- Develop a growth mindset
- Feel mathematical freedom
- Share a sense of discover with their students. It’s ok if you don’t know all the answers.
- Basic computer skills
- Internet
- Windows OS
- Mac OS
- Social media
- Microsoft Word
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Information literacy
- Supplement the instructor
- Design for life
- Engage the learner
- Build the community
- Connect the dots
Download Resource
You must be logged in to download this resource. Register now if you don't have an account.
Abstract:
A collection of in-depth personal finance, courses, articles, calculators, and tips for money managment.
Resource URL
Publication Year
2018
Smart About Money is an online, comprehensive site regarding financial literacy. While it is not strictly from an adult education framework, it is designed to address many different scenarios, for as many students as possible. The site is divided into three sections: Courses, Tools, and Topics.
The Courses and Topics sections cover most of the basic content areas associated with personal finance and financial literacy. Both present information in one-page chunks that use short sentences and common vocabulary. Some pages have graphics that help to convey the content. The self-selected, self-paced courses help users make empowered decisions to improve their financial literacy. These in-depth guided learning experiences take approximately 45 minutes to complete and include tools and resources (e.g., worksheets, calculators and quizzes).
Smart About Money allows users to explore collections of resources (e.g., informational articles, calculators, graphics, videos, and tools) organized by topics such as: crisis and fraud, education and career, family and finances, holidays and money, housing and transportation, insurance and taxes, retirement and aging, saving and investing, and spending and borrowing. Users can also easily find materials available in Spanish in the Topics section.
The Tools section has worksheets, questionnaires, and frequently asked questions that would be helpful tools for a teacher developing learning activities around this content. Tools includes a new resource, Common Money Questions, which provides guidance on common scenarios, including what to do in times of transition and crisis.
All of the resources are available without registration; however, registration is free and allows a user to save personal budgets and other worksheets.
What the experts say
Smart About Money is a 21st Century financial literacy resource with the capacity to support adult learners at every step in their financial education. Aligning with financial literacy supports to assist adult education trainers in strengthening students foundational knowledge, as well as the ability to provide continued learning opportunities for students, it provides easy to navigate, well-presented financial literacy training for educators and their students.
The ease of design and use in Smart About Money is what makes it so helpful. It's easy to navigate, search, and find what is specific to the individual, while allowing them to see what else may be of interest at a later time or next in their learning. The Money Basics course is a good place to start for individuals who might not be sure where to begin. Alternatively, individuals can search on their own to find courses of interest.
Smart About Money is an excellent content resource for adult education practitioners who wish to use authentic materials to teach financial literacy and related concepts. It has a user-friendly interface with a clean design/layout and clear, intuitive navigation. The content is directly relevant to the needs and situations of participants in adult education programs (and the teachers, too) and provides many helpful tools such as worksheets and calcularors, and encourages users to continue to explore and develop their knowledge on their own.
Resource Notice
This site includes links to information created by other public and private organizations. These links are provided for the user’s convenience. The U.S. Department of Education does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of this non-ED information. The inclusion of these links is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse views expressed, or products or services offered, on these non-ED sites.
Please note that privacy policies on non-ED sites may differ from ED’s privacy policy. When you visit lincs.ed.gov, no personal information is collected unless you choose to provide that information to us. We do not give, share, sell, or transfer any personal information to a third party. We recommend that you read the privacy policy of non-ED websites that you visit. We invite you to read our privacy policy.
Download Resource
You must be logged in to download this resource. Register now if you don't have an account.
Abstract:
The Reasoning Through Language Arts Instructional Framework enumerates language arts standards, standards descriptions and resources related to teaching to those standards.
Publication Year
2018
The Kentucky Skills U Instructional Framework Series was designed to provide a common instructional foundation for all of Kentucky’s adult education providers. Local adult educators provided the impetus for this project. The Reasoning Through Language Arts Instructional Framework enumerates language arts standards, standards descriptions and resources related to teaching to those standards. Many of the resources are Kentucky-based, but users from any state can create an account to have access to full lesson plans and materials. There are many links to a range of resource materials.
What the experts say
Reasoning Through Language Arts (RLA) Instructional Framework is a comprehensive resource which provides instructors with significant reference material, professional development support, lesson and skills banks, teaching resources and materials for learners. Instructors can work independently, and might also benefit from cohort work in exploring the resource, sharing materials used and developing their own adaptations as necessary. The team of adult educators who created the RLA Frameworks are to be commended for creating a readable set of standards and directly linking those standards to practice in one document. The document is well-designed, clear, and easy to use. And, the resources are well-matched to the standards as well as potentially interesting and engaging for adult learners.
Resource Notice
This site includes links to information created by other public and private organizations. These links are provided for the user’s convenience. The U.S. Department of Education does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of this non-ED information. The inclusion of these links is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse views expressed, or products or services offered, on these non-ED sites.
Please note that privacy policies on non-ED sites may differ from ED’s privacy policy. When you visit lincs.ed.gov, no personal information is collected unless you choose to provide that information to us. We do not give, share, sell, or transfer any personal information to a third party. We recommend that you read the privacy policy of non-ED websites that you visit. We invite you to read our privacy policy.
Download Resource
You must be logged in to download this resource. Register now if you don't have an account.
Abstract:
This presentation describes how math anxiety affects learners and specific techniques to help ease and overcome these effects.
Publication Year
2018
Mathematics anxiety affects almost half of the learners in adult education classrooms. Fear interferes with the part of the brain needed for reasoning and problem-solving. Math anxiety can also affect teachers in ways that negatively affect students. In this presentation, participants learn how math anxiety affects learners and specific stratgegies to help ease and overcome these effects.
Strategy 1: Make students aware of the physiological effects of math anxiety. Research shows that when someone is experiencing math anxiety there is a physiological effect similar to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Strategy 2: Change the learner’s mindset about their potential and teach math in a way that is open and free enough for them to learn and grow. Studies show that learners learn best when they are active learners, which can be encouraged with a growth mindset.
Strategy 3: Promote ideas of mathematical freedom because students' feelings of loss of control can shut brain function. Refrain from tying self-esteem to success in math.
Strategy 4: Encourage student authorship of processes and ideas. Give students multiple solution tasks, which opens up authorship and promotes ideas. That shifts the focus from a correct answer to what I think.
Strategy 5: Create a positive learning environment by establishing positive norms in the classroom through things like validating mistakes.
Stragtegy 6: Develop a memory bank of positive math experiences. Students may use pictures or write down experiences from class and deposit them into their bank. Students can look back at their positive experience to combat negative self-talk.
Strategies that can help teachers overcome their math anxiety include:
What the experts say
This webinar introduces ideas for addressing math anxiety and the importance of developing a growth mindset for learning. Math anxiety is a topic that must be addressed and understood by practitioners and learners alike in order to promote a growth mindset and deeper learning. The resources identified in the webinar will help practitioners become more informed on the topic.
Understanding math anxiety can also address a practitioner's need to change their teaching practice to allow for a safe learning environment, and explore and discuss mathematics. This in turn supports some of the Mathematical Practices especially Math Practice 1: perseverance in problem solving.
Acknowledging that many adult educators are, themselves, anxious about doing and teaching mathematics is important for the field. However, the speaker’s example of trying to quickly remember a fact such as 5 times 7 during a presentation and an accompanying moment of panic is different in kind from the debilitating power that math anxiety can wield.
The most useful feature of the resource is the suggested strategies to use with learners, but actual examples of the strategies would have been helpful. The speaker mentions that a presentation of this material would have benefitted from interactive mathematical activities, which is true.
Resource Notice
This site includes links to information created by other public and private organizations. These links are provided for the user’s convenience. The U.S. Department of Education does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of this non-ED information. The inclusion of these links is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse views expressed, or products or services offered, on these non-ED sites.
Please note that privacy policies on non-ED sites may differ from ED’s privacy policy. When you visit lincs.ed.gov, no personal information is collected unless you choose to provide that information to us. We do not give, share, sell, or transfer any personal information to a third party. We recommend that you read the privacy policy of non-ED websites that you visit. We invite you to read our privacy policy.
Download Resource
You must be logged in to download this resource. Register now if you don't have an account.
Abstract:
This open-access version of the Northstar Digital Literacy Project assessments can be used for assessing digital literacy skills to inform instruction.
Resource URL
Publication Year
2018
The Northstar Digital Literacy Project offers online learning modules and assessments in ten categories:
What the experts say
Learners must be digitally literate in order to find and succeed in a career with family-sustaining wages. The Northstar Digital Literacy Assessment is a group of standards-based interactive assessment modules that measure adult digital literacy skills at a basic level. Each assessment moves the learner up a level in their digital literacy skills. The lessons are simple and easy to understand and navigate.
Many adult education teachers are seeking introductory courses in computer/digital literacy for themselves and their students. The Northstar Assessments are widely used in the fields of adult basic skills education and digital literacy skills. Designed specifically for adult basic skills (including ESL/ESOL) learners, the project began with designing a set of digital literacy standards that are acceptable to public libraries, adult basic skills educators and employers in Minnesota. The standards are based on the needs of low-literate adults as perceived by adult educators, librarians, and employment and training services specialists.
Resource Notice
This site includes links to information created by other public and private organizations. These links are provided for the user’s convenience. The U.S. Department of Education does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of this non-ED information. The inclusion of these links is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse views expressed, or products or services offered, on these non-ED sites.
Please note that privacy policies on non-ED sites may differ from ED’s privacy policy. When you visit lincs.ed.gov, no personal information is collected unless you choose to provide that information to us. We do not give, share, sell, or transfer any personal information to a third party. We recommend that you read the privacy policy of non-ED websites that you visit. We invite you to read our privacy policy.
Download Resource
You must be logged in to download this resource. Register now if you don't have an account.
Abstract:
This online evaluation toolkit is designed to help financial educators understand evaluation concepts and efficiently apply them to document the impact their educational programs have on students.
Resource URL
Publication Year
2018
The NEFE Financial Education Evaluation Online Toolkit helps financial educators document the impact of their financial education programs on learners. Evaluation allows educators, administrators and funding agencies to make decisions about their programs based on objective data. It not only provides information about areas for improvement, but also demonstrates the impact of a course or program on participants.
After creating a free login account, teachers can create and save course evaluations. Users select what kind of evaluation to conduct and the type of impact indicators to include (e.g., Attitudinal, Knowledge). Instructors can create their own questions or select from over 800 questions from a question bank. The assessments can be printed out or instructors can send students a link to take it online. Completed assessments are automatically scored and teachers can view the results online or download them as an Excel spreadsheet. Teachers can create as many evaluations as they like and each can be saved and accessed later.
What the experts say
The NEFE Financial Education Evaluation Toolkit is an invaluable tool to financial literacy educators and financial literacy programs. The framework supports all financial literacy training resources, and allows for pre-, post- and multi-assessments. It provides step by step instructions to ensure instructors understand the need for conducting evaluations and how to create a valid assessment.
Because it’s web-based, instructors can use the content as is or remix and modify it. Results are automatically compiled and graded under the instructor’s account. This feature allows the instructor to analyze individual learner results to ensure they’re understanding the concepts being presented.
Resource Notice
This site includes links to information created by other public and private organizations. These links are provided for the user’s convenience. The U.S. Department of Education does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of this non-ED information. The inclusion of these links is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse views expressed, or products or services offered, on these non-ED sites.
Please note that privacy policies on non-ED sites may differ from ED’s privacy policy. When you visit lincs.ed.gov, no personal information is collected unless you choose to provide that information to us. We do not give, share, sell, or transfer any personal information to a third party. We recommend that you read the privacy policy of non-ED websites that you visit. We invite you to read our privacy policy.
Download Resource
You must be logged in to download this resource. Register now if you don't have an account.
Abstract:
This report explores the potential for technology to enhance the teaching and learning of advanced math skills for adults.
In the second of three reports, Power in Numbers examines opportunity areas for technology to drive impact for adult learners. We propose that edtech investors and developers focus on five key opportunity areas, and invest in technology solutions to improve adult education outcomes. Each opportunity area represents a framework for analyzing technologies to achieve maximum impact.
They are:
Benefits and Uses
This document is the second in a series of three reports on the state of the technology market for adult learners.
The first report highlighted many problems that technology solutions face in serving the unique needs of adult learners. This report focuses on solutions and makes the case for further investment in technologies that can be transformative for adult education.
Through the lens of five opportunity areas, the report highlights technology solutions and applications that have the potential to greatly impact adult learning outcomes, if given the required attention and funding.
We aim to draw attention to adult education as a field ripe for investment and innovation to would-be funders. For those already invested in the field, we hope to provide a framework for analyzing the impact opportunity of future investments.
Resource Notice
This site includes links to information created by other public and private organizations. These links are provided for the user’s convenience. The U.S. Department of Education does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of this non-ED information. The inclusion of these links is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse views expressed, or products or services offered, on these non-ED sites.
Please note that privacy policies on non-ED sites may differ from ED’s privacy policy. When you visit lincs.ed.gov, no personal information is collected unless you choose to provide that information to us. We do not give, share, sell, or transfer any personal information to a third party. We recommend that you read the privacy policy of non-ED websites that you visit. We invite you to read our privacy policy.
Download Resource
You must be logged in to download this resource. Register now if you don't have an account.
Abstract:
Online lessons and practices designed to help instructors teach and foster adaptive beliefs about learning.
Learning mindsets are a set of beliefs that can support increased academic performance in students. There are three main learning mindsets commonly referenced: growth mindset, belonging, and purpose & relevance. Individuals who believe intelligence is set at birth have a "fixed mindset". They tend to perform worse academically and may give up when challenged or think that having to work hard means you don’t ‘have what it takes’.
In contrast, students who believe their intelligence can grow with effort and practice perform better in school and in life. This belief is called a "growth mindset". Students with a growth mindset understand that they have control over their own success. They are more motivated to work hard; they put more effort into their schoolwork; they are more resilient in the face of obstacles; and they ultimately perform better in school.
The Mindset Kit is a collection of resources that help adult educators and parents learn about the most effective learning mindset materials available. All of the resources are based on research that has been carefully translated into lessons and practices intended to improve students’ mindsets and make them better learners. There are several videos to help users learn more about these mindsets and example practices that can help them get started.
What the experts say
The Mindset Kit is organized into materials for teachers, parents, mentors, and professional development. Lessons are short and easy to understand and most include a short video. Along with the lessons on growth mindset teachers will find lesson plans to try in their classrooms to help their students develop a growth mindset. Although the lessons are developed for K-12 classrooms, they are easily used or adapted for adult education classrooms. Lessons on developing learning tasks and assessments are illustrated in a math classroom that will resonate with adult education teachers.
The research on growth mindset is presented in a way that is easy to understand. Lessons for teachers emphasize the importance of helping students understanding the research and lesson plans are provided that make the research easily accessible for students. The kit also contains a set of five one-hour professional development courses and a list of downloadable professional development activities and resources.
Resource Notice
This site includes links to information created by other public and private organizations. These links are provided for the user’s convenience. The U.S. Department of Education does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of this non-ED information. The inclusion of these links is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse views expressed, or products or services offered, on these non-ED sites.
Please note that privacy policies on non-ED sites may differ from ED’s privacy policy. When you visit lincs.ed.gov, no personal information is collected unless you choose to provide that information to us. We do not give, share, sell, or transfer any personal information to a third party. We recommend that you read the privacy policy of non-ED websites that you visit. We invite you to read our privacy policy.
Resource URL
Publication Year
2018
Download Resource
You must be logged in to download this resource. Register now if you don't have an account.
Abstract:
This flyer highlights LINCS resources of interest to adult educators working in career pathways or workforce development.
This flyer may be of interest to adult educators working in career pathways or workforce development who are looking for recommended LINCS resources. State staff and program administrators should feel free to download, print, and distribute these flyers.
Resource Notice
This site includes links to information created by other public and private organizations. These links are provided for the user’s convenience. The U.S. Department of Education does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of this non-ED information. The inclusion of these links is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse views expressed, or products or services offered, on these non-ED sites.
Please note that privacy policies on non-ED sites may differ from ED’s privacy policy. When you visit lincs.ed.gov, no personal information is collected unless you choose to provide that information to us. We do not give, share, sell, or transfer any personal information to a third party. We recommend that you read the privacy policy of non-ED websites that you visit. We invite you to read our privacy policy.
Publication Year
2018