Weblog: Conferences
Online Training for Content Standards--Get Ready for VAILL!
This year's Southwest VAILL (July 30 - August 1) will focus on implementing content standards by offering an array of interesting and practical workshops such as:
-Implementing Content Standards in the Open Enrollment Classroom
-Creativity and Content Standards
-Program Planning for Content Standards Implementation
-Aligning Assessment and Curriculum with GED Content Standards
-Curricula Based on ESOL Content Standards
-Lesson Planning with ESOL Content Standards
-GED Content Standards: Meeting the Needs of Diverse Learners through Differentiated Instruction
Start Now!
Participants are encouraged to take the Virginia Content Standards Online Training developed by VALRC prior to SW VAILL for an introduction to content standards. The self-paced course can be completed in about two hours and provides an orientation to standards and specific tracks for ESOL and GED. Especially if you've just begun to explore Virginia's GED/ESOL content standards, the online course will provide a foundation for the workshops at VAILL.
For more information and to register for the online training, visit http://valrc.org/training/online/content.html . A certificate of completion will be issued at the end of the training.
If you have already completed the online training for content standards, you do not need to complete it again.
If you have questions about the online training, please contact Lauren Ellington, Online Training Specialist, at leellington@vcu.edu.
See you at VAILL!
July 30 - August 1
COABE 2007: The Colonial Institute
The Colonial Institute, Virginia's regional COABE conference, is scheduled for October 10-12, 2007 in Williamsburg, Virginia. The featured speaker is Stephen D. Brookfield, internationally acclaimed scholar in adult education. Dr. Brookfield has written ten books on adult learning, teaching, critical thinking, discussion methods and critical theory. In addition, there will be strands by Barbara Given, Rosemary Caffarella, Lennox McLendon and many others. A Williamsburg Tavern Style dinner is included in the cost of registration. Please visit the VAACE website for conference information.
Adult Learner Writer's Awards
The Literacy Fair of Virginia is accepting written student submissions for the Fifth Annual Outstanding Adult Learner Award. Attached are two documents for distribution to your teachers, tutors, and students.
The award, sponsored by the Literacy Fair of Virginia, Inc., will honor our outstanding adult learners. The top four submissions will receive a monetary award and a plaque. The winners will be asked to come in person to read their submissions.
The Literacy Fair, which is celebrating 20 successfull years, will be held Thursday, May 17, 2007 on the John H. Daniel Campus of Southside Virginia Community College in Keysville, Virginia.
Click here for the letter Click here for the student information form
Our theme this year is "Celebrate Literacy!"
Contact: Sandra M. Thompson (434) 736-2084 or svthoms@svccdan1.sv.vccs.edu
ProLiteracy Worldwide 2007 Annual Conference
November 7 - 10, 2007 at the Hilton Mark Center, Alexandria, Virginia
For more information, visit the ProLiteracy website or contact 315-422-9121, ext. 352 or conference@proliteracy.org
VAACE to Host Regional COABE Conference in 2007
VAACE (the Virginia Association of Adult and Continuing Education) has been selected to host a Regional COABE conference. COABE (Commission on Adult Basic Education) hosts a national conference each year in the spring for approximately 1200 participants from around the country. In an attempt to allow more people to have this national conference experience, COABE is supporting regional events. Our conference, The Colonial Institute, will be held in Williamsburg on October 10 and 11, 2007. The conference's agenda will feature nationally recognized trainers in adult education and literacy. The two-day regional conference will be followed by a one-day VAACE conference for Virginia adult educators on October 12th. As plans are finalized, more information will be posted on the VAACE website. Please visit the VAACE website often for updates.
Examiner/Program Manager Conferences and Technological Developments
Between October 4-6, Virginia's Adult Education program managers and GED examiners held annual conferences to talk about upcoming changes in the GED test and trends in classroom instruction. Although most of the details are still developing, it was revealed that the Office of Adult Education and Learning (OAEL) will be mandating content standards for Virginia's GED instruction, and on a national scale, changes are on the horizon for the GED test itself. A few anecdotal items are worth noting.
First off, according to the GED Testing Service, most GED test-takers are more computer savvy than adult educators may realize. By 2011, we can expect to see computer-based testing, and initial field testing shows that adult learners are performing just as well on a computer as on a paper and pencil test. It would be reasonable to infer from this that the GED test will eventually present questions that relate directly to the online experience that has become so common in today's workforce and the traditional high school setting. So, be sure to check out VALRC's online professional development and Polilogue discussions about eLearning, so you can keep pace with the technological needs of today's adult learners. Another harbinger of the GED's shift toward technology are Virginia's new systems of online test registration and nearly instant online retrieval of GED scores. Clearly, Virginia's field of Adult Education is committed to staying ahead of the curve.
This year's program managers meeting saw the unveiling of a draft form of the new GED Content Standards. If you are unfamiliar with the concept of content standards, check out the Content Standards Warehousehttp://www.adultedcontentstandards.org/. According to the draft's preface, "These standards have been written and disseminated to provide a framework for instruction and program design in adult GED programs in Virginia. They are not prescriptive but, rather comprise a guide for what is expected of each learner to know and be able to do in order to pass the GED tests." The OAEL's steering committee that has been busy for the past two years writing these guidelines will be accepting feedback during periodic Polilogue Jams, where drafts of both the GED and ESOL standards can be found. For more information, or if you aren't registered with Polilogue, please contact Debbie Bergtholdt.
October Content Standards, Program Managers, and GED Examiners meetings
Please download the registration form, fill it out, and fax or email it to Jane Swing. Jane's contact information is included on the form. All program managers and lead teachers are encouraged to attend the Content Standards Institute, which will begin at noon on Wednesday, October 4, 2006, and continue through lunch Thursday, October 5. The program managers meeting will take place after lunch on Thursday. The GED Examiners meeting will be held on Friday, October 6.
Please make your lodging arrangements directly with the Virginia Crossings Resort. Contact information for the resort is included on the registration form. If you have any questions, please contact Jane Swing or Randy Stamper.
2006 Literacy Trainer Institute - July 26 and 27
The Literacy Support Center (LSC), a project of the Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center, is pleased to announce that registration for the 2006 Literacy Trainer Institute is open to all trainers in Virginia. This two-day Institute will feature workshops by Susan McShane, author of Applying Research In Reading Instruction for Adults, and by the Virginia Mentoring Partnership. Other topics that will be addressed are Learning Disabilities (LD), English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), and online training. The registration fee is $15.00. To find registration forms and detailed Institute information, please click on the links below.
For questions about the Institute, call Victoire Gerkens Sanborn at 800-237-0178 or email her. For questions about registration or reserving a room, contact Marianne Baker at 800-237-0178 or email her.
Summer Institutes 2005
We have added information about the Summer Institutes 2005 to our website, including the registration forms you will need to sign up. Check out the Summer Institutes 2005 website now!
VAACE Conference Schedule
The final schedule (Microsoft Word document, 82KB) is now available for the upcoming VAACE conference. This schedule contains brief descriptions of the workshops, locations, and times so that you can plan for the conference accordingly. Update: The final schedule has been posted on the VAACE website, and this news post was updated with that information.
Program Manager's Meeting
The annual program managers meeting was held on August 18th and 19th at the Sheraton Park South hotel in Richmond. Nearly two hundred people were on hand to learn about the marketing plan for the Governor's Race to GED initiative. The two days were packed with seminars about marketing, promotions, and customer service - critical components of winning the Race. Dr. Yvonne Thayer, director of the Office of Adult Education of Literacy, handed out several awards. Bette Sneed, Cynthia Cooper, Stacey Wright, Bonnie Mizenko, and Linda Allen were recognized for their efforts as the managers of the first five Fast Track sites. Dale Temple of Southside and Sue O'Connor of Henrico received plaques in appreciation of their hard work on the Race to GED marketing team. The first day culminated in the introduction of the next ten Fast Track programs (see photo 1 & photo2): Mt. Rogers Adult Education; the Regional Adult Education Program for Lee, Scott, Wise and Norton Public Schools; the Centerville Adult Center; Spotsylvania Regional Adult Education Program; Southside Programs for Adult Continuing Education; Roanoke City Schools; Henrico County Adult Education; Portsmouth City Public Schools; Dayton Learning Center; and New River Community College. Most agreed that the meeting was a great success.
The Governor's Conference on Workforce Development
Strategic Partnerships: Meeting Our Economic Needs
October 19-21 at the Richmond Marriott
The Governor's Conference is Virginia's premier forum on workforce and career development. Attendees will gain insight from national and state-level experts, and from peers, and a variety of case studies and best practices that can be replicated. In addition, attendees will learn how successful workforce and career development partnerships have been used to the benefit of the state or local economy. Learn more about conference attendance, presentations, vendor opportunities, and conference updates.