ABE Professional Development Services
Current Developments
2009-2010 Adult Learning Standards
Curriculum Development Projects
Adult Basic Education (ABE) providers statewide are engaged in efforts to implement Learning Standards throughout their programs. Many ABE providers report starting to address curriculum alignment, moving from the classroom implementation to program level implementation. ABE faculty and staff now are saying that to proceed to the next steps, they would like “to SEE what Learning Standards curriculum can look like.”
Building on current efforts by providers to align curriculum to the Learning Standards, each funded project will address the curriculum in one of the Math or Reading standards in the context of work. Each grantee will complete its curriculum development work and submit its final products and reports by June 30, 2010. Three grants were awarded to two colleges: Tacoma Community College for two Reading for Understanding projects (ABE and ESL), and Seattle Central for ESL Math. Their interim reports and materials in progress are due to SBCTC- ABE Office at the end of June, 2009. The final works will be posted by June 30, 2010 as a resource to programs. Please visit the Learning Standards Web page for more information.
Rendezvous 2008
New Statewide Adult Literacy Hotline and Directory
Teachers!
Are you looking for supplemental instruction to help your students progress a level?
Check out the Literacy Network of Washington’s NEW statewide adult literacy hotline and directory.
The Literacy Network Of Washington Adult Literacy Hotline and Directory provides information on tutoring, classes, and lab-based instruction in communities across the state for:
- English as a Second Language (ESL)
- Citizenship
- Basic reading, writing, or math
- GED or high school completion
- Workplace literacy
- Family literacy
The toll-free hotline (1-888-444-5744) is staffed by English, Spanish, and Russian speakers who are trained to locate an adult literacy program that best meets a caller’s needs.
The Web site directory (www.LiteracyNOW.info) provides users a searchable database of over 200 adult literacy program sites located throughout Washington. Users can choose to do a basic search, using their city, zip code, or county to find an appropriate program, or an advanced search, adding selection criteria to identify just those programs in their area that, for example, offer childcare, or van transportation, or weekend classes.
To learn more about the Adult Literacy Hotline and Directory, please visit www.LiteracyNOW.info or contact Lisa Schubert, Public Relations Coordinator at the Literacy Network Of Washington at 253-383-3951 or lschubert@tchonline.org.
Literacy Network Of Washington is a Division of Tacoma Community House. Literacy NOW: Our future depends on it.
Resource Center
We have moved many of our library items to the Teacher’s Resource Page. Some items that were once only available through checkout have been converted to PDF documents and are now available on-line. The resources are arranged by subject area. Please note that some of these documents are quite large and may require considerable time to completely download to your computer. Remember that you do not have to print the whole document, you can print out specific pages that are of interest. If you are unable to download a document, please contact the Resource Center to request assistance.
Attention Adult Educators: Integrating technology into your classroom?
If you are a teacher integrating technology into your classroom and sending students to web sites in your labs, here is a good resource to review. The "Adult Literacy Education Software Recommendations" list offers links to resources that are current and many of them are free for ABE, GED, and ESL students. The list was compiled by David Rosen, former director of the Adult Literacy Resource Institute at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, which provides staff and program development services to the adult basic education programs throughout the Boston area. Much of his work as a 1995-96 National Institute for Literacy Leadership Fellow focused on how adult learners and adult literacy education practitioners are using the Internet. Enjoy!
Software Resources
Through this ALE Wiki you learn about adult literacy education here, including English language learning, numeracy, and adult basic and secondary education. Add knowledge from your experience teaching adult learners, from research or professional wisdom, or from your experience as an adult learner. The ALE Wiki is a community of practice with links to research for practitioners, researchers, learners and others. The links will take you to other sections, pages, wikis and Web sites.
*wiki is a Hawaiian word meaning "quick" - wiki wiki means "very very quickly."
Washington Association for the Education of Speakers of Other Languages
WAESOL is the Washington State affiliate of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).
WAESOL is a professional, non-profit organization whose purposes are to promote scholarship, disseminate information, strengthen at all levels instruction and research in TESOL and dialects, and cooperate in appropriate ways with other groups sharing similar concerns.
WAESOL holds an annual state conference, and regional or local mini-conferences. The organization also offers professional development and support, issues a quarterly WAESOL newsletter, involvement in immigration and language issues, participation in part-timer advocacy, and other networking opportunities for members.
National STAR Training Network
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Vocational and Adult Education is pleased to announce the launch of the National STAR Training Network Web site. The Web site contains information on the Student Achievement in Reading (STAR) initiative, created to assist states and local programs in making systemic and instructional changes required to improve the reading achievement of intermediate-level adult learners (G.L.E. 4.0-8.9). STAR provides teachers and administrators with Web-based tools that translate reading research into practice and high quality training and technical assistance to build capacity for reading reform.
The National STAR Training Network is offering two training and technical assistance packages to states and local programs. The new Web site describes these services and provides an array of tools to help you learn about and plan to implement evidence-based reading instruction.
We invite you to visit the Web site at http://www.startoolkit.org to learn more about how you can improve adult learners’ reading achievement.
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