The Major Trainings and Initiatives of the PDCenter for 2011-12 are as follows:
Standardized Assessment Trainings:
CASAS, BESTPlus and the NEDP (National External Diploma Program) trainings are held each year to support the requirements of RIDE.
New Practitioner Orientation:
For practitioners new to Adult Education, or for those who would like an overview, this two day training covers the national and state system of adult education, as well as specific topics of the participants’ choosing. http://swearercenter.brown.edu/Literacy_Resources/npo.html
Monthly Practitioner Learning Communities (PLC’s):
PDCenter staff offer these position-based PLC’s, which have part of each session dedicated to open sharing amongst participants on emerging issues and questions, and part of each session dedicated to the exploration of research and best practices on topics previously agreed upon by the group.
Directors/ Managers, ESOL practitioners, Case Managers, Job Developers and STAR-trained practitioners are the 5 monthly PLC’s offered in 2011-2012.
Workforce Development Support:
Through scheduled workshops and individual agency follow-up, the PDCenter supports agencies/programs in developing their staff’s skills and agencies’ policies that will increase employment and pre-employment outcomes for students.
TEAL: Writing
The PDCenter is part of this two year national training of trainers & teachers project, facilitated by American Institutes of Research (AIR). TEAL stands for AIR's Teaching Excellence in Adult Literacy center. Four practitioners from RI adult education, along with two PDCenter staff have taken part in this project's online, face to face, and coaching activities since October of 2010. They will share their learnings and best practices in the coming year.
LEA: Leadership Excellence AcademyA two year nationally recognized training for program mangers (and aspiring managers!). Participants have 5 face to face training days over the two years, partake in a short online course and several webinars, and, most importantly, develop real time, critical projects with your own staff around program improvement. Programs will commit to supporting their leaders through this training by signing off on the application, and by contributing $200 to offset the several thousand dollars this training costs. Participants can earn national Certification of Program Improvement Management and graduate credit http://leadershipliteracy.net/index.html
Youth in ABE: a blended learning opportunity for New England AE Practitioners
A cohort of RI practitioners joined this Fall Institute, consisting of one face-to-face day of training, an online course, and several webinars with national experts in the field. Offered by NELRC (New England Literacy Resource Council).