Teacher Effectiveness and Adult Education Teacher Competencies
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.
Adult Education Teacher Competencies
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.
Adult Education: What Makes Teaching Effective?
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
Adult Education 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.
Management Competencies Self-Assessment
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).
Management Competencies Assessment Instrument
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
Effective Teaching for Adult Educators
Course Description:This 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. A kick-off Webinar will take place in the first week; the date and time will be announced and posted. This course is intended to (1)build teachers’ capacity to identify the skills and knowledge required for excellent teaching as presented in the Adult Education Teacher Competencies, (2) evaluate in which areas participants are strong and in which areas professional development could support improvement, and (3) plan for increasing effectiveness of instruction. Participants who successfully complete this course will receive a certificate of participation (14 hours); they are also eligible to apply to CSUS for 1.4 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) if they wish.Goals:By the end of the course participants will be able to: • Explain the background and rationale for Adult Education Teacher Competencies • Recognize performance indicators in practice • Create a sample illustration related to a specific program area • Identify the competencies from domains 1 and 3 in practice • Relate selected competencies to classroom practice • Create an initial professional development goalRegistration Information:There is no registration fee to participate; CALPRO professional development opportunities are available to all California Adult Education Program (CAEP) agencies and employees.Contact Information:Please contact calpro@air.org with any questions.
Effective Teaching for Adult Educators
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.
Effective Teaching for Adult Educators (Online)
Course Description:This 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 live webinars will be scheduled during the course; dates and times will be announced and posted. This course is intended to (1) build teachers’ capacity to identify the skills and knowledge required for excellent teaching as presented in the Adult Education Teacher Competencies, (2) evaluate in which areas participants are strong and in which areas professional development could support improvement, and (3) plan for increasing effectiveness of instruction. Participants who successfully complete this course will receive a certificate of participation (14 hours); they are also eligible to apply to CSUS for 1.4 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) if they wish. Goals:By the end of the course participants will be able to: • Explain the background and rationale for Adult Education Teacher Competencies • Recognize performance indicators in practice • Create a sample illustration related to a specific program area • Identify the competencies from Domains 1 and 3 in practice • Relate selected competencies to classroom practice • Create an initial professional development goalRegistration Information:There is no registration fee to participate; CALPRO professional development opportunities are available to all California Adult Education Program (CAEP) agencies and employees. Registered participants will receive final confirmation and details by Friday, October 24, 2025. Waitlisted participants will also receive an update regarding their enrollment status by that date.
Professional Learning Community (PLC) Institute
What Is A Professional Learning Community (PLC)?
“A professional learning community is educators committed to working collaboratively in ongoing processes of collective inquiry and action research to achieve better results for the students they serve” (adapted from DuFour, Learning by Doing). LEARN and DO, DO and LEARN!
A PLC is a teacher-led, collaborative team process committed to helping all students learn by addressing the following critical questions:
- What do we want students to learn?
- How will we know if they have learned it?
- What will we do if they don’t learn it?
- What will we do if they already know it?
Why Attend The CALPRO Professional Learning Community Institute?
Professional Learning Communities help schools improve and be more accountable by impacting teaching and learning. Join us at the CALPRO PLC Institute to explore the core characteristics and processes on how to effectively implement a professional learning community that focuses on student learning outcomes and creates a system for sustainable school improvement.
A Professional Learning Community (PLC) naturally aligns very tightly with both WASC accreditation expectations and Continuous Improvement Plan (CIP) goals because all three are built around the same core idea: ongoing, data-driven improvement of student learning.
- Need Evidence of Student Work and Collaboration for WASC Accreditation?
Evidence of student work and collaboration in a PLC shows how programs examine student learning and use it to drive improvement. This includes analyzed student work samples, assessment results, and documentation of team discussions where staff identify gaps and adjust instruction, demonstrating both student achievement and a collaborative, evidence-based approach to continuous improvement. - Need to Establish a SMART Goal Around Student Learning for Your Continuous Improvement Plan?
Participation in the PLC Institute helps programs develop SMART goals focused on student learning. These goals provide a clear, data-driven roadmap for continuous improvement, guiding teams to monitor progress, adjust strategies, and improve student outcomes over time. - Need to Learn How to Use Data to Inform Instruction?
Participation in the PLC Institute builds participants’ ability to use data to inform instruction and improve student learning. Teams analyze student data to identify needs, guide instructional decisions, and continuously refine practice based on results.
Benefits Of Participating In The PLC Institute:
- Shift school culture to focus on learning results.
- Develop PLC processes of inquiry to achieve better results for the students you serve.
- Establish collaborative teams to identify essential student learning.
- Work collaboratively to develop common formative assessments for learning.
- Work collaboratively to analyze evidence of student learning and use that evidence to learn from one another.
- Embed professional development that fosters the ongoing processes of collective inquiry and action research.
- Eighteen months of PLC implementation coaching support
CALPRO PLC Institute
CALPRO's experienced and knowledgeable staff is excited to offer an intensive, multi-session PLC Institute for teams of program administrators and professional development specialists/lead teachers to learn to improve student learning outcomes by establishing professional learning communities. CALPRO typically accepts up to 8 programs a year for this institute. Each of the selected agencies will send a team of three to include its agency director and two teachers (and/or administrators designated to serve as professional development practitioners) to participate in the initiative.
Who Is Eligible To Apply?
Any California Department of Education, Adult Education Office WIA Title II, or California Adult Education Program (CAEP) funded agency may apply. The Agency Director/Principal and a nominated lead teacher or PD staff member will participate as a team in the CALPRO Professional Learning Community Institute. Click here to apply.
For More Information
For more information, contact coordinator Sudie Whalen.