Professional Development

Free ... Yours for the Asking ...

Professional Development Planning Hot Topic Packet. (2000). The Adult Literacy Clearinghouse has compiled this new packet of resources. The packet includes a variety of information to help educators better understand this topic.

Census 2000: From Understanding to Participation. (2000). The US Census Bureau, Office of Census in Schools, and Scholastic have created these instructional materials to teach adult ESL literacy students about the importance of participating in Census 2000. Packet includes a 20-page Teaching Guide containing six lesson plans with reproducible activity sheets, sample Census forms, instructions, and suggested extension activities. A large wall map of the US shows populations in each state based on 1990 Census data, with additional maps showing population density and locations of American Indian reservations. Teaching Guide and 4x6' Wall Map: FREE packet available ONLY in Texas (one per adult ESL classroom).

Pick Your Candidate. (1995). The New Hampshire Department of Education, Bureau of Adult Education, developed this 25-page manual intended to help adult students sort through issues in preparation for deciding which candidates they will support in an upcoming election. Some of the topics covered are: registering to vote; campaign news coverage, speeches and promises; opinion polls; and understanding the issues. Citizenship Navigator: A Guide for Teaching Citizenship. (1999). This curriculum guide from Massachusetts is designed to aid citizenship teachers and tutors in understanding the complex issues people encounter in the process of applying for United States citizenship.

The "Hire Me" Guide ABE Online. (1999). The Minnesota State Department of Children, Families, and Learning developed this work readiness course to supply learners with the appropriate training, information, encouragement, discipline, and support for work readiness.

Keeping Us Honest: One Teacher's View of EFF. Northwest Regional Literacy Resource Center. This article from the Winter, 1999, issue of the Regional Resource Roundup is an interview with a teacher about her experiences with and personal understanding of Equipped for the Future. Most of her EFF experience so far has been with the field development process in a business English class working with her students as "co-researchers" to help not only facilitate their own learning but also to begin testing the EFF performance indicators.

Spelling: A Key to Good Communication. (1999). Midwest LINCS. This group of lessons and exercises was created for adult educators to teach the basics of spelling to ABE/ASE students ranging from the third grade level through the GED. Can be used in the ESL classroom as well. Lessons and exercises may be duplicated for use with students.

Who Benefits from Obtaining a GED? Evidence from High School and Beyond: NBER Working Paper 7172. (1999). The National Bureau of Economic Research offers this paper examining the value of the GED credential and the conventional high school diploma. The paper replicates the basic findings of prior studies that implicitly assume the labor market value of the GED credential does not depend on the skills with which dropouts left school. It shows that these average effects mask a more complicated pattern.

Welfare, Jobs and Basic Skills: The Employment Prospects of Welfare Recipients in the Most Populous US Counties. (1999). This research/policy brief from NCSALL and the Milken Institute addresses the basic skills and employment prospects of current adult welfare (TANF) recipients, basing the analysis on NALS measures.

Welfare Reform: Assessing the Effectiveness of Various Welfare- to-Work Approaches. (1999). The US General Accounting Office has published this research report on effectiveness of different welfare-to- work approaches, comparing rapid- employment approach with education-based W-T-W approach, and their relative cost.

Welfare Reform: States' Implementation and Effects on the Workforce Development System. (1999). Another US General Accounting Office publication. The report reviews seven state-sponsored studies and a recent nationwide study following up on adults who left welfare.

Illiteracy: The Silent Barrier to Health Care. Annals of Internal Medicine, February 16, 1999. This article addresses the effect of poor reading skills of patients on the quality of health care they receive. It describes the problem and how illiteracy can be detected by health care workers, as well as proposed interventions.

Integrating Health and Literacy: Adult Educators' Experiences. (1998). The National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy offers this study which describes the experience of adult educators in Massachusetts who have integrated a health unit into adult education classes focused on reading, writing, and communication skills development, as well as critical thinking. This study focuses on the teachers' perceptions of advantages and disadvantages of a focus on health.

Adult Literacy Clearinghouse
Library Bibliography Page

The following subject area bibliographies can be viewed and printed out from the Clearinghouse page of the TCALL Web site. You can still request paper copies by mail as well, or an entire set of bibliographies on computer disk. However, as new materials are added to the collection, the most current listings will be those on the Web site. Note the three new bibliographies developed because you, our users, expressed interest in these areas. As you look through the listings, keep in mind that anything not described as FREE is a loan item, available for 30 day checkout, with postage-paid return address sticker provided. Call our toll-free hot line number (800) 441-7323 or order items directly by e-mailing tcall@tamu.edu.

• Adults as Learners & Teaching/Learning Theory -- NEW
• Assessment & Evaluation
• Audio & Video Resources (not included with set of "hard copy" bibliographies, unless specifically requested) -- NEW
• Citizenship
• Corrections
• Curricula (Non-Commercial) -- NEW
• English as a Second Language
• Family Literacy
• GED Preparation
• Health & Literacy
• Language Arts
• Learning Disabilities or Differences
• Life Skills (including Study Skills)
• Math & Numeracy
• Professional Development
• Program Development & Administration
• Reading
• Research, Reports & Statistics
• Social Studies
• Spanish Language Materials
• Special Populations (including Welfare Reform)
• Technology
• Workforce Education
• Recent Acquisitions (includes new additions to all subject areas)