Texas Indicators of Program Quality (IPQs)
for Adult Education and Literacy Curriculum and
Instruction:
Are They Evidence-Based?
Updated January 2013
**This webpage is based on the 2005 document entitled Research, Theory, & Professional Wisdom and Their Relationship to Texas Indicators of Program Quality (IPQs) for Curriculum and Instructional Practices in Adult Education and Literacy Programs by Marilyn Byrd, Dominique T. Chlup, Ken Appelt, and Harriet Vardiman Smith.
This webpage is a collection of evidence-based resources that support the Texas Indicators of Program Quality (IPQ) and additional emerging trends.
What are Indicators of Program Quality (IPQ)?
Why do we have this webpage?
What will you find in this webpage?
What do we mean by evidence-based adult education?
What are Indicators of Program Quality (IPQ)?
Since the enactment of the National Literacy Act of 1991, which mandated federally-funded State and local adult education programs to incorporate Indicators of Program Quality (IPQ) into program design and evaluation processes, there has been a greater push for accountability within adult education programs. In 1993, a task force of adult education professionals from across the state assisted the Texas Education Agency (TEA) in developing indicators that list specific goals and measures for program evaluation and reflect the needs of adult learners in Texas. Seven clusters of indicators, also called areas or strands, emerged:
- Learner Outcomes
- Program Planning
- Recruitment of Educationally Disadvantaged Adults and Other Undereducated Adults
- Curriculum and Instruction
- Support Services for Educationally Disadvantaged Adults and Other Undereducated Adults
- Professional Development
- Student Retention
Together, these seven strands of indicators serve as an evaluative model for Texas adult education programs. The area of “Curriculum and Instruction,” however, directly relates to practitioners’ instructional practices and the use of materials that adhere to the objectives of the State’s IPQs. Specifically, the area of Curriculum and Instruction stipulates that instructional processes should be based on the following dimensions1:
- Adult Learning Theory
- Learner-Centered and Participatory
- Functional Contexts
- Thinking and Problem Solving
- Curriculum and Instruction are Dynamic
- Holistic Assessment
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Why do we have this webpage?
As part of the funding stipulation that adult education and literacy programs’ Indicators of Program Quality (IPQ) be supported by research and knowledge of effective practice, state adult education administrators expressed concern about meeting this requirement. Additionally, another stipulation of the State’s IPQs is that curriculum and instruction is consistent with adult learning theory. Although there is no universally accepted adult learning theory that constitutes good practice (Comings, Beder, Bingman, Reder, and Smith, 2003), theories of adult learning have provided practitioners with a rich resource on which to base their instructional decisions (Comings et al., 2003). As such, TCALL staff responded to this concern with an initiative to link the Texas Curriculum and Instruction IPQs to identified research or other forms of evidence-based practice. This effort has resulted in a webpage of resources.
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What will you find in this webpage?
We have identified evidence-based resources that support each of Texas Curriculum and Instruction IPQs:
- Adult Learning Theory
- Learner-Centered and Participatory
- Functional Contexts
- Thinking and Problem Solving
- Curriculum and Instruction are Dynamic
- Holistic Assessment
In addition to Texas Curriculum and Instruction IPQs, we have identified several key areas not currently addressed by the IPQs. These emerging trends include:
- Goal Setting
- 21st Century Classroom (Technology and Distance Learning)
- Transitions (to Workforce and to Post Secondary Education)
- Adults with Learning Disabilities
- Multilevel Classrooms
- English Language Learners/English as a Second Language
- Math and Numeracy
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What do we mean by evidence-based adult education?
The U. S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences has issued the following definition of evidence-based adult education:
The integration of professional wisdom with the best available empirical
evidence in making decisions about how to deliver instruction.
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References
Bingman, B. (2005). Using research to build evidence-based programs. Presented at the Texas Associate for Literacy and Adult Education (TALAE) Conference, Austin, TX.
Comings, J. P., Beder, H., Bingman, B., Reder, S., & Smith, C. (2003). Establishing an Evidence-based Adult Education system. The National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy: Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Whitehurst, G. J. (2001). United States presents overview of EBE. Retrieved 2-9-05 from: http://www.ed.gov/offices/OERI/presentations/evidencebase.ppt
Footnotes
For more detail on the Texas Indicators of Program Quality, please refer to the Texas LEARNS website http://www-tcall.tamu.edu/texaslearns/05admanual/ipqs.htm
