Advising Students with Foreign Degrees and Credentials

Advising and coaching students with foreign degrees and credentials is a complicated and highly individualized process. A new guide from the National College Transition Network helps instructors, advisors, and career coaches ask the right questions when working with students whose goals relate to employment, education, or entering a licensed profession. Once the student’s goals are established, this guide can help determine what kind of degree or credential evaluation process is appropriate.

Free or Paid Approved Distance Learning Curriculum

This month a new feature was added to the Approved Distance Learning Curriculum search page on the PAAER website. In addition to searching for distance learning resources by categories such as online or print-based, you can now search by the category of cost and see if a curriculum resource is free to use or requires payment.

Using "Chunking" in the Classroom

Technology in the classroom now allows immediate access to seemingly infinite information, and this can be an asset to students and teachers. But the student's brain will require quality processing time to absorb and organize manageable chucks of information. The author of an Edutopia article, How to Use Chunking in the Classroom, describes ways that you can pair the chunking of material (presenting subunits of content) with processing-time activities in order to give students time to deal with the bits of information you have presented.

Tutor Coordinator Networking and Updates

Please join this webinar at 9:00 a.m. on March 7, 2024, to learn about Tutoring Routines, a new resource for tutor coordinators. There will also be opportunities to network with your peers across the state. Any staff who work closely with volunteer tutors and/or classroom aides are invited to join. Rachel Baron and Lynne Watson will facilitate this one-hour webinar. Join the webinar on March 7.

Professional Learning for Adult Education and Family Literacy Staff

Staff at PDE-funded adult education and family literacy agencies can view a list of upcoming courses now available for enrollment in the PD Portal. For more information about any of these courses, please visit the PD Portal, open the course catalog, and review the syllabus. If you are interested in enrolling in a course, please consult with your in-house professional development specialist (IHPDS) to determine if the course meets your professional learning goals.

Webinar: Preparing Adult Education Leaders for Upcoming Digital Equity Opportunities

The webinar "Digital Equity Champions for All Learners: Preparing Adult Education Leaders for Upcoming Digital Equity Opportunities" will be held on Wednesday, February 28, 2:00-3:00 p.m. In 2024, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will announce new programs to help eligible entities pursue activities to advance digital equity in their communities. To prepare the adult education sector for this upcoming opportunity, this webinar series and preconference workshop invites adult education leaders at the state, local, and institutional levels to build their awareness of the relevant policy context and learn why this issue is relevant to their stakeholders. To further support adult education leaders in seeing themselves as a critical component of this national focus on digital equity, the two-part webinar series will feature a panel of experts to showcase diverse “possibility models” of successful and replicable strategies from around the country. Finally, this webinar will preview and prepare participants for a digital equity workshop session to be held at the COABE National Conference on March 17-20. Register online today.

Immigrants' Eligibility for U.S. Public Benefits: A Primer

With the 2023 end of the COVID-19 public health emergency, states have returned to standard eligibility rules for programs that support low-income individuals and families. Nearly 16 million people have been disenrolled so far, including immigrants. A new report that was published in January, Immigrants’ Eligibility for U.S. Public Benefits: A Primer, provides an overview of immigrants’ eligibility for 13 programs and services related to general assistance, health and nutrition, employment and income, education, housing, and driver’s licenses, according to the standard eligibility rules that are back in force with the end of the pandemic emergency. It also includes a look at the needs and benefits eligibility of the nation’s large Latino immigrant community, which represents 44 percent of the U.S. foreign-born population. Because eligibility requirements consider a wide variety of factors, they can make some groups of non-citizens eligible for some benefits but not others, while others are not eligible for any benefits at all. The primer includes a range of tables that summarize federal eligibility for many legal statuses. While the focus is on federal eligibility rules, the report also highlights how some programs have state or locally funded equivalents that extend to a broader population. Learn more from the Migration Policy Institute press release.

Call for Submissions - Spring Institute

The Philadelphia Office of Children and Families, Adult Education is looking for workshop facilitators and presenters for the 2024 Spring Institute. The conference theme, "Voices in Adult Education," will explore the voices of adult learners, educators, administrators, and organizational leaders. See the Call for Submission for more information and to submit your idea today.

The Spring Institute will be held on Thursday, May 23, 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., at the Free Library of Philadelphia Parkway Central, in the fourth floor Skyline Room. Ira Yankwitt, Executive Director of the Literacy Assistance Center (LAC), will be one of the key presenters for the Spring Institute. If you have additional questions, contact Charles Heil (Charles.Heil@phila.gov).

COABE Calls for Articles: Family Literacy

The theme for the Fall 2024 edition of the Coalition on Adult Basic Education (COABE) Journal will be Family Literacy. This is semiannual publication is seeking contributions from adult education professionals to share best practices, research, innovations, reflections, and reviews for the upcoming edition. The deadline to submit an article is May 1, 2024.

ProLiteracy Conference Workshop Proposals

The 2024 ProLiteracy Conference on Adult Education brings the adult literacy field together for three days of networking and learning best practices for program and student success. Every two years, ProLiteracy hosts this gathering where attendees can share the latest instructional trends, learn about recent research, and hear expert-led panel discussions on policy. Attendees leave the conference with tools and ideas to influence their program and improve their practice. The 2024 Conference will be held in Baltimore, MD, October 6-9. Consider submitting a workshop proposal before February 23 if you have information to share on any of the above topics.

The job postings below are for adult basic education programs funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Education and, at least in part, by WIOA Title II funds. You can also find the postings on the PAAER website. To post a job, please email the job advertisement to mjmanfred@tiu11.org. 

• Executive Director - Vita Education Services
• Co-Director of the Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy and the Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy

Visit PAAER.org for the latest PA adult education news and resources. Recent additions to the site include:

• Updated eData Access Database Template v2
• eData Access Database Template Changes document and webinar
• Draft 22-23 Agency Performance Data

• COABE National Conference - March 17-20, 2024, Nashville, TN



• PAACE Conference - April 14-16, 2024, Pittsburgh, PA

• ProLiteracy Conference on Adult Education - October 6-9, 2024, Baltimore, MD

State and national organizations' newsletters are listed below and may be of interest to you. To receive the most recent editions by email, please subscribe directly to the newsletter. 

Families Learning, News of the Week, National Center for Families Learning

Features information and resources for family literacy, early childhood education, and parent education.

Feb. 2

PA Association for Adult Continuing Education

Features information for adult education partners for advocacy, networking, and professional development

February Newsletter

COABE Connects, Digital Equity, Coalition On Adult Basic Education

Features national information, resources, and initiatives for adult basic education.

Feb. 9 Feb. 2 Jan. 26

World Education/U.S.

Features resources and information from World Education projects including EdTech Center News, The Change Agent, College for Adults, E-Learning, LINCS Region 1 Professional Development Center, National College Transition Network, and many others. 

Feb. 14 Feb. 7 Jan. 31 Jan. 25