Effective Instruction for All Adult Education
Students Including Those with Special Learning Needs
“It is common sense to take a method and try it; if it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.” Franklin Roosevelt
This quote from Franklin Roosevelt aptly describes the Special Learning Needs Training initiative that our state began last year. The issue of disabilities and special learning needs is almost like a giant elephant sitting in the middle of the room and the question is “How do we move the elephant out of the room?” The debate, along with many opinions and solutions, could literally generate hundreds of answers. All the while, the elephant is still sitting in the middle of the room as are the many adult students sitting in our classrooms who have disabilities and special learning needs.
The good news is that Texas is doing a lot of work to train all adult education teachers how to help their students get out of the room. Last year was the first year of the Special Learning Needs Training called “Effective Instruction for All Adult Education Students Including Those with Special Learning Needs.” The training successfully produced 33 adult educators who are now called Special Learning Needs Resource Specialist. The training was taught by nationally recognized consultants in the field of learning disabilities, Neil Sturomski and Nancie Payne. The Special Learning Needs Training Institute provided 90 hours of intensive training which will enable the Resource Specialist to use their training in the classroom to practically help adult education students with disabilities and special learning needs overcome the many barriers and challenges faced by our student population.
The adult educators who are Special Learning Need Resource Specialists are also trained to use the Payne Learning Needs Inventory to screen adults with suspected learning disabilities to determine if the student needs further diagnostic testing. Most importantly, the Resource Specialist learns many practical tools and strategies to help the students in the classroom on a daily basis. The Resource Specialist is also aware of how to assist a student who already has a diagnosed disability to apply for accommodations for GED Testing. Basically, this training equips the adult educator to help their students to begin to overcome their disabilities and barriers.
Year Two, which will begin in November 2008, will include another 40 adult education teachers along with a ten-member Train-the-Trainers cohort chosen from Year One. These trainers will be given hands-on instruction as they in turn train another 40-50 adult education teachers statewide during the program year at their local program. With the completion of Year Two, Texas Adult Education will have 120 Special Learning Needs Resource Specialists and ten statewide trainers. Beginning in Year Three, the regional adult education professional development centers (GREAT Centers) will begin to provide this training to all adult education teachers statewide and continue this endeavor until all adult educators have been trained.
All is definitely a tall order and sounds a little bit like utopia. However, if the elephant were actually sitting in the middle of the room, the goal would be to get all of the elephant out of the room. Just as Franklin Roosevelt urges to “try something,” Texas will pursue this great training initiative to equip all adult educators so that all the adult students who sit in our classrooms with disabilities, special learning needs and multiple challenges will have a way to successfully get out of the room and into the rest of their lives.
About the Author
Tracy Hendrix is the East Region Grant Services Manager at Texas LEARNS and the state contact for the Special Learning Needs Initiative. Prior to working for Texas LEARNS, she worked in the Adult Education Program at North Harris College for nine years as a Counselor, Coordinator and Chief GED Examiner. She is a graduate of Texas Tech University and has a background in social work, teaching, and counseling.
