January 2019
The New LINCS State Liaison
The LINCS Professional Development Center is pleased to announce that a dedicated LINCS State Liaison will continue partnership development between LINCS and state professional development staff. Melissa Zervos is now available to assist states in a variety of ways, including working with states on using the LINCS Self-Assessment and the LINCS Asset Map and assisting states in the design and implementation of high-quality professional development programs. The State Liaison also helps states identify and leverage LINCS’ freely available, evidence-based resources that can help assist states in implementing WIOA Section 223 state leadership requirements. Melissa is available to work with states on an ongoing basis to set professional development priorities for the purpose of supporting high-quality professional development programming.

Meet Melissa Zervos
Melissa has nearly two decades of experience in adult education, workforce development, and professional development through her work in non-profit, K-12th grade, and community college Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) programs. Starting as an ESL instructor in Washington, D.C., Melissa next worked at Montgomery College in Maryland where she held a variety of professional development roles. She last served as the statewide professional development lead for Maryland’s AEFLA grantee programs at the Department of Labor Licensing & Regulation, Office of Workforce Development and Adult Learning.

Interested state agency staff may contact Melissa via the LINCS PD Center Helpdesk at pdcenter@lincs.ed.gov . 
Enriching Professional Development through Blended Learning - Registration Open!
A new Collaborative Learning Group (CLG) exploring the use of blended learning models (in-person and online delivery methods) will start in March. State staff responsible for developing and delivering professional development are invited to join this multi-session, online peer group to build their skills and confidence in the use of blended learning techniques for enhancing professional development. Participants from the same states are encouraged to join as teams.

The CLG will help develop the skills and confidence of state professional developers in the use of blended learning tools to help states meet WIOA Title II requirements for providing technology-rich quality adult learning opportunities. Specifically, CLG participants will gain:

  • A deeper understanding of instructional models of blended learning and how to use them within their own state’s professional development system (e.g., extended, multi-modal and collaborative opportunities for professional learning),
  • Access to a supportive community of colleagues to help develop strategies for overcoming implementation challenges, and 
  • Concept plans for using a blended and extended learning approach and tools to enrich an upcoming professional development event planned in their state. 

Target Audience: State-level staff responsible for professional development, specifically staff from states which rely heavily on single or sporadic professional development opportunities. 

Timeframe and Format: The group will start in March 2019 and convene for five sessions (session dates TBD). The online format will include the use of a webinar platform plus the exploration of other online tools to model options for use in their own professional development. 

Register here for the Enriching Professional Development through Blended Learning CLG.  For more information about this opportunity, contact the LINCS PD Center Helpdesk .
New Flyers for PD Center Facilitated Online Courses
The LINCS Professional Development Center offers 20+ facilitated online courses through the LINCS Learning Portal that include opportunities for interaction and engagement with trainers and peers. Flyers for facilitated courses are available here . Share the flyers with your colleagues! Courses include:

  • Teaching Excellence in Adult Literacy (TEAL): Formative Assessment
  • TEAL: Deeper Learning through Questioning
  • TEAL: Differentiated Instruction
  • TEAL: Effective Lesson Planning
  • TEAL: Self-Regulated Learning
  • TEAL: Strategy Instruction
  • TEAL: Student-Centered Learning: Keys to Motivation and Persistence
  • TEAL: Universal Design for Learning: Addressing Barriers
  • Open-Math-Open Resources: Engage Adult Learners for 21st Century Skills
  • Open Science-Open Resources: Engage Adult Learners for 21st Century Skills

Contact the LINCS PD Center Helpdesk to request delivery of a facilitated online course for your state.
New Report from Power in Numbers: From Creation to Adoption: How to Develop and Deploy Successful Edtech
Power in Numbers just released its third report: From Creation to Adoption: How to Develop and Deploy Successful Edtech . Power in Numbers is an OCTAE initiative to help adult learners gain the higher-level math skills they need to succeed. The initiative teamed up with teachers and other experts to identify and review high-quality open educational resources (OER) and create OER curriculums for the adult education classroom. The reports are a collaboration between the Power in Numbers team and its group of expert advisors .

This latest report explores the challenges and opportunities in edtech development and deployment for the adult education market. By examining the most common pathways for new edtech to enter the adult classroom, the report reveals how key process changes could increase the quality and quantity of adult edtech tools. The report proposes steps that critical stakeholders — including developers, funders, administrators, and employers — can take to improve the impact of edtech on adult learning outcomes. See the full report .
LINCS Community Activities
Don’t miss the great activities being held in the LINCS Community ! From January 29-30, the LINCS Community Career Pathways Group will host an asynchronous interview with the executive director for the Chicago Citywide Literacy Coalition and two co-investigators of a major career pathways study. Want to learn more or know someone that should? Get the details by checking out the LINCS Community Announcements page.
"Learn with LINCS" at COABE Conference 2019
LINCS, in coordination with Manhattan Strategy Group , is a Conference Strand Partner at the National 2019 COABE Conference from March 31-April 3 in New Orleans, LA. Stay tuned for more information on the “Learn with LINCS” strand, which features LINCS trainings and other OCTAE National Activities. Encourage your educators to attend Learn with LINCS sessions, visit the LINCS Exhibit Booth, and network with experts, LINCS moderators, and members. See you there! 
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Put LINCS Courses on Your State's Learning Management System
States can add LINCS’ self-paced and facilitated online courses, such as the Teaching Excellence in Adult Literacy (TEAL) professional development program, to their own learning management systems (LMS). TEAL focuses on improving writing for Adult Basic Education (ABE) students. Materials are adaptable to a variety of program environments and instructional levels and are designed to help instructors learn to integrate practices within the content area of writing instruction. For more information about uploading LINCS courses to your state LMS, contact the LINCS PD Center Helpdesk .  
LINCS is on YouTube and LinkedIn
Practitioners know that LINCS is the go-to place for community, courses, and resources for adult education. For those that want more high-quality, evidence-based LINCS content— in video form —visit and subscribe to the LincsEd YouTube Channel for more great resources, including webcasts with experts. 

And don’t forget to check out and join the LINCS_ED Group on LinkedIn – it’s another great source of updates, announcements, and networking.
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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.