Professional Development

This resource guides instructors through a curriculum that is learner-centered and well designed with useful interactive materials that will meet the learning needs of most adults. The learning objectives are clearly stated and the curriculum supplies relevant vocabulary lists that instructors will find helpful. In addition, there are excellent suggestions for content-related discussions that allow students to process and interact with the subject matter while learning important vocabulary and practicing their language skills. Periodic assessments offered in the guide will help instructors determine how well the students are absorbing both content and language skills. The list of resources at the end of the teacher guide, provides links to more information that will be helpful to the instructors and the learners. The resource can serve as a template for expanding instructional and career readiness curricula for in-demand occupational sectors (e.g., advanced manufacturing, information technology, transportation and logistics, hospitality). Students may be included in developing curricula by helping locate and verifying information, identifying relevant vocabulary and necessary education and training, including associated costs, etc. It could act as an effective tool to facilitate contextualized curricula development sessions for both academic instruction and career exploration and readiness – ultimately, creating a lesson/unit repository for others to access. There are two small points that should be noted. On page 7 there is a confusing statement in which being a nursing assistant is equated with being a nurse. This point can be easily corrected by explaining that while nursing assistants are on a career pathway to nursing, the job is generally not considered to be a nursing position. There is also a statement on page 12 that implies a direct connection between training and pay. Unfortunately, this is not entirely accurate for the healthcare field. For example, social workers, often with many advanced degrees, usually receive considerable lower wages than nurses including those with only an Associate’s degree.

This resource is well worth the read to think about the multiple ways and structural changes needed to improve outcomes for populations of underserved learners. The recommendations touch on the work of many systems and organizations: postsecondary education, corrections education, Adult Basic Education, faculty and teacher development, student services, employer partnerships, institutional research, and more. It is well-written, provides lots of references and examples from multiple states, and is framed by research in both institutional policy and student experience. The authors conclude with a statement that will resonate with many engaged in career pathways and who continue to struggle to ensure success for underserved learners: “We cannot be satisfied with general improvements in postsecondary completion if this means inadvertently widening achievement gaps and decreasing economic opportunity for those who need it most.” This is a comprehensive compilation of policy recommendations to promote social justice and improved economic opportunity for underprivileged adults via postsecondary education and career development. The policy levers proposed are organized into eight clear categories. The document is clearly situated in the field of adult education and would be a useful resource for policymakers and funders concerned with adult education, as well as college personnel, adult education program designers, curriculum developers, counselors and advisors. The most significant feature of Framing the Opportunity is its comprehensiveness. Many policy levers to promote economic opportunity and improved outcomes for low-skilled, disenfranchised adults are offered, each with clear justification and practical steps. Also, there is a useful schematic showing the current situation on page 8, and a clear depiction of the “guided pathways” concept on page 11. 

A Guide to Finding Entry-Level Jobs in Health Care provides pivotal examples of information on numerous healthcare and health care related occupations that adult educators can use to integrate learning about healthcare careers and career pathways with adult literacy education and English language learning. From an adult literacy perspective, the primary benefit of this document is its practical integration of significant and meaningful content with materials that support adult literacy and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) learning. The guide includes handouts and instructions as well as charts - all of which are useful tools for both teachers and career counselors.  It also provides links to other documents that practitioners will find helpful in the implementation of an integrative approach to adult literacy and career development. The last page provides "Resources" for students to further explore healthcare careers, training opportunities, and financial aid. Since many of these resources are Florida-centered, teachers in other states may elect to skip this page or develop a resource list customized for their state or program.

A key issue for adult education teachers or instructors is that basic digital literacy skills are essential, but not sufficient for preparing adults for post-secondary education, jobs and careers. From Digital Literacy to Digital Problem Solving emphasizes that digital literacy skills in adult education classrooms need to be combined with higher levels of problem-solving. Since many adult educators bring students to computers to fill out multiple-choice questions designed by workbook editors or to complete essays, which can be difficult because of limited keyboarding skills, the questions of how to use computers and digital literacy in the classroom to extend learning are important. It is equally important that the cognitive task combined with the stress of using new technology doesn't overwhelm students leaving them incapable of completing either. This discussion and a serious self-reflection on teaching with technology will be beneficial for adult education instructors and administrators.

Foundational Skills in the Service Sector provides good examples of programs and important policy recommendations. The resource does not differentiate between sub-sectors, disseminating assumptions about service works, and narrowing the focus of interested parties to primarily government and employers. Citations are scarce particularly in the programmatic section. Some policy suggestions have value but, other than the need for greater investment in adult education and workforce development, seem unrelated to the arguments in the paper. The research described in this resource has value for classroom instructors (e.g. better understanding specific proficiencies service sector workers need on the job and what motivates workers to seek further education) and program managers reaching out to workforce development entities, employers, and support programs. Adult educators will find a bonus in Foundational Skills’ extensive section describing model programs and recommended policies—with many helpful citations. Well-documented partnerships are described as well as programs that employers can undertake on their own.  A “Taking Upskilling to Scale” section describes policies that advocates can promote at the federal and state level such as “Make it easier for workers to navigate career pathways.” Adult education administrators and lead teachers will find this specific analysis of PIAAC data on the service sector workforce - arguably the largest employer sector of low skilled adults - very useful for both strategic and operational planning. The paper's argument that low skills among America's workforce lowers productivity and is a barrier to personal economic mobility supports adult education advocacy on state and local workforce boards, regional economic development corporations, chambers of commerce, and with specific employers. This paper is a call to action within America's largest and fastest growing industry sector.

There can be feeling of urgency in determining how to implement technology into classrooms. The authors contend that thoughtfully considering how teachers are trained to roll out, implement, and evolve the use of technology in their classrooms is a much-needed dose of slow and steady deliberateness. Program administrators and instructors will find the resource is helpful in understanding how adult learners learn and the different ways to assess student learning. It can also be used to foster higher-order thinking skills in teachers and help them model the skill sets and mindset that will positively impact students lives. Uses will note that the theoretical framework underlying the narrative is not specifically from the field of adult education, but education more broadly. However, all the techniques and recommendations within the resource can be meaningfully applied in adult education classrooms.