What part of the elephant?

Hi, everyone.

The Commission on Adult Basic Education (COABE) conference was held this past week in Pittsburgh. At the risk of being like the blind man who describes the elephant by only the part he is standing by and hence can feel, my observations of dominant themes that surfaced are as follows:

*Preparing students –both native speakers and English language learners – for the high school equivalency exams or tasks

*Using all levels of Depth of Knowledge (DoK) skills with all learners, no matter their English or basic skill level DOK Level

DOK Level

Title of Level

 

1

 

Recall and Reproduction

 

2

 

Skills and Concepts

 

3

 

Short-term Strategic Thinking

 

4

 

Extended Thinking

 (see http://www.aps.edu/rda/documents/resources/Webbs_DOK_Guide.pdf)

*Delivering culturally responsive instruction in the classroom, especially with struggling English learners

*Addressing Career and College Readiness Standards (CCRS) in all classes.

How about those of you who also attended the conference? What themes or takeaways do you have from the conference? What parts of the elephant did you “see”?

Miriam Burt

SME, Adult English Language Learners CoP

Comments

Miriam,

As I was unable to attend the conference I'm interested in all that can be shared, especially the session on - Addressing Career and College Readiness Standards (CCRS) in all classes.  As a Transition Specialist in a K-12 district we are always seeking new ways of introducing these standards in meaningful and engaging lessons that continue in outside student and family dialog.

Love to hear more on this.

Best,

Marcie