LINCS Resources

While comparisons between percentages or rates appear frequently in journalism and advertising, and are an essential component of quantitative writing, many students fail to understand precisely what percentages mean, and lack fluency with the language used for comparisons. After reviewing evidence demonstrating this weakness, this experience-based perspective lays out a framework for teaching the language of comparisons in a structured way, and illustrates it with several authentic examples that exemplify mistaken or misleading uses of such numbers. The framework includes three common types of erroneous or misleading quantitative writing: the missing comparison, where a key number is omitted; the apples-to-pineapples comparison, where two subtly incomparable rates are presented; and the implied fallacy, where an invalid quantitative conclusion is left of the reader to infer.

Workers with skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) play a hugely important role in driving innovation and economic growth. This report addresses a set of issues of increasing interest to policy makers, educators, businesses, and workers of all ages: What skills are most in demand and most likely to lead to a rewarding career? Is there a shortage of workers possessing the skills used in STEM occupations (i.e., STEM skills)? What skills and bodies of knowledge should schools and post-secondary institutions offer to teach students in order to provide them the best chances of economic success? The results show that skills common to STEM occupations are in short supply relative to demand and are valued more by employers. Moreover, companies located in regions with low unemployment rates for STEM workers have greater difficulty filling their openings, all else being equal. It follows that increased training in STEM fields like computer science and medicine will ease hiring for employers and lead to high-paying career paths for workers. While this is certainly not the first report to highlight the economic advantages that accrue to those with STEM skills, the data and analysis here are novel and useful in a few ways. First, unlike most reports on the STEM workforce or skill-shortage issues more broadly, this report draws on a database (developed by the labor market information company Burning Glass) that allows one to measure the duration of job vacancy advertisements—a measure of hiring difficulty. This is the first nationwide analysis of vacancy duration for the United States by occupation. This report also draws upon a uniquely large sample size: 1.1 million advertisements were used to calculate summary statistics for the first quarter of 2013, and 3.3 million were used in the formal statistical analysis, across 52,000 companies. There are three major conclusions:

1. Job openings for STEM positions take longer to fill than openings in other fields.
2. Specific high-value skills requested by employers and common to STEM occupations are particularly scarce relative to demand and yet particularly valuable to employers.
3. The regional supply of workers in a given occupation affects the length of vacancy advertisements.

This guide is meant to be used directly with adult learners in adult education classrooms as instructional materials. It can also be used as a conversation starter for adult education professionals in thinking about issues/skills to introduce in classrooms, programs, and materials. This is ready-to-use in the classroom or a tutoring session. It can also be given to students for their own use. The Guide itself was designed for beginner level ESOL students and can be used with or without guidance. It is written at a 3-4 grade level and is supported by pictures, a glossary and a well-designed plain language format. The Staying Healthy for Beginners Teachers Guide supports teachers and/or tutors in using the Guide as a basis for a variety of particpatory teaching activities.

The state of Washington's Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) program is nationally recognized as an evidence-based instructional model that supports career pathways. In an I-BEST program, two instructors are paired in the classroom - one to teach professional/technical or academic content; the other to teach basic skills in reading, math, writing or English language - so students can move through school and into jobs faster. The Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges offers an array of teaching tips, research findings, and planning tools for educators who want to learn more about I-BEST, including team teaching models, collaborative planning, and wrap-around support services. A series of videos is also available that explains the I-BEST model and demonstrates team teaching in action.

This paper outlines the attributes of next-generation teacher preparation and makes recommendations to support the development of teacher preparation and development systems that will equip teachers to thrive in learning environments that develop Deeper Learning competencies. The paper begins with an introduction that situates the changing roles of teachers inside the broader shifts to personalized, blended, Deeper Learning for students. After summarizing the current state of teacher preparation, professional development and accreditation, the authors describe a new approach to high-quality teacher preparation and ongoing professional learning opportunities that would offer:

• some element of teacher control over time, place, path and/or pace;
• balance between teacher-defined goals, goals as defined by administration through teacher evaluation efforts, and school and district educational goals;
• job-embedded and meaningful integration into classroom practice; and
• competency-based progression.

Drawing on examples from outside of the field of education as well as innovators in higher education and K-12, the next section builds the case for competency-based teacher education. This section defines the elements of a competency-based system and describes micro-credentialing in the context of teacher development. The authors conclude with recommendations that will move the field toward a competency based system and a call to action regarding the importance of better aligning teacher preparation and development with student Deeper Learning goals. An executive summary is also available, as well as a complementary infographic.

The Second Chance Act of 2007 (Pub. L. 110-199) is a historic piece of legislation designed to improve outcomes for and provide a comprehensive response to the increasing number of individuals who are released from prisons, jails, and juvenile residential facilities and returning to communities upon release. The Second Chance Act’s grant programs are funded and administered by the Office of Justice Programs within the U.S. Department of Justice. In 2010, for the first time, funding was set aside for a comprehensive study of correctional education. The Office of Justice Programs’ Bureau of Justice Assistance awarded the RAND Corporation a cooperative agreement to undertake a comprehensive examination of the current state of correctional education for incarcerated adults and juveniles, where it is headed, which correctional education programs are effective, and how effective programs can be implemented across different settings. Evaluating the Effectiveness of Correctional Education: A Meta-Analysis of Programs That Provide Education to Incarcerated Adults presented a comprehensive review of the scientific literature and a meta-analysis that synthesized the findings from multiple studies on the effectiveness of correctional education programs in helping to reduce recidivism and improve post-release employment outcomes for incarcerated adults (Davis et al., 2013). This final report to the U.S. Attorney General presents a summary of the findings from RAND's earlier literature review and meta-analysis on the effectiveness of correctional education programs for incarcerated adults. It also provides three new sections. The first of these is a systematic review of correctional education programs for juveniles. The second is the results of a national survey of state correctional education directors, which provide an up-to-date picture of what the field of correctional education looks like today in the United States and explores the use of computer technology, preparations for the new 2014 GED exam, and the impact of the 2008 recession. It concludes with a set of recommendations for improvements needed to further the field of correctional education. These results will be of interest to federal and state policymakers; administrators of state departments of corrections, public safety, and education; correctional educators and college educators; career technical training providers; and other organizations that provide educational services and training to the currently incarcerated or formerly incarcerated. These results will also be of interest to those in the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education who are committed to ensuring the availability and quality of correctional education programs for incarcerated adults and juveniles.  

This training is for teachers who are well versed in the components of the new GED test. We will not review the changes of the GED. This training focuses on how to transition students, classrooms and teaching staff towards the new GED. The training gives specific tips and examples to bring more critical thinking skills into classroomsof all levels. Academy of Hope’s condensed manual on the new GED, examples of organizers, and other helpfulmaterial is included with the training. This training can be accessed through a PDF. All handouts can be downloaded from: https://app.box.com/s/zymdrpflm56x5p7ytqan This training material was developed in a collaboration between the DC Public Library’s Adult Literacy Resource Center (ALRC) and the Academy of Hope. This training was presented live by Academy of Hope staff: Daquanna Harrison, Jayme Epstein and Meghan Snyder.