The following message is posted on behalf of Aaron Kohring, Moderator  
of the Content Standards Discussion List.



Greetings colleagues,

Next week, Monday, September 25 through Friday, September 29, the  
Content Standards Discussion List will be hosting a discussion on the  
U.S. Department of Education’s efforts to support state-level  
adoption and institutionalization of content standards for adult  
learning.  Our guest will be Ronna Spacone from the Department’s  
Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE), Division of Adult  
Education and Literacy (DAEL).

Please read the introductory information below, which includes a link  
to the Adult Education Content Standards Warehouse Website, to help  
prepare you for the discussion.

You may begin posting your questions to Ronna this week.  I will  
collect the questions together and re-post when the discussion starts  
next week.

To participate in the discussion, sign up for the list at:
http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/Contentstandards

Aaron

Aaron Kohring
Moderator, National Institute for Literacy’s Content
Discussion List (http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/Contentstandards)

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For the past several years, the U.S. Department of Education, OVAE,  
has used National Leadership Activity funds to provide technical  
assistance and support to states already committed to standards-based  
education reform.

OVAE’s efforts to promote the implementation of state-level content  
standards began with the Adult Education Content Standards Warehouse  
Project, operated by the American Institutes of Research (AIR),  
2003-2005.  The project included:

Technical assistance and networking for state collaborative working  
groups or consortia in 14 states,

The development and publication of “A Process Guide for Establishing  
State Adult Education Content Standards” and

The development of the Adult Education Content Standards Warehouse  
(AECSW) Website.  The AECSW site provides universal access to  
existing state standards as well as nationally developed content  
standards in the areas of reading, mathematics, and English language  
acquisition.  Since it was launched in May 2005, eleven states and  
CASAS and Equipped for the Future have contributed their standards  
for posting.  The site also serves to disseminate the “Process Guide  
for Establishing State Adult Education Content Standards” as well as  
the professional development materials that were developed for the  
State Standards Consortia project.  In preparation for our listserv  
discussion next week, I invite you to please visit the AECSW Website  
located at: (http://www.adultedcontentstandards.org), which AIR  
continues to operate with OVAE.

In September 2005, with the conclusion of the State Standards  
Consortia activities, OVAE funded a new activity to identify how best  
to continue to support states committed to the implementation of  
standards.  A six-month planning project was then conducted by MPR  
Associates, Inc., along with partner organizations Design  
Perspectives and World Education.  Planning activities included a  
literature review of noteworthy practices, an evaluation of the  
electronic warehouse, and an assessment of the needs of states to  
support standards-based education.  Twenty-four states chose to  
participate in the project.  Based on the results, OVAE has moved  
ahead and made plans for a new project scheduled to begin next month.

As in the past, the new activities will provide opportunities for  
interested states to work together and learn about standards-based  
education.  The project is expected to focus especially on the  
implementation of standards, including: how to translate standards  
into classroom instruction and curriculum and how to assess the  
implementation of standards to guide instructional improvement and  
program practice.

I invite you to learn more about the Department of Education’s  
efforts to promote state-level adoption of content standards and to  
ask questions about these activities during the listserv discussion.   
Please refer to the various sections of the AECSW Website (http:// 
www.adultedcontentstandards.org) including the Guide, Warehouse, and  
Field Resources as well as the OVAE DAEL Website located at: (http:// 
www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/AdultEd/index.html).

I look forward to an interesting, engaging discussion and appreciate  
the opportunity to take part.  Thanks.

Ronna Spacone
Education Program Specialist
Office of Vocational and Adult Education
U.S. Department of Education
Ronna.spacone at ed.gov





Gail J. Price
Multimedia Specialist
National Center for Family Literacy
325 West Main Street, Suite 300
Louisville, KY 40205

Phone: 502 584-1133, ext. 112
Fax: 502 584-0172


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