1.5 students. and the diversity within each group. Given the wide range of needs for students to meet their educational or occupational goals successfully, the paper outlines institutional and classroom level considerations by defining challenges, reviewing best practices, and suggesting ways to leverage technology.

Produced by U.S. Department of Education, Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education, 2016Designed to support effective instruction of adult English language learners, this document presents a set of correspondences to the college and career readiness standards (CCRS) for English language arts/literacy, mathematical and science practices.

Author: Anne Mishkind, American Institutes for Research, 2014This brief provides instructors, professional development coordinators, and program administrators with research and implementation guidance related to evidence–based professional learning and data–driven instruction.

Produced by California Adult Literacy Professional Development Project, 2006CALPRO offers these suggested guidelines for initiating and conducting discussion groups using the research digests, summaries, and bibliographies.

Author: Karin Martinson, Abt Associates, Inc., September 2010This paper explores the importance of employer-program partnerships for improving economic outcomes for both low-skill workers and businesses. It identifies the fac¬tors that have hindered the growth of these partnerships as well as promising approaches to building further partnerships.