Adult and Community Learning Services (ACLS)

FY2017-2018 Curriculum and Instruction Guidance

ABE Programs

ACLS recommends that ABE curriculum and instruction:

  • Prepare students for success in acquiring family-sustaining employment;
  • Be contextualized to accelerate the attainment of Educational Functioning Level (EFL) completion, attainment of a high school equivalency credential, entrance into postsecondary education directly into credit-bearing courses, employment, or training; and
  • Develop students' academic and metacognitive skills.

Evidence-Based Reading Instruction (EBRI) and Student Achievement in Reading (STAR)

EBRI is a set of practices for teaching the four components of reading that are proven to increase the reading achievement of adult learners. ACLS recommends that programs integrate EBRI practices at every level of English language arts (ELA) instruction:

  • Use diagnostic assessment to determine and prioritize individual learners' areas of strengths and needs in the four components;
  • Use the most relevant EBRI techniques suited to specific levels of instruction: Beginner (GLE 0–3), Intermediate (GLE 4–8.9) and ASE (GLE 9–12); and
  • As it becomes available in FY18, attend training in how to implement EBRI techniques into these specific levels.

Programs with intermediate-level students (GLE 4–8.9) are encouraged to participate in Student Achievement in Reading (STAR) training. EBRI is the foundation of STAR, a reading reform initiative that supports intermediate-level students in increasing their reading comprehension in the four components.

ACLS requires that programs participating in STAR complete all training components.

For more information on STAR, see STudent Achievement in Reading (STAR).

For more information on the components of reading, see Adult Education and Family Literacy Act: Essential Components of Reading.

ESOL Programs

ACLS recommends that ESOL curriculum and instruction:

  • Prepare students for success in acquiring family-sustaining employment;
  • Reflect current principles of second language acquisition including the stages of language development;
  • Be contextualized to accelerate the attainment of Educational Functioning Level (EFL) completion, attainment of a high school equivalency credential, entrance into postsecondary education directly into credit-bearing courses, employment, or training; and
  • Develop students' academic, metalinguistic, and metacognitive skills.

ACLS recommends that mathematics instruction be available to all ESOL students SPL 4 through 6–7 in need of such instruction. Programs are encouraged to align mathematics instruction for ESOL students to the College and Career Readiness Standards for Adult Education (CCRSAE) for mathematics levels A though D-E and reflect the mathematics instructional shifts and Standards for Mathematical Practice.

Formative Assessment

Formative assessment, or assessment for learning, is classroom-based assessment administered on an ongoing basis in order to check on student learning and inform instructional decisions. This type of assessment allows instructors to provide students with immediate feedback and guide their learning. Examples of formative assessment include observations (e.g., anecdotal records, conferences, and checklists), exit tickets, portfolio checks, questioning, and debriefing. ACLS recommends that programs use formative assessments regularly. For more information on formative assessment, see the resources section of the SABES PD Center for Assessment.

Programs are also encouraged to share both formative and summative (e.g., MAPT, BEST Plus 2.0, CLAS-E) test results with adult learners. For more information and suggestions for how to do so, see Analyzing and Interpreting Test Results: What's Appropriate and What's Not Appropriate and Suggestions for Talking with Students about Assessment Results at ACLS Assessment.

Curriculum Development

Curriculum development consists of four phases: 1) design; 2) implementation; 3) formative and summative assessment to determine whether students learned what was taught; and 4) a curriculum review to determine whether or not the curriculum needs adjustment to improve student outcomes. A curriculum often contains the following components:

  • a program overview and guidance for the teacher in the introduction;
  • a scope and sequence for each level that provides a big picture view of the curriculum and describes the units to be taught;
  • a series of instructional units that delve into more detail than the big picture overview in the scope and sequence; and
  • sequenced lesson plans that make up instructional units.

ACLS recommends that programs use the templates for developing scope and sequence, instructional units, and lesson plans available on the ACLS Curriculum and Instruction Resources section, under the relevant content area (mathematics, ELA, ESOL). The scope and sequence, unit, and lesson plan templates provide a framework for high quality and effective curriculum materials.

Program Support for Curriculum Development

Curriculum development takes time, both to determine what content should be taught within mathematics, ELA, and ESOL, and to discuss with other teachers how that content should be taught. ACLS recommends that programs provide two (2) to four (4) weeks paid pre/post planning time and common planning time for teaching staff. For more information on curriculum development and to view related research, see SABES and select ELA, ESOL, or mathematics.

SABES Support for Curriculum Development

SABES offers extensive professional development for curriculum development and in how to implement the CCRSAE. SABES also offers site-based PD. ACLS recommends programs take advantage of SABES.

Programs opting to submit draft curriculum materials to the SABES PD Centers for ELA, mathematics, and ESOL will receive feedback to inform future work. Programs are advised to inform the relevant PD centers that they plan to submit and what materials they will be submitting to facilitate planning and timely feedback. For contact information, see System for Adult Basic Education Support (SABES).

Instruction

The CCRSAE for ELA and mathematics call for key instructional shifts. Three shifts in standards-based ELA1 teaching sharpen the focus of instruction on the close connection between comprehension of text and acquisition of knowledge:

  • Complexity (i.e., regular practice with complex text and its academic language),
  • Evidence (i.e., reading, writing, and speaking grounded in evidence from text, both literary and informational), and
  • Knowledge (i.e., building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction).

Three shifts in standards-based mathematics2 teaching center on the knowledge and skills students must master to be adept at understanding and applying mathematical ideas:

  • Focus (i.e., focusing strongly where the standards focus),
  • Coherence (i.e., designing learning around coherent progressions from level to level, and
  • Rigor (i.e., pursuing conceptual understanding, procedural skill and fluency, and application - all with equal intensity).

Equally important, the eight Standards for Mathematical Practice3 are habits of mind that that all math students need to develop. The Practices "describe the ways students are to engage with the subject matter as they grow in mathematical maturity and expertise across the CCRSAE levels:"

  • MP.1: Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
  • MP.2: Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
  • MP.3: Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
  • MP.4: Model with mathematics.
  • MP.5: Use appropriate tools strategically.
  • MP.6: Attend to precision.
  • MP.7: Look for and make use of structure.
  • MP.8: Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

1 For more on the three instructional shifts for ELA/Literacy, see Pimentel, Susan. 2013. College and Career Readiness Standards for Adult Education, pages 9–10.

2 For more on the three instructional shifts for mathematics, see Pimentel, Susan. 2013. College and Career Readiness Standards for Adult Education, pages 44–46.

3 For more on the Standards for Mathematical Practice, see Pimentel, Susan. 2013. College and Career Readiness Standards for Adult Education, pages 46, 48–50.

Last Updated: April 20, 2017

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