Return-Path: <nifl-assessment@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id i24DuuI02675; Thu, 4 Mar 2004 08:56:56 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 4 Mar 2004 08:56:56 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <004801c401ef$8afa7da0$0302a8c0@wtrbct.adelphia.net> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-assessment@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-assessment@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-assessment@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Bonnie Odiorne" <bonniesophia@adelphia.net> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-assessment@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-ASSESSMENT:356] RE: question on intensity of instruction and teacher qualification X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook CWS, Build 9.0.2416 (9.0.2910.0) Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; Status: O Content-Length: 6163 Lines: 148 I am an instructor in a CBO which provided technology-enhanced ABE/ESL instruction in employment readiness and computer skills. Intensity: 4 hrs/day, 4 days a week, plus online activities, done at home if they have computers, in class if they don't. Some students because of issues are almost exclusively online learners. Instructor qualifidations: the same for ABE/ESL as any CT adult ed program: taking the required courses and going through the certification application process, keeping up CEUs etc. Professional development is provided by the state bureau. In terms of curriculum, we use Workplace Essential Skills, which brings in critical thinking and decision making, communication and life management skills as well as reading, writing, speaking, employment and math. I supplement with EFF materials, and with English for All, which I find works quite well. I bring in any other resource that you all are so generous to share that I have time to read and is appropriate. My heart is in it, I believe we have a quality program, though lower in numbers than we'd like, and the students feel safe and motivated. Right now they're on their own today because I'm sick, but we're communicating online. We use CASAS assessment and implement the checklists into instruction. We give writing assessment and use the rubrics in instruction. Warmest Regards, Bonnie Odiorne Ph.D Program Faciliator Working Smart Computers 4 Kids Silas Bronson Library Information Technology Center Waterbury, CT Integrating Technology, ABE and ESL Instruction -----Original Message----- From: nifl-assessment@nifl.gov [mailto:nifl-assessment@nifl.gov]On Behalf Of Nixon S. Griffis Sent: Wednesday, March 03, 2004 1:34 PM To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: [NIFL-ASSESSMENT:354] RE: question on intensity of instruction and teacher qualification Response To The Above: 1) intensity of instruction What do your programs tend to look like, with respect to the intensity of instruction offered -- that is, how many hours are provided per week, for how many weeks in the year? I run an AE lab that is a night program, satellite to the main AE center in West Palm Beach FL. We use the classrooms of a high school. Our hours are 6-9 Monday through Friday. We go all year round, but mirror the regular school holidays during regular session. Typically, when I am working on administration at 5:30, a few dedicated students will courteously ask if they may come in and begin their studies. Our curriculum is computer based. We have begun to focus on standup teaching in the last hour of class. Math is the most universally needed subject. I have recently become interested in the benefits of weaving into the curriculum a main theme of Critical Thinking. 2) teacher qualification We are trying to move beyond simply saying that programs need to hired "qualified staff." What exactly does it mean to be a qualified teacher/administrator/counselor in ABE? More specifically, what do you consider the most essential qualifications for ABE instructors in general? GED instructors? ESOL instructors? ABE administrators? ABE counselors? I am not sure that Qualification and Quality have the same roots. I believe they are connected when speaking of Qualification in regards to teachers. Quality, as the novel "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" defined it, is an ineffable ideal. It further spoke to the phenomena that people knew it when they experienced it, even though they had a hard time defining what Quality is. An instructor can have a PhD in teaching and still be a terrible teacher. A qualified teacher is judged by having the heart of a teacher. This ideal can be better measured scientifically by student opinion than by any administrative bureaucracy or degrees. What are some other qualifications: Teachers should not show signs that they are burned out, that they no longer or never had the motivation to bring Quality to their students and to their programs. Effort is a part of qualifying the above. AE truly is the step child of the school system. Teachers come to night programs all around our country after teaching a full day in regular school. They need the money. Many teachers just come in and sit. Many, many teachers rise to the challenge, made easier because they have the internal qualifications that is needed to be a good teacher. What might qualify a teacher to be better? Teachers need a resource of tools to strengthen their teaching skills. You cannot make teachers change and use new skills, but support and introduction to helpful teaching tools will always be a step in the right direction to better qualified teachers. Nick Griffis Adult Education Inlet Grove H.S. Riviera Beach, FL 561-882-9967 -----Original Message----- From: nifl-assessment@nifl.gov [mailto:nifl-assessment@nifl.gov]On Behalf Of Lisa Soricone Sent: Tuesday, March 02, 2004 1:26 PM To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: [NIFL-ASSESSMENT:351] question on intensity of instruction and teacher qualification Hello -- As some of you may already know, a team of researchers at the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL) is currently developing an evidence- or research-based model for adult basic education programs. In the course of our work, two issues have come up, around which I would appreciate some feedback from people working in the field: 1) intensity of instruction What do your programs tend to look like, with respect to the intensity of instruction offered -- that is, how many hours are provided per week, for how many weeks in the year? 2) teacher qualification We are trying to move beyond simply saying that programs need to hired "qualified staff." What exactly does it mean to be a qualified teacher/administrator/counselor in ABE? More specifically, what do you consider the most essential qualifications for ABE instructors in general? GED instructors? ESOL instructors? ABE administrators? ABE counselors? I appreciate your sharing your thoughts on these issues and look forward to hearing from you. Lisa Soricone Research Associate National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy
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