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Adult Education and Literacy

Adult learners – whether they are college students, individuals who never completed high school, professionals, skilled or unskilled workers, or citizen activists – represent the common denominator in virtually every project we take on. This means we’re involved in arenas such as continuing professional education, higher education, community-based education, and many aspects of literacy. An important focus for CD&A is the field of adult literacy and basic education. All of us at CD&A have worked with this population of learners in some capacity – teaching, researching, developing resources, evaluating systems, and designing programs.

Professional Development
Many of our adult education projects have focused on systems of training or professional development for educators and other providers of human services.
 
 
 
 

Pennsylvania Department of Education – Analysis of PA’s Adult Basic and Literacy Education (ABLE) professional development system
Georgia Department of Family & Children Services – Needs assessment and evaluation of the state training program for all DFCS employees
Rhode Island Economic Policy Council – Design of a model professional development system for RI’s adult literacy practitioners
Rhode Island Governor’s Task Force on Adult Literacy – Process consultant during the development of the state’s first comprehensive professional development system for adult literacy practitioners.
National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy – Served on the design team for a national research study comparing outcomes of professional development.
SouthEastern Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Consortium for Higher Education (SEPCHE) – Evaluation of a project to create a virtual center for lifelong learning for faculty.
University of Georgia – External evaluations of Teacher Quality Higher Education Program grants to strengthen the teaching of science, math, language arts, and social science in Georgia's K-12 schools.

 
 

Practitioner Inquiry and Action Research
Through the planning and implementation of practitioner inquiry projects and inquiry based staff development, our staff have extensive experience leading teachers to design and carry out research in their classrooms, and to publish and present their findings.
Virginia Adult Educator’s Research Network, Virginia Department of Education – Design and implementation of all phases of a statewide practitioner inquiry program
Rhode Island Department of Education – Co-facilitation of a practitioner inquiry program for Rhode Island adult educators.
Kentucky Department for Adult Education and Literacy – Training and support for regional professional development coordinators to facilitate practitioner inquiry groups.

  
Family Literacy
Several of our evaluation projects have involved aspects of family literacy and learning. 		 
 

Dekalb County School System – Multi-site evaluation of an elementary school counseling demonstration program serving immigrant and refugee students and their families. (Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Safe and Drug Free Schools.)
Eastern Shore Community College – Evaluation of the “SPARK” family literacy program, that stands for “Shore People Advancing Readiness for Kindergarten.” (Funded by the Norfolk Foundation.)
Eastern Shore Community College – Evaluation of an Even Start Family Literacy Program serving Hispanic children and their parents. (Funded by the Virginia Department of Education.)

Continuing Education
CD&A has designed and delivered continuing professional education workshops for diverse groups of adult learners that include magistrate court judges, directors of state adult education programs, scientists, and call center workers. Our clients include:

  • The University of Georgia’s Center for Continuing Judicial Education
  • National Judicial College
  • National Adult Education Professional Development Consortium
  • Texas Utilities
  • Wachovia Bank