Welcome to the first edition of the LINCS Professional Development Center’s Quarterly Newsletter! 

The LINCS Professional Development (PD) Center is a national center that aims to strengthen state capacity to build state PD programs. The LINCS PD Center is expanding direct service opportunities through technical assistance, training, and tools designed to help your state establish or operate a PD program as required under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). Looking ahead, the LINCS PD Center will offer a large array of informational and collaborative learning opportunities to share helpful resources, showcase promising practices in the field, assist states in using and customizing LINCS resources, and discuss strategies for common challenges in establishing or operating a PD program.

The LINCS PD Center supports state PD programs in the following ways:

Offering a Self-Assessment Tool for State Capacity Building.  The LINCS PD Center is developing a self-assessment tool that states will be highly encouraged to use to identify areas in PD programs and offerings where capacity exists and where it needs to be further developed. The PD Center will pilot test the self-assessment tool this spring with a small cohort of states. If your state is interested participating, please email [email protected].

Providing Technical Assistance Opportunities.  Beginning this summer, the LINCS PD Center will offer frequent technical assistance opportunities designed to help states implement WIOA Section 223. Activities will include interactive collaborative learning groups, topical webinars, recorded information webcasts, and many opportunities for community engagement and peer sharing.

LINCS for States.  The LINCS PD Center partners with states to offer online courses, training, study circles, and other virtual and in-person facilitated activities in the LINCS Catalog. States will expand their capacity to deliver LINCS trainings through opportunities for state trainers to become familiar with the content and delivery of LINCS trainings by attending a LINCS training session, observing delivery, and participating in supported learning activities with a national LINCS trainer. The LINCS PD Center will assist states in developing trainers to serve as the next generation of state and local topic experts. If your state is interested in requesting or participating in LINCS training and/or train-the-trainer opportunities, please contact [email protected].

Improving Access to LINCS Training Materials.  The LINCS PD Center will make LINCS training materials and facilitator guides available to state professional developers and trainers. The LINCS PD Center will assist states in customizing LINCS resources to best meet state needs, while retaining the validity of the materials. A designated point of contact for your state can request materials and assistance today by emailing the LINCS PD Center at [email protected].

Future newsletters will provide updates on upcoming activities and technical assistance opportunities.

We’re excited for the year ahead and look forward to working together!  

From April 2-5, 2017, the LINCS PD Center will host training and workshop sessions at the 2017 Coalition on Adult Basic Education (COABE) National Conference in Orlando, Florida.  The sessions will be useful to educators, program administrators, and adult education practitioners. There will be a train-the-trainer opportunity for interested instructional leaders to become familiar with the delivery of the  ESLPro suite of resources, in addition to sessions on other topics including learner-centered curricula for Adult ESL and designing effective programs focused on employability skills, health literacy, and career pathways. Register today!

At the Mountain Plains Adult Education Association (MPAEA) on April 13, 2017, LINCS Community Moderator Susan Finn Miller, Arizona Instructional Leader Wendy Finlayson, and Arizona Professional Development Director Beverly Wilson will give train-the-trainer presentation on  New Materials on Rigor, Digital Literacy, and Career Pathways from LINCS ESL Pro. The discussion will address how  LINCS ESL Pro increases the instructional rigor, integrates digital literacy into English language instruction, and connects adult English learners to career pathways. Instructors of all skill sets are welcome.

• New Materials on Rigor, Digital Literacy, and Career Pathways from LINCS ESL Pro
  April 13th, 10AM-12:10PM
  Radisson Hotel, Salt Lake City, UT
  

Register now! 

Please share the following information with your network of adult education programs and instructors:

The Learning to Achieve (L2A) Program is a research-based suite of professional development materials focused on serving adults with learning disabilities. 

The eight L2A courses help instructors anticipate and manage the practical challenges and pedagogical dynamics of educating adults with learning disabilities. Each course takes about one hour to finish. Afterwards, practitioners can complete a Course Evaluation. Course Evaluations provide critical feedback that help improve the quality of future resources that LINCS designs or hosts. 

For more information, check out the L2A Program, take a course, and tell LINCS what you think. Instructors: Don’t forget to print your coursework certificate and tell your friends that you are a LINCS Lifelong Learner! #L2AforLD

OCTAE’s recent  ESLPro project includes robust materials for ESL instruction and in-depth recommendations for state staff, program administrators, or teachers. These materials were used to provide technical assistance to a group of states, supporting their implementation in the specific context of the local program. LINCS will provide training opportunities at COABE and MPAEA on the ESLPro suite of resources. States are encouraged to send individuals or a cohort of trainers to the sessions, observe delivery, and participate in activities with a national LINCS trainer. If your state or program is interested in train-the-trainer opportunities or using ESLPro materials, please contact  [email protected].

If you missed the live PD Center webinar that featured ideas for the use of  Adult Education Teacher Competencies to support effective instruction, then watch the  webinar for an overview of how states might use these materials to guide a variety of flexible, job-embedded professional development activities. WIOA emphasizes the consideration of high-quality, evidence-based instruction in the funding of adult education programs. The Adult Education Teacher Competencies describe the knowledge and skills needed by an adult education teacher to offer such instruction. They provide a rich prompt for professional learning and exploration of effective teaching practices and can help to prioritize the professional development needs of staff.

• National Association for Developmental Education Conference
  March 1-4, 2017 
  Oklahoma City, OK
  

• Coalition on Adult Basic Education Annual Conference
  April 2-5, 2017
  Orlando, FL
  

• Mountain Plains Adult Education Association Annual Conference
  April 11-13, 2017
  Salt Lake City, UT
  

The LINCS Professional Development Center is maintained by Manhattan Strategy Group (MSG) and our partner World Education, Inc. with funding from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE), under Contract No. ED-VAE-16-O-0010. The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of the U.S. Department of Education, and no official endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education should be inferred.