Resources

Observing classroom instruction delivered by experienced teachers is a good way for teachers and tutors to acquire classroom management techniques and learn new activities. Because finding time to do in-person classroom observations can be difficult, the Minnesota Literacy Council developed the Classroom Activities for Adult ESL Learners video series. The 17 videos feature professional teachers leading adult ESL classes through common classroom activities. Teachers and tutors can use the videos to develop their teaching practices and become more comfortable introducing new activities to students. Each activity includes:

• a PDF version of the lesson plan;
• a full version of the video ranging in length from 8 to 35 minutes that shows the entire activity from beginning to end; and
• a shorter 3- to 16-minute version that gives an overview of the activity and highlights the instructions and teacher-led transitions.

The activities featured in these videos were selected from the Minnesota Literacy Council’s Pre-Beginning ESL Curriculum and Beginning ESL Curriculum. The site also features a Classroom Video Observation Form to analyze and reflect on what users see in the videos.

The Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (DOLETA) is excited to release the Career Pathways Toolkit: An Enhanced Guide and Workbook for System Development. The new Toolkit will be especially helpful for State offices and partners required to develop a Unified Plan as well as staff members supporting State Workforce Development Boards. DOLETA revised the Career Pathways Toolkit to align with the new vision, definition, and requirements of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). It also reflects major advancements and emerging promising practices in the field over the past five years. The enhanced Toolkit features the Six Key Elements of Career Pathways. Each element now includes embedded – and writeable – worksheets to help State and local teams with implementation. Users can type directly into the worksheet fields and save and print as they go along.

Crucial to the nation’s economic growth and individuals’ social and personal well-being is the availability of education and training that enables adults to learn new skills, obtain higher paying jobs, and build careers. The primary federal legislation supporting education, training services, and workforce development for adults – the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) of 2014– is a catalyst for delivering the types of education, training, and employment services that facilitate adults’ economic and career success. WIOA emphasizes the building and alignment of workforce investment, education, and economic development systems that deliver comprehensive employment, education, and supportive services. These services are expected to enable individuals, particularly those with barriers to employment, to obtain the skills and credentials needed to secure jobs with family-sustaining wages, as well as to provide employers with the skilled workforce needed to succeed in a global economy. WIOA aims to strengthen the U.S. workforce development system by aligning employment, training, and education programs and improving their quality through innovative approaches that address the needs of adults and youth. Career pathways, consistently referenced in WIOA Titles I and II, is an approach that includes innovative policies and practices to facilitate individuals’ education and employment success. The use of a career pathways approach calls for aligned workforce investment, education, and economic development systems at the state and local levels. To obtain this alignment, state and local partners must work together to organize and support the high-quality, coordinated workforce, education, and training services that underlie a career pathways approach. Thus, to assess services that undergird a career pathways approach, state staff must examine the implementation of career pathways; determine professional development services involved; and leverage data to inform new strategic thinking.

This guide for adult education facilitators provides information and strategies for supporting adult learners living with mental health conditions or disorders. Chapters 1 - 5 contain an overview of concepts and general suggestions for supporting learners living with mental health issues. To get the most from this guide, it is suggested that users read chapters 1 - 5 first. Chapters 6 - 16 present information on specific conditions and disorders, and strategies for supporting learners living with these specific issues. Because some learning needs will be similar across multiple disorders, some information and strategies will be repeated in more than one chapter. These chapters, and the strategies they contain, are listed separately in the Table of Contents so that facilitators can look up a specific issue and use only the relevant materials. Chapters 17 – 18 include resources and handouts for learners. Instructors will find the handout topics listed in the Table of Contents. Links to the handouts that correspond with learning strategies are also included in the learning strategy charts, where applicable.

Using the PIAAC Literacy Framework to Guide Instruction is a report based on PIAAC’s data released in October 2013. Thisintroductory guide describes how adult literacy practitioners (teachers, lead instructors, professional developers, and program administrators) might support adult learners by incorporating relevant tools from PIAAC’s literacy framework to frame reading instruction. The Guide provides suggested instructional practices in relation to how instructors can support adult developing readers.

A webinar hosted by the National Disability Institute on programs that encourage individuals with disabilities to develop money saving habits. Chris Rodriguez, Senior Public Policy Advisor with the National Disability Institute, provides overviews of:

• The Stephen Beck, Jr. Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act
• Individual Development Accounts (IDAs)
• Plan for Achieving Self-Support (PASS)

The Stephen Beck, Jr. Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act, is a saving option for some people with disabilities and their families that protects their eligibility for public benefits. Up to $14,000 a year from multiple sources can be contributed to an ABLE account for qualified disability related expenses. Estimates are that over 10 million people are participating in a program. The ABLE National Resource Center is a collaborative of organizations that share the goal of accelerating the design and availability of ABLE accounts for the benefit of individuals with disabilities and their families. Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) are special bank accounts that help low income individuals and families save for things like education, purchasing a first home or starting a business. Workers use earnings from their work to set up an approved bank account for an IDA. Contributions may be matched with funds from State TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) programs or from special funds called "demonstration project" money. Over the last decade, more than 85,000 IDAs have been opened in programs administered by more than 1,100 sites across the country. The impact of this initiative has resulted in more than 9,400 new homeowners, 7,200 educational purchases and 6,400 small business start-ups and expansion purchases. Plan for Achieving Self-Support (PASS) allows a person with a disability to set aside otherwise countable income and/or resources for a specific period of time in order to achieve a work goal. A PASS account can be used for supplies to start a business, school expenses, equipment and tools, transportation, uniforms and other items or services needed to reach an employment goal. Under PASS, persons with disabilities can set aside money for purchases, installment payments, or down payments for things like a vehicle, wheelchair, or a computer if needed to achieve their work goal. America Saves, a national campaign that uses the principles of social marketing and behavioral economics to motive and support low to moderate income households to save money, reduce debt, and build wealth, is reviewed. Motivational and information resources information are available.

Technology offers a promising fix to many of the challenges within adult education, but is not a silver bullet. It is not a cure-all for complex issues around funding, degree pathways, and teacher preparation, but presents promising solutions to many systemic challenges around access, resourcing, and contextualization. This report showcases the potential for technology to enhance the teaching and learning of advanced math skills to adults, providing nuanced guidance for funders and educational innovators. We will discuss key stakeholders, their needs, and opportunities for investment to capitalize on the potential of technology to better ready adult learners for the workforce. In particular, we will delve into areas of key need like contextualization of classroom resources and professional development for educators. Following a review of needs for relevant stakeholders (employers, adult learners, and educators) and a discussion of technology’s promise, we will introduce “three A’s” of adult edtech: Accessibility, Adaptability, and Applicability. These encapsulate and represent many ongoing cross-disciplinary calls to tailor new tools and approaches to the needs of learners and the educators who serve them, ultimately laddering up to the requirements of industry job creators. Several such efforts and technologies are particularly relevant to advanced math, and we will hone in on open educational resources (OER), a parallel movement in education to leverage digital technology and open source licensing to expand access. This document was funded by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education under the project titled “Power in Numbers: Advancing Math for Adult Learners” (OER Math project), Contract Number: ED-VAE-14-D-0006/0004, and it includes input from adult education practitioners, researchers, and policy experts.