Everyone, 

Small programs that can not set up separate transition classes must often
get very creative.  I've been collecting data on local programs that have
some promising practices in place when it comes to transition from ESL to
ABE/ASE.  One program in central Texas (Community Action, Inc. in San
Marcos) has such an obviously good practice in place, you would miss it if
you weren't looking for it!  The Kyle Learning Center uses a teacher
exchange between ESL and ABE/ASE classes to "wean" reluctant ELLs and move
them on to ABE/ASE.  See Literacy Links, Volume 11, no.1, April 2007,
"Building Bridges to the Next Level - A Successful Experiment" by Jan
Greening and Lee Williams (www-tcall.tamu.edu; then click on quarterly
publcations).  Talk about a confidence builder!  

 

Barbara Tondre

Texas LEARNS

 

 

  _____  

From: assessment-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:assessment-bounces at nifl.gov] On
Behalf Of Forrest Chisman
Sent: Tuesday, February 03, 2009 9:39 AM
To: barbara.jacala at guamcc.edu; 'The Assessment Discussion List'
Subject: [Assessment 1583] Re: Transitions Discussion begins today!

 

Barbara,

 

You have done about as much as you can do, as far as I can tell. Let's face
it, many ESL students aren't going to progress very far on their first try,
because the skills of most of them are so low, and it takes so long to get
much of a payoff. Managed enrollment helps. It's best if it can be done in
high intensity and/or short module classes that help students get a sense of
making progress. Also contextualization of workforce or postsecondary
material from the beginning appears to help - think of where they might be
going as soon as they start. Also I believe that personal learning plans and
MUCH more investment in guidance/counseling help a great deal to motivate
students. Some programs have "recovery" efforts that reach out to students
who have "stopped out? Finally, I think the ESL curriculum needs to be
reviewed to include more emphasis on helping students become self-directed
life-long learners. Most won't learn most of their English in the classroom,
so ESL should have as a goal helping them to learn better and more outside
it.

 

Forrest Chisman     

 

From: assessment-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:assessment-bounces at nifl.gov] On
Behalf Of Barbara Jacala
Sent: Monday, February 02, 2009 6:44 PM
To: 'The Assessment Discussion List'
Subject: [Assessment 1562] Re: Transitions Discussion begins today!

 

1.  What seem to pose the biggest obstacles for your program when trying to
successfully transition adult students from one education level to another,
or from education to the workforce?  What does your program try to do about
this?

The biggest obstacle for my program when trying to successfully transition
adult students from one education level to another is persistence and
motivation. Attendances at classes are inconsistent. What we try to do in
our program to address these obstacles are varied. We have managed
enrollment so that we have a cohort of students going through the program.
We try to communicate often with instructors, coordinators and students. We
occasionally bring in guests from the community to address to the class
about careers and other issues. We are trying to set up a student support
group to hold regular group sessions where students can get emotional
support. We have approached our funding partners to support high achieving
ABE students in taking post-secondary certificate classes. We have reviewed
and rewritten our course guides using the CASAS content standards.

 

2.  What resources have you found helpful when trying to successfully
transition a student?  How have they been helpful?

We are a CASAS state and we use it to measure student progress and determine
class placement. We have used this system successfully in ABE, ESL and ASE.

 

3.  Please comment on the Introduction and/or Recommended Preparations for
this Discussion, found at the announcement URL above.

I look forward to learn from the guests and the discussions.

 

Barbara Jacala

Guam Community College

  _____  

From: assessment-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:assessment-bounces at nifl.gov] On
Behalf Of Marie Cora
Sent: Tuesday, February 03, 2009 12:52 AM
To: Assessment at nifl.gov
Subject: [Assessment 1557] Transitions Discussion begins today!

 

Good morning, afternoon and evening to you all.

 

Today begins our week-long discussion on Transitions in Adult Education.  

 

For full information on this discussion, go to:

 

http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/assessment/09transitions.html

 

I have some questions for subscribers:

 

 

 

Please post your questions and share your experiences now.  

 

Thanks!!

 

Marie Cora

Assessment Discussion List Moderator

 

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