PD Systems Matrix

• CALPRO
• OTAN
• CASAS
• CDE

California has substantial state money for school districts to run their adult education programs, but no money at the state level for administration or leadership. California uses federal leadership dollars for professional development.

Around 35 percent (conservatively) of federal leadership funds - or 4 percent of the entire federal allocation - are invested in PD. The remaining leadership funds support data and accountability systems and technology.

For 2005-06 California anticipates spending about $3M for PD from different leadership projects, serving 12,000 teachers and related principals and coordinators.

CALPRO: a project of the American
Institutes for Research, is funded by the CDE
Adult Education Office to offer a comprehensive, statewide approach to high quality professional development for the full range of California’s adult education and literacy providers.

AIR/CALPRO is committed to providing professional development that is research-based and that helps adult education practitioners translate research to practice.

Outreach and Technical Assistance Network (OTAN): OTAN is a California leadership project which focuses on information, electronic collaboration, and technology integration for adult education.

(the Outreach and Technical Assistance Network), and through the CDE.

State consultants provide technical assistance on program, administrative and fiscal issues. The state leadership projects assist local agencies with:

• data and accountability,
• technology, and
• professional development.

PDCs:

• consist of one or two rooms located within an adult school or community college or county office of education

• house an office for the PDC manager and staff
• house a resource library that adult educators can visit and from which they may borrow materials. See www.otan.us

• provide classroom space and a computer lab

(In some instances, the classroom and computer lab is dedicated space to the PDC, and in other instances, it is shared with the adult school or community college, and different classrooms may be used, based on availability.)

Training of Trainers (ToT): CALPRO authors develop drafts of the workshop modules, field test them, make revisions, and conduct a ToT for several persons from across the state who will serve as workshop facilitators.

Networking meetings provide an opportunity for teachers to share strategies and ideas as well as engage in problem solving.

PDCs house resource libraries from which adult educators can borrow materials.

Site-based study circles: learner persistence and research-based reading instruction

Developing Site-based opportunities: CALPRO institutes

• field-based research (practitioner inquiry)
• learning community for site-based professional development

Publications:

• bi-annual newsletter with research and practice focus
• research briefs and summaries
• resource guide to holding discussion groups based on these readings

Hybrid/Online Models
OTAN

• Technology Integration Mentor Academy: A hybrid model of PD whose goal is to build a group of technology integration leaders for adult ed in CA
  • F2F: brings together 15 teachers 6 times over a two year period
  • At a Distance, participants:
    • have phone and email contact with their mentor (everyone has an assigned mentor)
    • participate in 3 or 4 online meetings (online shared desktop plus audio conference)
    • participate in one videoconference a year.

• hosts over 20 listservs that compliment face-to-face periodic meetings

• CA Technology Mentor Network - entirely at a distance; informal gatherings at conferences

Initiatives
CALPRO is in the process of building an online course delivery system:

• Effective Lesson Planning,
• Designing Programs for Adults with LD,
• Managing the Multilevel ESL Classroom

"Communicate, Collaborate, Coordinate": 5 Regional Training Centers (RTCs) are composed of volunteer directors, teachers and community-based representatives. Members are full time employees in their respective jobs and volunteer their time to help promote PD in their regions. Each RTC has a chair, who also volunteers their efforts. The Dept. of Education provides funds, through grant money, to each of the Regional Training Centers to pay trainers and stipends to participants. We also have 6 Practitioner Task Force committees, again comprised of volunteers, who work in collaboration with the RTCs in providing the Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) for the training.

The model for SABES evolved from discussions with groups of practitioners.

Building Leadership Capacity:

The Massachusetts DOE supports the concept of building capacity within the field and recognizing the expertise of practitioners and ABE program directors. In light of this, the majority of activities are facilitated by practitioners, with training of trainers as needed for specific content areas.

Staffing: There are seven staff at the CRC.

Education and five Regional Support Centers (RSCs) located at a public college and four community colleges. Each entity is funded separately through a competitive multi-year funding process.

The Central Resource Center (CRC) is responsible for coordinating the work of the system as a whole and coordinating teams working on specific initiatives and services.

The offices are located on the campuses of the five sponsoring state higher education institutions.

Most activities are offered regionally; some are intended for a statewide audience, some are program-based and focused on meeting the needs of a particular program.

Activities take place either on-site at:

• the SABES RSC
• local adult basic education programs
  
  

Methods/Approaches of staff and program development activities:

• single-session workshops
• multi-session mini-courses
• longer semester-length courses
• on-going sharing groups that meet periodically
• activities that are offered in whole or in part through some form of distance learning
• technical assistance to individual practitioners and programs
  
  

All of the ABES activities and other ABE-related training events are accessible via an on-line calendar and registration process. (calendar.sabes.org)

Resources

• SABES maintains regional resource collections intended for use by practitioners
• The CRC produces a quarterly field-based publication, Field Notes.
• In addition to the on-line training calendar and licensure materials, the SABES website provides a range of topical ABE resources to meet the needs of teachers, practitioners, policy makers and researchers.
  
  

Initiatives
SABES is in the process of consolidating regional resource collections into a statewide resource library as required by the MDOE.

The New England Literacy Resource Center (NELRC)

states with 11 affiliated PD centers.

As a regional coordinating center that brings added value to our affiliated centers' work, we focus on areas that complement our member states' work, e.g.:

• college transitions
• civic participation
• ESOL
• multiple intelligences
• using the web in instruction.

responsible for providing professional development, technical assistance, and network building opportunities to the SED-funded programs in their region.

Each RAEN has an advisory board comprised primarily of instructors and program managers.

• Flexible PD chosen by the RAENs (See below)
• SED-mandated workshops (such as NRS, BEST Plus and TABE)
• State-mandated priority areas, such as:
  • EL-Civics
  • distance learning, and
  • learning disabilities.

Since the establishment of the RAENs, there is now a much greater emphasis on:

• intensive, on-site technical assistance for those programs deemed by the SED as needing improvement
• efforts to better align the adult literacy system with the K12, workforce development, and postsecondary systems.

Additionally, there is growing emphasis on:

• research-based practices - drawing more regularly on NCSALL's study circles, both as:
  • a research-supported method of providing PD
  • a source of research-based content.

Balance of State-Driven and Practitioner-Driven PD

The SED allows up to 20% of the RAEN's activities to be based on local needs identified by the advisory board that fall outside the SED-identified priority areas.

Example: The NYC RAEN is using this provision to support a citywide student leadership initiative.

In FY 2006 Ohio set aside $2,166,793.00 or 12% of the federal grant award for State Leadership. Most of these funds are used for professional development. $488,037 of the state budget or 6% of the state budget supports professional development.

The state can use up to 12.5% for state leadership from the federal budget, so Ohio is very close to that. With state and federal decreases in recent years, the percentage for PD decreased to shift some funds to direct services (local ABLE grants).

The Northeast ABLE Resource Center receives some EL Civics funds. Funding all comes through the Ohio Department of Education, Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education.

The purpose of the Ohio ABLE RCN is to provide PD, resources, technical assistance, research and leadership to enhance student achievement.

The Central/SoutheastRC has one:

• full-time Director,
• Curriculum/Training Specialist,
• Resources Specialist/Program Liaison, and
• Administrative Assistant.

The remaining RCs have similar staffing.

The Central/Southeast RC is part of the Ohio University Literacy Center, which provides the RC University and Center support to fulfill the ABLE mission.

Each RC has an Advisory Board that guides RC work. Many have Task Force groups involved in development/ delivery of PD.

Centers and 1 Statewide Resource Center.

• Each Regional Resource Center supports a regional area.
• All Resource Centers have areas of specialization they support statewide. (http://www.ohioable.org)

Ohio Literacy Resource Center - located at Kent State University
Specializations: Technology, Statewide IMS System (ABLELink), Family Literacy, Math, Distance Learning
http://literacy.kent.edu/

Northeast ABLE Resource Center - part of Euclid City School District
Specializations: ESOL and EL Civics
http://literacy.kent.edu/ NEABLE/

Central/Southeast ABLE Resource Center - located at Ohio University
Specializations: Learning Disabilities, Special Learning Needs and GED
http://www.able-ohiou.org/

Southwest ABLE Resource Center - located at Sinclair Community College
Specializations: Reading and Writing
http://www.sinclair.edu/ facilities/swable/index.cfm

Northwest ABLE Resource Center - located at Owens Community College
Specializations: Assessment and Workforce Education
https://www.owens.edu/ workforce_cs/nw_center.html

Alternative PD

• Currently developing a Virtual Resource Center Site Visit as a way of offering alternative PD.
• New: Learning Disabilities Video Training Series:

http://www.able-ohiou.org/ learning_disabi1?SESS= 3cfb1644877d90a9266f01a6 2e2ec410&time=1138679922

Its mission - broadly - is to strengthen practice by assuming both areas of strength and need in the field and working to try to engage practitioners in naming and working on areas of professional development.

• facilitated shares/discussion groups
• referrals
• work with programs (demo classes, facilitated observation/reflection)
• collaboration with programs and other PD providers to share information and resources
• website
• bulletin
• participation in statewide meetings aimed at (re)visioning a system for PD in the state.

Initiatives
For the past two years, with a commitment from the governor to increase state funding, Judy Titzel has facilitated a process whereby adult ed practitioners (teachers, administrators,) and, to the extent possible, learners - have been engaged in developing a plan for RI's adult ed system - including PD. Workgroups addressed program quality, standards/assessment, funding, and PD.

The document the group produced is on line at: http://www.brown.edu/ Departments/Swearer_Center/ Literacy_Resources/RIPDModel.pdf

(for those for whom PDF is not useful, a fairly well rendered HTML version can be found at http://216.239.51.104/ search?q=cache:g5QHXl-rn5MJ: www.brown.edu/Departments/

Swearer_Center/ Literacy_Resources/RIPDModel.pdf +%22+system+model%22+%2B+%22professional +development%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1)

from the US Department of Education. All of South Dakota's professional development funds come from the 12.5 percent allocation from federal funding. South Dakota has used incentive grant funding to address PD in areas of greatest need, such as reading and ESL PD. This is how South Dakota has enhanced their STAR reading pilot projects and supported the state's CAELA ESL professional development project. Without these funds South Dakota would continue to utilize the limited funding to cover all the mandates, national priorities, and NRS system requirements.

The PD budget is about $120,000 per year or approximately 75% of their funds.

to develop plans, conduct training, and extend technical assistance across the state.

ESL:
South Dakota has an ESL Task Force whose job it is to come up with a viable 4-5 year PD Plan.

Methods/Approaches of staff development activities:

• focuses more on training over time series of meetings
• utilizes face-to-face
• phone conferences
• email
• video
• online classes
• regional coaches

Professional Development is also obtained through local agencies (CBO/FBO/school districts) as they see their own needs which may not be met from the State Leadership Resource Center.

Training includes:

• 2 full-day New Teacher training for every Adult Ed teacher
• 2 day Summer Institute which addresses regulatory topics, areas of skill development for teachers, best practices, research-based strategies, assessment and goal setting, and hosts nationally recognized trainers in areas like learning disabilities
• Targeted training workshops for teachers and directors on the data collection system and querying the data

Initiatives

• Three years ago South Dakota developed a state ESL Start-up kit with the help of several other states sharing their kits. We are now developing this manual into a New ESL Teacher training manual.
• Special projects like STAR Reading Pilot and our Level One Reading, writing measurable Goals and Objectives based on local data, diversity workshops, topics from Department of Corrections, Needs Assessments and ESL workshops
• South Dakota is participating in the CAELA State Capacity Building project, and we have an ESL Task Force whose job it is to come up with a viable 4-5 year PD Plan.
• As competency standards are developed, training is provided.
• When new initiatives are presented on the national level or in-depth training on the NRS, South Dakota offers the material in a workshop or meeting immediately.