Heidi and All,

 

As my good friend Jeanne Perin used to say, "I took some time to ruminate on this discussion."  It is a critical topic as we all attempt to figure out how to get the learners in our program armed with the academic skills necessary to move beyond high school completion. 

 

For the past two years I have been contracted by the Massachusetts Department of Education to work with a small group of practitioners in the Adult Diploma Program (ADP).  I also coordinate the National External Diploma Program (NEDP) for Rhode Island.  Both programs serve a number of ESOL students because they allow the adult to pace the learning and the assessment process.  Both programs are similar in that they are competency based assessment, requiring the adult candidates to successfully complete a series of life skill projects for which the candidate is awarded a local school district diploma. All high school graduates in Massachusetts are currently mandated to meet the high stakes diploma requirements and RI will soon face a similar challenge.

 

When practitioners were informed that the ADP candidates must be held to the same rigorous standards as the K-12 high school graduates, many were discouraged.  Unless the Massachusetts candidates demonstrated competency by successfully passing the MCAS Math and English Language Arts standard, either through the test or by completing a portfolio, the programs could no longer award a diploma and so would become extinct.  The dedicated practitioners and directors did not want to lose this viable alternative to the GED and at the same time realized that the bar had to be raised in order for the learners to be able to demonstrate the academic knowledge that they would need to transition into post secondary education.  

 

I aligned the existing MA Adult Curriculum Frameworks at Levels 5 and 6 with the MA K12 Grade 10 Curriculum Frameworks.  Not being willing to give up the programs, the ADP group, under my guidance, figured out what the learners needed to know and designed learning activities to facilitate the learning process.  The adults in the program need to know the subject matter content at the Grade 10 level, and for many this was a difficult hurdle.  The combination of the practitioners' passion, with the candidates incredible motivation to learn, brought twenty four Boston and New Bedford candidates to graduation this past month to receive their diplomas.  

 

What had to happen?  We first had to accept the fact that the adults must meet the K-12 standards, which included such things as understanding and applying the Pythagorean Theorem, the Quadratic Equation, factoring, exponents, order of operations, etc.  They  had to be able to read and analyze short stories, poetry and plays.  Writing a persuasive essay was also required.  We all asked why adults need to know this stuff, and we soon realized that they had to go through a learning process to prove they were on a level with all high school graduates to be successful in college/training programs.   Once we accepted this, many of us had to learn/re-learn the content ourselves, especially in math, and be comfortable with it.  



Using the benefit of pre-existing knowledge and experience, the teachers designed lessons around the content.  Finally, and most important of all, we all had to have the strong belief that the learners could do it and would commit the time and effort to accomplish this learning process.  The students had to also agree to take responsibility for the learning and trust that they could learn. All these factors being in place allowed the recent graduates to earn the diploma and be well prepared for the Accuplacer or any other test they would need to pass. 

 

The process was difficult and sometimes painful, but we got there.  Let's keep in mind that one major benefit we have in teaching the adults is that they are incredibly motivated. As Heidi stated, we cannot wait until the students pass the GED. If we are to facilitate the learning process for all students whose goal is to go beyond the high school credential, we must begin as soon as the student enters our programs, no matter what entry level.  It is important that we inform the student of what needs to happen. Learning to learn (something we are working on in RI) is critical to learning the necessary strategies and academic content. The foundation for this must be built in the beginning.  This may require a change in methodology and how we organize our instruction.  ESOL, ABE and ASE classes should be approached as a continuum - a pathway to learning the same academic content as all high school graduates today, whether the student is going for a diploma or the GED.   

 

Looking back over the past two years, I am sure my Massachusetts colleagues will agree that the journey has been tough, but the benefits to the learners have been substantial.  We all learned a lot and in the process it has brought us together with K-12 teachers.  I look forward to the next group of students, as we now are able to fill the pipeline with candidates who are willing to do and learn what it takes to earn the diploma and move forward.

 

Donna Chambers

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Wrigley, Heide 
  To: The Adult Literacy Professional Development Discussion List 
  Sent: Monday, June 18, 2007 1:46 PM
  Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 1328] transition issues for ABEand ESOLstudents


  Hi, Jodi and others 

   

  I'm in Spokane at the moment, speaking at the Career Pathways Institute about the very topic of transition and student support, with a big focus on ESOL learners, so all this is very timely.  

   

  I totally agree that alignment across curricula is essential for transition. Most of the ESOL classes I've seen are focused on day to day communication skills, and basic functional literacy skills and often stay with that approach through the intermediate levels and beyond. 

   

  As a result, there is a huge gap between life skills focused ESOL classes and pre-academic or academic work where content counts and instruction is delivered in large part through lectures and textbooks. It's a shift from BICS (basic interactive communication skills) to CALPS (cognitive academic language proficiency skills), and we have to find better ways to help programs bridge that gap.

   

  I'm finding that most ESOL students never have to learn anything that they are accountable for, since we have such a strong focus on personal expression and opinion, and every answer being a good one. 

   

  I believe that If we want students to be ready for transition, we have to build in aspects of academic learning from the very beginning and not wait  until the GED or for credit ESOL.  I'm in the process of outlining what some of the key skills and strategies are that could/should be integrated into ESOL early on (along with the other aspects of transition that need to be in place if we are to be successful in helping students jump over hurdles). I would love to continue discussions around some of these issues.

   

  How about others (Jodi included, of course).  What are the key supports that need to be in place if students are to transition and succeed in the next step program? I'm thinking in terms of the sending program, the bridging effort, and the receiving program.  

   

  In your experience, what are transition concerns that are unique to foreign-born students (language, culture, knowledge about systems, disposition factors (trauma, fear?) 

   

  All the best 

   

  Heide

   

  Heide Spruck Wrigley

  Literacywork International 


------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  From: professionaldevelopment-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:professionaldevelopment-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Jodi Crandall
  Sent: Monday, June 18, 2007 11:14 AM
  To: The Adult Literacy Professional Development Discussion List
  Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 1327] Re: Transitions

   

  Cynthia,

   

  I've briefly looked through your website, but could not find an easy way to see if any of the programs deal specifically with adult English language learners.  Can you identify those that do?

   

  In work that I have done on this issue, we have found that one way in which to help ensure transitions from adult education to college academic or vocational programs is to make sure that the adult ESL and credit ESL programs are aligned.  We also identify a number of promising practices regarding transition for adult ELLs in our report, Passing the Torch.  A copy of this report can be downloaded at

  http://www.caalusa.org/occasionalpapers.html#anchor393247

   

  Jodi Crandall

   

   

  On Jun 14, 2007, at 1:42 PM, Cynthia Zafft wrote:





  Dear PD Listers (Hi Katrina...Crystal...Sally:

   

  I actually hear three discussions that intersect in several places:

   

  The first is how to get an ongoing, formal relationship between adult

  education programs and their colleges so that students will be seen as

  "our students" from both settings.  In the long run, that may take some

  type of collaboration agreement that doesn't rely solely on the goodwill

  of individuals.  It takes a bit of footwork to create these agreements,

  beginning with understanding the mission and goals of adult education

  and the college; what each is doing already; locating point people. 

  Here is a set of agreements worked out by different adult education

  programs...some more ambitions than others:

   

  http://www.collegetransition.org/policy/institutepolicy.html 

   

  and the story of how one agreement was made:

  http://www.collegetransition.org/promising/practice3.html 

   

  The second discussion is understanding what is expected of students in

  each system.  That can start with something as simple as an appointment

  to talk with an instructor...sharing lesson plans, syllabi, copies of

  textbooks, information on the GED and college placement testing. 

  Several adult education/college partnerships around the country now get

  together once a year (at least) for joint professional development.

   

  The last is attitude...often the most difficult to change.  Tucking

  away examples of students that have gone on and succeeded...teachers

  that met and found collaboration to be so natural and helpful...adult

  education programs and colleges who have formed a powerful and positive

  relationship.  Then bringing those stories out again and again to remind

  people of what can be done.  I think that's why the Promising Practice

  section of our website is so popular.

   

   

   

   

   

   

  Cynthia Zafft, Director

  National College Transition Network (NCTN)

  World Education, Inc.

  44 Farnsworth Street

  Boston, MA 02210

  (617) 482-9485

  www.collegetransition.org

  ----------------------------------------------------

  National Institute for Literacy

  Adult Literacy Professional Development mailing list

  ProfessionalDevelopment at nifl.gov

   

  To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/professionaldevelopment

  Email delivered to crandall at umbc.edu 

   

  Going the Distance section of the Adult Literacy Education Wiki 

  http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Going_the_Distance 

   

  Discussion Resources - Going the Distance:

  http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/professionaldevelopment/07going_distance.html 

   

  Professional Development section of the Adult Literacy Education Wiki 

  http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Adult_Literacy_Professional_Development

   

  JoAnn (Jodi) Crandall

  Professor and Director

  Language, Literacy and Culture Ph.D. Program

  Director, Peace Corps Master's Intl Program in ESOL/Bilingual Education

  University of Maryland Baltimore County

  1000 Hilltop Circle

  Baltimore, MD 21250

  tel:  410-455-2313

  fax: 410-455-8947

  eml: crandall at umbc.edu

   

   





   



------------------------------------------------------------------------------


  ----------------------------------------------------
  National Institute for Literacy
  Adult Literacy Professional Development mailing list
  ProfessionalDevelopment at nifl.gov

  To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/professionaldevelopment
  Email delivered to donnaedp at cox.net 

  Going the Distance section of the Adult Literacy Education Wiki 
  http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Going_the_Distance 

  Professional Development section of the Adult Literacy Education Wiki 
  http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Adult_Literacy_Professional_Development
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/professionaldevelopment/attachments/20070621/ffb26e02/attachment.html