Youth in Adult Education

Adolescent Learners in Adult ESL Classes.
Sarah Young. Washington, DC: Center for Adult English Language Acquisition, October 2005. Adult basic education (ABE) classes often include both native English speakers, attending to learn basic skills so they can obtain a high school diploma or goals, and also English language learners seeking to improve their oral and written skills in English and to achieve goals similar to those of native English speakers. Adolescents (16-18 years old) are among the populations served in these programs. This brief is written for teachers, teacher trainers, curriculum writers, and program administrators who work in mixed ABE classes (with native English speakers and English language learners); and those who work in high schools and transitional high schools, school services, or intake centers with adolescent English language learners. Young explains some of the reasons why adolescents may attend adult ESL classes and describes the characteristics of adolescent learners.

Alternatives for At-Risk and Out-of-School Youth: ERIC Digest.
Sandra Kerka. Columbus, OH: ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education, 2003. “At risk” is a problematic term, a label that “may place students at more risk than internal and external factors” (Sanders 2000, p. 3). Many youth “at risk” are not well served by mainstream schooling, and in this era of standardized testing the stakes are high for them and for schools (Raywid 2001). Thus, educators are considering alternative ways to help these youth succeed in school and beyond. This Digest examines research on what makes alternative programs effective environments for youth at risk and describes programs in which these factors play a key role.

Career and College Advice to the Forgotten Half: What do Counselors and Vocational Teachers Advise?
Melinda Scott Krei and James E. Rosenbaum. New York, NY: Teachers College, 2001. The authors examine the career and college advice that high school counselors and vocational teachers give to the “forgotten half” — students who are unlikely to seek a 4-year college degree — and make suggestions about how schools can better assist in post-secondary planning for workbound students. Although the article is specifically about how high school guidance counselors and vocational teachers provide advice and opinions about college to their students, it would also apply to teachers counseling adult literacy and GED students in their plans for workforce participation. Published in Teachers College Record, Volume 103 Number 5, pages 823-842.

Cognitive Skills Matter in the Labor Market, Even for School Dropouts.
John H. Tyler, Richard J. Murnane, and John B. Willett. Cambridge, MA: National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy, April 2000. From the Executive Summary: “While the average cognitive skill level of school dropouts is quite low, there is considerable variation among dropouts in cognitive skill levels. ... One could argue that, in an economy in which basic cognitive skills are increasingly valued, differences in skills would translate into earnings differences for dropouts just as they do for [non-dropouts] ... On the other hand, the economic trends that have depressed the average earnings of the less skilled may have relegated most young dropouts to entry level jobs where skills matter very little. ... This report presents evidence on the labor market payoff to cognitive skills for school dropouts, and whether the payoff differs by gender and race/ethnicity.”

English Language Instruction for Incarcerated Youth: ERIC Digest.
Margo DelliCarpini. Washington, DC: National Center for ESL Literacy Education, May 2003. The prison population is disproportionately younger, less educated, and more linguistically and culturally diverse than the rest of U.S. population. Many are parents. Most will return to the correctional system after release. Against the backdrop of this grim reality, what can an ESL teacher working with youth (ages 16-24) in correctional settings do to help them learn English and be less likely to return to the system? This digest discusses the issues and challenges in providing English language instruction to Latino and other linguistically and culturally diverse (LCD) incarcerated youth ages 16-24 and suggests best practices and models to provide this intervention in correctional settings.

Focus on Basics, June 2004 - Youth in ABE Theme Issue.
NCSALL/World Education. Cambridge, MA: National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy, June 2004. Featured articles are: “Implementation Isn’t Easy”; “Youth Cultural Competence: A Pathway for Achieving Outcomes with Youth”; “A Comprehensive Professional Development Process Produces Radical Results”; “Skills Matter in the Types of Jobs Young Dropouts Will First Hold”; “Youth in ABE: The Numbers”; “What Is the Magic Mix? Teens in Adult Education”; “No Longer for Youth Alone: Transitional ESOL High School”; “Sudan to South Dakota: Helping Youth Make the Transition”; and “Separate Yet Happy” - about navigating the adult/youth mix in GED classes. Clearinghouse Library disseminates FREE copies to Texas educators; also available online: http://www.ncsall. net/?id=136

New Learning Strategies for Generation X: ERIC Digest.
Bettina Lankard Brown. Columbus, OH: ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education, 1997. This digest investigates ways in which the learning characteristics of the young adults classified as Generation X (born between 1961 and 1981) reflect the need for the new teaching and learning strategies promoted by cognitive scientists, such as learning in context, cooperative learning, and real-world application of knowledge.

Staff Development: Understanding Our Youngest Students: A Revision of the 1994 Project.
Ilsa Powell Diller and Michael E. Diller. Harrisburg, PA: Pennsylvania Department of Education, 1999. In 1994, the TIU Adult Education and Job Training Center developed a series of workshops to provide adult educators with information, skills, and teaching strategies that could be applied to a late-adolescent population in an adult education classroom. Given the recent influx of teenage learners in adult education classes and the unique challenges they present in terms of learning styles and developmental issues, the authors (an adult education professional development specialist and a school psychologist) updated the project in 1999. This resulting manual provides the structure and content for a series of three workshops: 1) Adolescent Development: Working With At-Risk Youth in the ABE Classroom; 2) Curriculum-Based Assessment and Instructional Strategies; and 3) Applied Experiences (incorporating discussion of difficult case histories). Clearinghouse Library disseminates FREE copies to Texas educators; loan copies available for eligible borrowers in other states.

Swords and Pens: What the Military Can Show Us About Teaching Basic Skills to Young Adults.
Thomas G. Sticht. Washington, DC: American Federation of Teachers, Fall 2000. Sticht discusses the origins of functional context education during World War II, as well as later military research and experience in training and educating military personnel. Sticht goes on to discuss application of what the military has learned to teaching and learning in adult literacy education, as well as for youth in the K-12 school system. This article appeared in the Fall 2000 issue of The American Educator, published by the American Federation of Teachers.

Youth in Adult Basic and Literacy Education Programs: ERIC Digest.
Susan Imel. Columbus, OH: ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education, 2003. The increase in the number of youth under the age of 18 enrolling in federally funded adult basic and literacy education programs is a trend that is putting increasing pressures on programs designed to serve an adult population (Hayes 2000). A number of questions and issues surround this trend and administrators and teachers view it from different perspectives (Smith 2002). After reviewing some of the trends and factors that are contributing to an increase in youth enrollment, this Digest provides an overview of how programs are responding to the challenge of serving young adults.

Follow-Up Data on Parents in Even Start Programs in Texas: 2004 and 2005.
Don F. Seaman and Chia-Yin Chen. College Station, TX: TCALL, 2005. Because of concerns for demonstrating accountability in Even Start family literacy programs in Texas, TCALL staff designed a research project to document how investment of federal funds in Even Start provides returns on that investment. Since Even Start provides basic educational experiences to both parents and children, it was determined to first implement a pilot study to assess the impact of the program on the parents in 2003-2004. Data from the pilot test indicated that a more extensive study should be conducted on Even Start programs in the state.

Life After Funding: A Descriptive Study of Even Start Family Literacy Programs That Have Completed the Initial Funding Cycle: Summary Report.
Ann Martinez. College Station, TX: TCALL, December 2000. Edited by Don F. Seaman and Kori Whitener, this report summarizes Martinez’ 1999 doctoral research study of local Even Start programs at the end of their federal grant funding cycle. The purpose of the study was to identify common practices of the programs that were able to continue and to identify barriers faced by the programs that were unable to continue with new funding sources. Report is also available on Research page of TCALL website.

Ready for School: The Case for Including Babies and Toddlers As We Expand Preschool Opportunities.
Ounce of Prevention Fund. Chicago, IL, 2003. How do we ensure that children enter school eager to learn and ready to succeed? By helping young children develop solid intellectual and emotional foundations, starting at birth and even before. If policymakers fail to include babies and toddlers as plans are made for universal preschool, in five years our conversations about “school readiness” will instead be about “preschool readiness.”

Young Children Develop in an Environment of Relationships.
National Scientific Council on the Developing Child. Waltham, MA: The Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University, Summer 2004. The authors review what science tells us about the importance of nurturing and stable relationships with caring adults, in the healthy development of young children from birth. The authors also describe unfounded, pseudoscientific assertions sometimes heard on the subject, and the gap between science and policy.