The Texas Adult Education Content Standards & Benchmarks

EFF Hot Topics: Use Math to Solve Problems and Communicate.
Bingman, Beth, Editor (Winter 2005). Knoxville, TN: EFF Center for Training and Technical Assistance.
What does research say about teaching math to adults? How can Equipped for the Future (EFF) help students with math? This 16-page issue of Hot Topics focuses on the EFF standard, Use Math to Solve Problems and Communicate, and provides examples to help teachers incorporate the use of this standard into their teaching and assessment activities.

Equipped for the Future (EFF) Content Standards: What Adults Need to Know and Be Able to Do in the 21st Century.
Stein, Sondra (2000). Washington, DC: National Institute for Literacy.
The EFF Framework and Standards presented in this book are the results of six years of effort by hundreds of people nationwide to create a working consensus on what the goals of teaching and learning should be, with the goal of building a strong customer-driven educational system that aligns its resources with its stated goals. EFF developers hope that EFF will provide adult learners, educators, policymakers, and others with a common language and set of knowledge and skills that can be used to improve teaching and learning, accountability, and investment in the enterprise of adult education. This book describes the EFF development process, how the EFF Standards work, examples of how teachers from the field development process used EFF for teaching and learning with the EFF framework, and where EFF is headed in the next few years as the EFF assessment system is developed and research and data collection are continued. Clearinghouse Library mails out free copies to Texas educators only; resource is also available at http://eff.cls.utk.edu/PDF/standards_guide.pdf [PDF, download Adobe® Acrobat® Reader]

Equipped for the Future Role Map Posters.
National Institute for Literacy (2000). Washington, DC: National Institute for Literacy.
These full-color, 17” x 22” posters come in sets of three, one for each adult role delineated in the Equipped for the Future framework. The EFF Role Maps describe what adults do when they are effective in their roles as parents/family members, workers, and citizens/community members. EFF partners developed the role maps by asking adults from many different walks of life to describe what they needed to be able to do to fulfill these three roles. Each role map includes the following parts: the key purpose or central aim of the role, broad areas of responsibility that are the critical functions adults perform, and key activities through which the role is performed. Clearinghouse Library mails out free posters to Texas educators only. EFF posters can also be purchased from Tennessee’s Center for Literacy Studies (865-974-8426).

Equipped for the Future Skills Wheel Poster.
National Institute for Literacy (2000). Washington, DC: National Institute for Literacy.
These 22” x 36” full-color posters clearly show the sixteen Equipped for the Future skills/standards for adult teaching and learning, along with their relation to the four categories of skills in the EFF framework. EFF posters can also be purchased from Tennessee’s Center for Literacy Studies (865-974-8426).

Equipped for the Future: Tools and Standards for Building and Assessing Quality Adult Literacy Programs.
Spangenberg, Gail and Watson, Sarah (May 2003). New York, NY: Council for Advancement of Adult Literacy.
This 37-page publication reviews the developmental history of EFF (the Equipped for the Future Content framework and standards for adult literacy education) and discusses its accomplishments, implementation, and work in progress. Some 16 experienced national, state, and local EFF users were interviewed for the publication. Their responses and the questions posed make up the main body of the document. A foreword notes that one of CAAL’s founding purposes is to promote more effective policy, practice, and resource development at the state level.

Focus on Basics, September 1999.
NCSALL/World Education (September 1999). Cambridge, MA: National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy.
Focus on Basics is a quarterly published by National Center for Study of Adult Learning and Literacy. This issue’s cover article is A User’s Guide to Standards-Based Educational Reform: From Theory to Practice. Other featured articles are Articulating Learning With EFF Standards; Teaching to the Math Standards with Adult Learners; Standards at the State Level; and Focus on Research: Documenting Outcomes. Clearinghouse Library mails out free copies to Texas educators only; resource is also available at www.ncsall.net/?id=164

Using Adult ESL Content Standards.
Schaetzel, Kirsten and Young, Sarah (March 2007). Washington, DC: Center for Adult English Language Acquisition.
This brief is written for adult ESL teachers and program administrators, as well as educational researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders who work with adult English language students in ESL classes or in mixed ABE classes (with native English speakers and English language students). It begins with historical information about content standards and then describes the processes that adult ESL teachers and program administrators can follow to successfully incorporate standards into lesson planning, classroom activities, performance assessment, and professional development.

See also Resources for Preparing Adults to Succeed Beyond the GED. Featured in the December 2006 Literacy Links Free Materials Section and other resources on the Economic Impact of the GED page of TCALL’s Website. Email tcall@tamu.edu for assistance finding all those resources online.

Estimating the Labor Market Signaling Value of the GED.
Tyler, John H. and Murnane, Richard J. and Willett, John B. (June 2000). Cambridge, MA: National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy.
While many previous studies have examined the economic impact of the GED on labor market outcomes, the results from these studies are all based on regression analyses that employ questionable comparison groups. As a result, all previous studies of the economic impact of the GED likely suffer from “selectivity bias.” Most of these past studies have found small or no effects of the GED on the labor market outcomes of dropouts. Using new and powerful data and a methodology that relies on interstate variation in GED passing standards to address selectivity bias issues, this study found that the GED has a large impact on the earnings of young white dropouts who chose to obtain the credential and whose scores place them on the margin of passing. Estimates are robust across several different “natural experiments,” as well as to a series of specification checks. While no statistically discernible effect of the GED on the earnings of young minority dropouts is found, this does not rule out a positive impact of the GED on higher scoring minority dropouts nor a positive impact on the earnings of minorities via a human capital route.

Is the GED Valuable to Those Who Pass it?
Cain, Alice Johnson (April 2003). Cambridge, MA: National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy.
This article was featured in the first and only issue of “Focus on Policy,” a NCSALL publication intended to translate research findings into implications for policy. Research consistently shows that high school graduates do better in the labor market than do holders of the General Educational Development (GED) credential. But do high school dropouts who get the GED fare better economically than dropouts who don’t get their GED? According to NCSALL research conducted by Brown University’s John Tyler, acquisition of a GED can have a substantial impact on earnings for some school dropouts. This article summarizes three specific research findings to that effect.

So You Want a GED? Estimating the Impact of the GED on the Earnings of Dropouts Who Seek the Credential.
Tyler, John H. (May 2001). Cambridge, MA: National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy.
This paper studies the impact of a GED on the earnings of high school dropouts. While the earnings increased over time, the immediate effect was not as obvious. The difference in earnings by race are also addressed as well as earning the GED while incarcerated.

Changing the Way We Teach Math: A Manual for Teaching Basic Math to Adults.
Nonesuch, Kate (December 2006). Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada: National Adult Literacy Database.
Part of a project funded by Canada’s National Office of Literacy and Learning, this manual was written for adult basic education (ABE) math instructors who are interested in changing their teaching practice to bring it more in line with recommendations from the research literature on teaching numeracy to adults. Written after consulting over 100 practitioners in British Columbia, the manual sets out some “best practices” from the literature, then outlines some difficulties instructors may face in implementing them, and makes suggestions for overcoming the difficulties. Finally, the manual includes many pages of activities ready for immediate classroom implementation of the “best practices.” The author teaches math as part of the Adult Basic Education program at Malaspina University-College’s Cowichan Campus in Duncan, British Columbia. See also More Complicated Than It Seems, the literature review upon which this teaching manual is based, described on this same page. Clearinghouse Library mails out free copies to Texas educators only; resource is also available at www.nald.ca/library/learning/mathman/mathman.pdf [PDF:130MB, download Adobe® Acrobat® Reader]

The Components of Numeracy.
Ginsburg, Lynda and Manly, Myrna and Schmitt, Mary Jane (December 2006). Cambridge, MA: National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy.
This occasional paper attempts to describe the complex nature of numeracy as it exists today. While there are large-scale assessments, standards documents, and position papers, there has not been a field- and research-based synthesis of the components required for adults to be numerate, to act numerately, and to acquire numeracy skills. This paper attempts to identify and clarify the nature of these components with the hope that such identification and clarification will guide instruction, contribute to the design of assessments, frame research, and inform policy.
Clearinghouse Library mails out free copies to Texas educators only; resource is also available at www.ncsall.net/fileadmin/resources/research/op_numeracy.pdf [PDF:548KB, download Adobe® Acrobat® Reader]

EFF Hot Topics: Use Math to Solve Problems and Communicate.

More Complicated Than It Seems: A Review of Literature about Adult Numeracy Instruction.
Nonesuch, Kate (December 2006). Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada: National Adult Literacy Database.
Part of a project funded by Canada’s National Office of Literacy and Learning, this literature review is meant for adult numeracy practitioners. As such, it concentrates on topics related to instructional methods, rather than issues such as general educational policy or program administration, frameworks, and curriculum. By “numeracy instruction,” the author means instruction in those areas of math needed for daily life as a consumer or a worker: operations with whole numbers, fractions, decimals and percents; measurement of time, length, area and volume; and reading charts and graphs. The author teaches math as part of the Adult Basic Education program at Malaspina University-College’s Cowichan Campus in Duncan, British Columbia. See also Changing the Way We Teach Math a teaching manual based on this literature review, described on this same page.

A Review of the Literature in Adult Numeracy: Research and Conceptual Issues.
Condelli, Larry, et al (March 27, 2006). Washington, DC: The American Institutes for Research.
The first major product of the Adult Numeracy Initiative, a two-year project funded by the Office of Vocational and Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education, this literature review includes contributions by Iddo Gal, Diana Coben and Kathy Safford. The report provides a synthesis of conceptualizations of adult numeracy, a review of the U.S. and international research evaluating instructional approaches and interventions in adult mathematics and numeracy teaching, a summary of professional development initiatives, and discussion of issues around assessment for adult numeracy. The second report of the project, a comprehensive review of professional development initiatives in adult numeracy, is forthcoming. Clearinghouse Library mails out free copies to Texas educators only; resource is also available at www.air.org

Bilingual Infant/Toddler Environments: Supporting Language and Learning In Our Youngest Children.
Stechuk, Robert A. and Burns, M. Susan and Yandian, Sharon E. (June 2006). Washington, DC: Academy for Educational Development.
Guide is written for staff in Migrant and Seasonal Head Start (MSHS) programs, which are funded to provide comprehensive child development services to the children of migrant farm workers from birth through the compulsory school age. The authors attempt to navigate the research on first and second language acquisition and development on infants and toddlers, consistent with the Head Start definition of “infants” (children younger than 36 months). At its core, this guide aims to integrate information about children’s developmental progress in acquiring one or more languages in infancy with practical considerations of how adult caregivers can best support that development. Clearinghouse Library mails out free copies to Texas educators only; resource is also available at http://www.aed.org/Publications/loader.cfm?url=
/commonspot/security/getfile.cfm&pageid=15384

Family Health and Literacy: A Guide to Easy-to-Read Health Education Materials and Web Sites for Families.
McKinney, Julie and Kurtz-Rossi, Sabrina (2006). Boston, MA: World Education and National Institute for Literacy.
This guide for adult literacy practitioners and health educators lists resources to teach health to families with lower literacy skills. Guide also discusses how to integrate health and literacy education, how to get started and engage adult learners, and how to build connections between literacy programs and local health services. Clearinghouse Library mails out free copies to Texas educators only; resource is also available at www.worlded.org/us/health/docs/family/fhl.pdf [PDF:1.61MB, download Adobe® Acrobat® Reader]

The Importance of Investing in Early Literacy.
Katz, Linda (2000). Philadelphia, PA: Children’s Literacy Initiative.
Katz states, “Despite higher unemployment still in the United States, many good job slots go unfilled, especially in urban areas. Our high school graduates do not qualify for many entry level positions, or for further training and education. Given this peculiar dynamic, we have both the need and the opportunity to bring historically underemployed people into the job market. Our success really depends, however, on the quality of education those new workers have received.” Katz discusses the importance of investing in the potential of young children in these at-risk urban areas to ensure that, by third grade, they are “reading to learn.”