Upon completion of this fifteen-hour orientation participants will have an introduction to and awareness of….
1) The history and development (state and national) of Adult Basic Education
2) The Massachusetts Department of Education funded ABE system
3) The statewide SABES system including its purpose and available resources for staff development
4) The licensure process and the ABE teacher standards
5) The broad range of adult learners’ experiences, background and culture with an understanding of some of their motivations to pursue education and the barriers to success
6) Learning disabilities including the definition, different types and resources for additional support and information
7) The roles and responsibilities of the educational counselor/learning support specialist (including mandated reporting)
8) The different learner centered approaches and their relationship to the classroom
9) Practitioner background, beliefs, experiences and values and their influence on professional practice
10) The various adult-learning theories, and how they inform teaching practice
11) Universal design and its benefits in an ABE classroom
12) The Massachusetts ABE Curriculum Frameworks
13) The curriculum development process that aligns learners’ goals, the ABE curriculum frameworks and assessments
14) Thematic units and the five components of lesson plans
15) The accountability system for MA ABE field
16) Massachusetts assessment based educational gains and their relationship to the National Reporting System
17) Goal setting in the classroom and countable outcomes
18) A variety of assessment methods for ongoing assessment
19) Explore the multiple definitions of literacy to broaden practitioners’ perspectives of approaches to teaching and learning
20) Explore the issues of language acquisition and how they connect to literacy and education