California Adult Literacy Professional Development Project

Hosted by San Diego College of Continuing Education/SDCCDAdult education instructors who work with English language learners can benefit from familiarity with the English Language Proficiency (ELP) Standards for Adult Education. These standards help guide instruction toward the increased rigor and skills needed for successful transition to work, postsecondary training, and active participation in community life.In this virtual session, participants will explore the guiding principles of the ELP standards and consider how they apply to instructional practice. They will also examine strategies for scaffolding instruction so students can access and succeed in rigorous curriculum requirements.Registration Information:This tailored regional CoP is designed for the instructors at San Diego College of Continuing Education/SDCCD.There is no registration fee to participate.

Course Description:This course will introduce participants to the English Language Proficiency (ELP) Standards and provide strategies for using the standards to guide and inform instruction. ESL instructors can benefit from familiarity with and reliance on the ELP Standards for Adult Education to guide instruction toward the increased rigor and skills that adult learners need for successful transition to work, postsecondary training, or further education, and for participation in communities. The course takes place entirely online and runs for four consecutive weeks. Weekly participation is required, though participants may, during a given week, log in whenever they wish. Two 90-minute webinars will be scheduled during the course, with a makeup option offered to accommodate time conflicts. Participants who successfully complete this course will receive a certificate of participation (15 hours); they are also eligible to apply to CSUS for 1.5 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) if they wish.Goals:The goals of this course are to introduce ESL instructors to the ELP Standards and how they provide the language support to meet the rigorous requirements of the College and Career Readiness Standards for adults; to explore and practice applying the standards to teaching; and to develop a deep understanding of the requirements of academic rigor along with scaffolding strategies to help adult students reach their goals.Registration Information:There is no registration fee to participate. CALPRO professional development opportunities are available to all California Adult Education Program (CAEP) agencies and employees; agency/work email address required at registration to confirm eligibility.Registered participants will receive final confirmation and details by Friday, July 17, 2026. Waitlisted participants will also receive an update regarding their enrollment status by that date.Contact Information:Please contact calpro@air.org with any questions.

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

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: Mariann Fedele-McLeod, Anestine Hector-Mason, Steve Hinds, Rob Jenkins, Maricel Santos, Susan Pimentel, Jodi Crandall, American Institutes for Research, 2015This document outlines the core knowledge and skills that adult education teachers need to succeed in their roles. The Adult Education Teacher Competencies help teachers improve their effectiveness and learner outcomes. They also assist instructional leaders, professional developers, and teacher preparation faculty prepare effective professional development activities for teachers. 

Produced by California Adult Literacy Professional Development Project, 2008; augmented 2018Based on the Management Competencies and Sample Indicators for Improvement of Adult Education Programs (CALPRO, 2025), this self-assessment helps administrators to identify priority areas for targeted professional development, based on their assessment of relevance and current personal capacity across a variety of criteria. In 2018, the self-assessment was augmented with an addendum introduced to identify additional knowledge and skills that program administrators need to possess in order to be effective in today's adult education landscape in California. For each competency and performance indicator, the addendum also suggests professional development resources to assist in building an annual, individualized development plan. Note: This fillable form can be downloaded, saved, and printed (using Adobe Reader or a similar application).

Authors: Renee Sherman, Dionne Dobbins, John Tibbetts, Judith Crocker, and Michael Dlott, American Institutes for Research, March 2002This publication introduces an assessment instrument to help programs implement the management competencies. What follows is a detailed description of the Management Competencies Assessment Instrument (MCAI), including an overview of the various types of evidence that will help verify of the existence of the competencies. To see and use the updated Management Competencies Self-Assessment (2018) visit the following webpage:https://calpro-online.org/resource/management-competencies-self-assessment

Hosted by Sequoia Adult SchoolWhat makes an effective adult education teacher? How do you adapt instruction based on formative and summative assessment data? What instructional techniques are effective with adult learners? How do you communicate high expectations and motivate your students so they can meet their goals? What do you think you could do to continue developing your content area knowledge and teaching skills? Join us to explore these questions. This session aims to provide an overview of the Adult Education Teacher Competencies and build participants' capacity to identify the skills and knowledge required for effective teaching and discover professional development opportunities and resources.