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: 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

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.

Authors: Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy (ISAL), The Pennsylvania State University Central Pennsylvania Workforce Development Corporation (CPWDC), North Central Workforce Development Board (NCWDB), Southern Alleghenies Workforce Development Board (SAWDB), and Pennsylvania College of Technology Produced by The Pathways to Employment initiative funded through the U.S. Department of Labor's 2015 Sector Partnership National Dislocated Worker Grant program, and supported by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, February 2017.This guide was prepared by the Pathways to Employment Initiative of the Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy at The Pennsylvania State University, and three Pennsylvania Workforce Development Boards in partnership with local IET training providers (2017, February) to engage stakeholders in curricular collaboration. IET programs in IL, KS, KY, OH, PA, VA, WA and WI are highlighted including descriptions of their course offerings, objectives and partners. This resource focuses on addressing basic skills, rather than occupational skills to help students as they move along their career pathway.The resource is divided into six sections and provides highlighted program snapshots, lesson planning and program design considerations as well as questions and worksheets to foster discussion. Additional resources are also included with direct links to the aforementioned programs. Agencies and their partners can use the guide and ready-to-use tools as they collaborate in the planning and implementation of new or existing IET programs.

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.