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Abstract:
An innovative, blended learning model for adults, learning circles use online learning resources together with teacher- or volunteer-facilitated face-to-face sessions to support peer learning. We will discuss the range of learning circles and ways to use them in adult basic skills education. Learning circles have been piloted and customized for adult ESOL/ESL programs that want to reduce waiting lists or supplement face-to-face learning. In this session you will learn about the range of learning circles, how they have been used by adult ESL/ESOL programs, and about the English Now! Model, funded by the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, piloted by World Education and five ESOL programs in New England and is now being scaled up nationally.
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Abstract:
In the first two years of President Trump’s term, many new, restrictionist immigration policies were put into motion, including dramatic cuts in refugee resettlement and significant expansions in both the categories of immigrants targeted for deportation and types of public programs whose use could trigger immigration penalties. In the wake of these actions, Congress has been considering a range of bills related to DACA/DREAM youth and various broader immigration reform measures. In this session, national immigration and immigrant integration experts will discuss the impacts of these and other immigration measures on the adult education field. Presentations will explore how these policies affect adult education programs, the differing reactions of states in several key policy areas, as well as ways in which adult education programs can continue providing support for immigrants’ educational and integration success despite the turbulent policy landscape.
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Abstract:
Despite a legal mandate to prioritize serving English Learners (ELs) in adult workforce development programs, very few can currently access training services. The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) requires programs to grant priority of service to individuals who are considered “basic skills deficient,” and WIOA’s nondiscrimination and equal protection provisions forbid discrimination against ELs. Despite these requirements, as well as years of best practice research on implementing similar priority of service guidelines, few states and local workforce boards have taken steps to open up training services to ELs and those without a high school diploma or equivalent who meet the priority of service. Join us for a discussion of the priority of service mandate and the steps that are needed to ensure fair access to workforce training services for ELs and other target populations.
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Abstract:
Achieving successful long-term civic, economic, and linguistic integration is critically important to ensure the well-being and economic mobility of immigrant and refugee families, as well as the strength of communities where they settle. Leeway within the system to support successful integration has steadily narrowed in recent years; this trend accelerated in 2014 with passage of WIOA. While federal adult education provisions formerly allowed a more balanced approach to teaching English and meeting learners’ needs in their roles as parents, workers, and citizens, WIOA instituted mandatory performance measures that focus mainly on employment outcomes and the attainment of postsecondary credentials, placing no value on other essential integration skills or topics. This session will explore the potential for new approaches at the intersection of the adult education and immigrant integration fields that a wide range of stakeholders can champion to better support immigrants’ and refugees’ integration success.
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Abstract:
The Open Door Collective's mission is to reduce poverty and income inequality, and to include adult basic skills advocacy in other anti-poverty advocacy efforts. This is a presentation of Open Door Collective papers on health and ABE, Libraries and ABE, New Americans and ABE (including ESL/ESOL) and ABE and safety net services.
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Abstract:
This session showcases the resources CASAS offers - many at no cost - which help agencies implement quality ABE/ESL programs with standardized accountability measures. The CASAS framework assists programs to assess, instruct and track youth and adult student's progress from beginning literacy through transition to post-secondary and the workforce.
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Abstract:
Learning Circles are a low-cost blended learning model for delivering short-term (6-12 week) instruction using trained volunteer facilitators and online courses or learning resources. In this presentation we talked about learning circles offered primarily through libraries, and a new pilot of English language circles offered for immigrants on waiting lists for English classes at five adult basic skills programs in New England.
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Abstract:
Participants will identify the latest citizenship resources in the form of quizzes, mobile apps, textbooks, videos, podcasts, websites, online courses, and more. By adapting and incorporating these digital resources, participants will be able to implement learning strategies appropriate for ESL and/or citizenship classrooms, blended learning, distance learning environments, or directed self-study.