- General Writing
- Research and Citation
- Teacher and Tutor Resources
- Subject-Specific Writing
- Job Search Writing
- English as a Second Language
- Purdue OWL Video-casts
- How to prepare adult learners effectively for career training and postsecondary education, including related language demands
- Effective instructional models of integrating career training with academic instruction
- Key concepts in integrating academic skill development across many ELL levels to assist with learners’ transitions to postsecondary education, in preparation for work
- Find appropriately complex non-fiction texts accompanied by multiple choice quiz and sample writing prompts
- Build content knowledge on current events
- Supplement existing curriculum resources
- Connect historical or scientific topics with current events
- Create your own text sets by pulling together multiple articles on the same topic
- Access text sets created by other educators.
- High-interest texts appropriate for adult learners.
- This site is particularly appropriate for instructors who are planning and implementing instruction in multi-leveled classrooms. Because each article is provided at all its varying Lexile levels, this site helps to ensure all students can build their knowledge about the same content.
- After signing up to use the site, begin with the “Overview” section.
- The need for instruction and accompanying professional development that support the language demands of rigorous college- and career-focused content
- Engaging learners in increasingly complex texts, especially informational texts, while building students’ content knowledge
- Expanding project-based learning into academic subjects
- Enhancing the rigor of reading instruction for adult English language learners
- Funding. States can provide funding to local IET programs or partnerships through grants or formula funds, using state or federal resources.
- Program Initiatives. States can authorize the provision of IET via program initiatives that are part of a state adult education and workforce strategy.
- Program Requirements. States can go beyond merely authorizing IET by actively requiring the provision of IET.
- Reviewed state adult education, community college, and/or workforce board websites;
- Reviewed relevant sections of state code; and
- Conducted follow-up calls and emails with key informants to answer questions and confirm findings.
- At least 12 state provide funding for IET.
- At least 18 states have launched program initiatives using an IET model.
- No state has established policies requiring IET, although several states have longstanding initiatives that function as de facto requirements.
- The variety of technology integration options in ESL instruction
- The role of digital literacy instruction in reducing the digital divide
- The role technology can play in problem-based learning
- The benefits of using technology to support learner-centered instruction at all levels of ESL and in various learning environments
- to tested Public Lessons presented to children and groups of observing teachers;
- to guided tours of reflective mathematics practice, identifying what makes teaching, learning, and improving instruction in mathematics a difficult enterprise;
- resources for teachers to improve their practice;
- to mathematics teaching and learning tools and resources to support the daily practices of classroom teachers, math coaches, and administrators; and
- to a professional learning community in which you are invited to open your own classroom and engage in conversation about teaching and learning.
- Tools for educators;
- Classroom videos;
- Common core resources;
- Problems of the month; and
- Performance assessment tasks.
- Break instruction and activities into short modules with opportunities for feedback, checks for understanding, and encouragement. Cognitive research has shown students process more efficiently and learn more effectively with short lessons followed by focused activities that require them to apply and reflect on what they have learned. Not only do adults learn more with short lessons, they are also more engaged because short lessons provide regular feedback and a sense of success.
- Build in tools and opportunities to help adult learners visualize information and concepts. Just as short lessons take advantage of how the brain learns best, visual, or graphic, organizers mimic how the brain records and organizes information. Learning is the process of creating or strengthening connections between neurons that form the map that is the brain. Visual organizers replicate this map for learners, helping them understand and therefore strengthen the patterns being formed between old and new information. The more learners can manipulate the visuals themselves, the more effective the tool or activity will be for cognitive development.
- Provide clear, simple ways for adult learners to access a large bank of resources for practice. The more resources and activities available, the more opportunities there are for adult learners to deepen their learning. Adult learners need access to resources of many types. Digital products are the perfect vehicle for support resources because they can store all types of content (documents, PDFs, videos, sound files, etc.). The more resources and activities available, the more opportunities there are for multiple ways of learning. In addition, adult learners need easy ways to access these resources. Research has shown that students who feel they have strong support when learning online are more likely to stick with it.
- Design in multiple ways for learners and instructors to communicate outside of class time. The more support adult learners have from their teachers, the more they believe they can overcome obstacles and succeed as learners. Technology can provide multiple modes of learner-teacher communication: reflective activities (blogs, emails, videos), regular feedback (emails, discussion threads, videos), and “office hour” chats (written, video). Technology can also help deepen connections between learners and teachers by happening outside of class time, in turn building learners’ confidence and helping them progress more quickly. technology can provide anytime communication. Learners have control over time with digital learning, as they can use the learning tool whenever they want.
- Design in tools and opportunities for peer-to-peer interactions as well. By learning from and with peers, adult learners not only deepen their learning but also develop an additional support system for managing their learning. Working with others increases the social-emotional memories of a learning experience, thus increases the learning. For adult learners, these social and emotional connections also add to their confidence because they are learning with and from others who are also managing all that comes with being an adult learner. As with learner-instructor connections, digital tools are a perfect match for providing peer-to- peer interaction that goes beyond face-to-face.
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Abstract:
The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University houses writing resources and instructional material, which teachers and trainers may use for in-class and out-of-class instruction.
Resource URL
Publication Year
2016
The Online Writing Lab (OWL) website was developed at Purdue University as a free service of the Writing Lab at Purdue. OWL houses writing resources and instructional material. Students—no matter their skill level— and members of the education community will find information to assist with many writing projects. Teachers and trainers may use this material for in-class and out-of-class instruction. The site is organized into the following sections:
Benefits and Uses
OWL is a collection of resources that support writing instruction created for college-aged students—no matter their skill level—and their instructors and tutors. These materials are relevant to ABE and ESL students and relatively simple to adapt for the purposes of adult educators.
OWL resources support instruction aligned to College and Career Readiness (CCR) Standards for writing and language, though CCR standards are not specifically named.
For example, the sections on academic writing address expository, argumentative, and narrative writing—CCR Writing Standards 1-3. The resources also support development of the writing process—CCR Writing Standard 5; the need for evidence to support claims—CCR Writing Standard 9 and Key Advance 2; and correct methods for citing resources—CCR Writing Standard 8. Conducting research is also addressed—CCR Writing Standard 7 as are mechanics, punctuation, and grammar—CCR Language Standards 1-2.
OWL provides writing resources and instructional materials to support students as well as educators. Resources present clear guidelines and expectations for academic writing. Teachers can use the site’s resources to develop lessons, assignments, and classroom resources. Students will find hands-on exercises and printable resources that support their continuing development as writers.
OWL provides a wealth of materials that address a variety of topics about writing, topics that are also addressed by CCR writing and language standards. The site is well-organized by topics and subtopics. The Site Map provides a good overview of the site’s scope and sequence.
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.
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Abstract:
This Companion Learning resource, Preparing English Learners for Work and Career Pathways, provides teachers and administrators with instructional tools, strategies, and resources that support career-focused, contextualized English language acquisition instruction.
Publication Year
2016
This Companion Learning Resource provides an update to several seminal resources from the adult English language learner (ELL) resource collection. It also extends and expands upon these resources by offering many practical ideas and concrete classroom examples that practitioners can use and adapt in order to better integrate language development and career and postsecondary preparation in adult ELA classes.
Highlights of key concepts and practical strategies include:
Benefits and Uses
This practice-oriented resource examines language demands of the workforce, postsecondary transitions for adult ELLs, and effective preparation of adult learners for career training and postsecondary education. It illustrates effective instructional models for integrating career training with academic instruction and demonstrates key concepts in integrating academic skill development across many ELL levels to assist with learners’ transitions to postsecondary education, in preparation for work. Concrete classroom examples come from across a range of levels and teaching contexts.
Formatted as a digital magazine, this clickable PDF contains embedded resources and links to websites that encourage users to delve deeply into the areas of greatest relevance. Through the resource, practitioners are able to link to concrete examples taken from each of the seminal resources and, where relevant, additional examples drawn from other relevant contexts (e.g., K–12 education).
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.
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Abstract:
Newsela builds reading comprehension through leveled articles, real-time assessments, and actionable insights.
Resource URL
Publication Year
2016
Newsela builds reading comprehension through leveled articles, real-time assessments, and actionable insights. Launched in June 2013, Newsela publishes high-interest news articles daily at five levels of complexity for grades 2-12 using Newsela’s proprietary, rapid text-leveling process. The resources are designed to help develop nonfiction fluency and critical-thinking skills necessary for students to master the Common Core standards for informational text.
The original version of each text originates from a published news source including the Associated Press, The Guardian, and The Washington Post. In addition to the original version,Newsela presents each text at different Lexile levels which correspond to College and Career Readiness (CCR) standards Levels B-E. These texts are organized by topics including war & peace, science, and health.
Registration (free) is required.
Benefits and Uses
Newsela aligns to the CCR standards Key Advance 1 (Regular practice with complex text and its academic language) and Key Advance 3 (Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction).
The contemporary informational texts provided on this website will be useful in working with students to meet the level-specific expectations of the CCR standards for reading.
Use this site to:
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.
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Abstract:
This Companion Learning Resource, Meeting the Language Needs of Today’s Adult English Language Learner, presents numerous examples of instructional models, strategies, tools, and tasks for increasing the rigor of adult English language instruction.
Publication Year
2016
This Companion Learning Resource provides a synthesis of the main ideas in several seminal resources from the adult English language learner (ELL) resource collection. It also extends and expands upon these resources by offering many practical ideas and techniques that practitioners can use and adapt in order to increase rigor in adult ELA classes.
Highlights of key concepts and practical strategies include:
What the experts say
This practice-oriented Companion Learning Resource helps adult ELL instructors to better understand and meet the language demands of rigorous college- and career-focused content. A variety of instructional strategies and supports are included, such as nurturing academic conversations in the classroom, engaging learners with increasingly complex texts while building content knowledge, expanding project-based learning into academic subjects, and building teachers’ knowledge and skills around reading instruction.
Formatted as a digital magazine, this clickable PDF contains embedded resources and links to websites, encouraging users to delve deeply into the areas of greatest relevance. Through the resource, practitioners are able to link to concrete examples taken from each of the seminal resources and, where relevant, additional examples drawn from other relevant contexts (e.g., K–12 education).
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.
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Abstract:
A survey of all 50 states and the District of Columbia found that eighteen states have adopted at least one form of integrated education and training policy.
Publication Year
2016
Integrated education and training (IET) policies address the challenge of helping individuals who have basic skill gaps to qualify for middle-skill jobs. These policies encourage the adoption of program models that allow people to develop or refresh basic skills such as math, reading, or spoken English while simultaneously training for a in-demand occupation or industry. These policies are organized into three types:
What the experts say
Integrated Education and Training Policy: 50-State Scan is highly relevant to adult education. It is a practical resource that summarizes the how academic skills and job-related training can be combined (integrated) and what the states are doing in this regard. The report consists mostly of easy-to-read diagrams summarizing the accomplishments of each state in integrating instruction. It could be used in a study circle of program developers, state education and training directors, and program administrators.
This report is a good overview of the status of Integrated Education and Training Policy as of December 2016. It may be useful for a variety of individuals interested in adult education and the workforce including local leaders who are developing procedures and programs and want to see what other states are providing. Legislators could review this report to understand the status of neighboring and other states for policy development and federal policymakers could consider this information in identifying funding priorities. Certainly, adult education students doing research may have an interest in this report. The map and chart are the most useful features in that both provide information about the states at a glance.
Adult education state leaders, program managers, curriculum writers, and professional developers might use this scan to identify states that have adopted IET systems, but they would need to reach out to their counterparts in those states to learn about how those IET programs were/are created, funded, supported, and organized. The descriptions of what is actually happening in the states are brief and do not describe the substance or quality of the programs. This resource would be more useful if it included model programs and provided more detail on the funding, structure, curricula, instructor training, and other components.
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.
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Abstract:
This companion learning resource, Integrating Digital Literacy into English Language Instruction, provides numerous examples of instructional models, strategies, tools, and tasks for integrating digital literacy into English language acquisition instruction.
Publication Year
2016
This Companion Learning Resource provides a synthesis of the main ideas and practices in several existing seminal resources from the adult English language learner (ELL) resource collection. It also extends and expands upon these resources by offering many hands-on ideas and techniques to help practitioners integrate digital literacy instruction into adult ELA classes. .
Highlights of key concepts and practical strategies include:
Benefits and Uses
Formatted as a digital magazine, this clickable PDF contains embedded resources and links to websites that encourage users to delve deeply into the areas of greatest relevance. It includes task-based lesson plans, problem scenarios, open educational resources, and digital literacy tasks that integrate language development, information literacy, and technology integration. Practitioners are able to link to concrete examples taken from multiple sources including, where relevant, from other contexts (e.g., K–12 education).
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.
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Abstract:
Inside Mathematics provides a resource for educators (teachers and administrators) who strive to provide the best mathematics instruction they can for their students.
Publication Year
2016
Inside Mathematics provides a resource for educators (teachers and administrators) who strive to provide the best mathematics instruction they can for their students. According to their website, “Inside Mathematics opens doors:
Benefits and Uses
Although K-12 educators are the site’s targeted audience, Inside Mathematics provides resources that adult educators can use to support the implantation of CCR aligned instruction. To adapt these resources for adult learners, first read the “Permissions” section (under “About”), located at: http://www.insidemathematics.org/about/.
Use the variety of classroom-ready resources with ABE and ASE mathematics students. Search for relevant content by grade level as well as by mathematical strand. Also, watch videos of some of these classroom lessons. The performance assessment tasks include student work samples and a teacher discussion of these samples. These can provide valuable insights into student thinking in relation to the task.
Each “problem of the month” is divided into five levels giving access into different aspects of the problem and stretching students out into mathematical complexity. These different levels of complexity provide useful scaffolding and differentiation tools for teachers of multi-level classes. Note: When using this feature, attend to the grade level for the problems and determine its appropriateness for your students.
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.
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Abstract:
This brief discusses five research-based principles for product developers to consider when designing digital learning tools for adult learners.
Publication Year
2016
To effectively learn online, students must be active learners, but adult learners, particularly low-skilled adults, are often not prepared for this kind of learning. As a result, adult learners will achieve the most when using digital learning tools if they have additional support and help moving progressively toward stronger understanding (i.e., scaffolding). Research on instructional strategies that provide this support suggests five principles for product developers to consider when designing for the adult basic learner. Taken separately, each principle can help enrich the learning experience but incorporating all five will provide the richest support for learners.
What the experts say
Designing Technology for Adult Learners: Support and Scaffolding clearly sets out helpful principles on which the scaffolding for the successful expansion and integration of technology resources into adult classrooms can be built. The principles clearly build on the most promising and prominent theories of adult education and create practice-based applications of those theories. The examples of the principles in action are particularly helpful and exciting in terms of how well and how much they can create opportunities for further learning. The five scaffolding principles are the most useful resource features and provide the foundations for the expansion and implementation of technology into adult classrooms.
This description of five design principles for online learning apps should be very useful for software developers for the adult basic skills market, its primary audience. It should also be of interest and use to teachers, curriculum developers and professional developers in adult basic skills education who integrate online learning (e.g. apps, instructional software, and learning resources such as video and audio files) with face-to-face learning, and for those who create distance learning curricula and lessons. The descriptions of the five design principles are the heart of this paper and are the useful resource features.
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.