Family Literacy

Professional Development Activities and Resources

This section provides links to a variety of professional development resources, most of which focus on family literacy. This is not an extensive list of professional development opportunities but it does contain resources that we feel are of high quality. If you know of resources that you would like to have considered for this list, e-mail them to dbaycich@literacy.kent.edu


Free Professional Development Activities and Resources

  • Adult Literacy Professional Development Wiki
    wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Adult_Literacy_Professional_Development
      This interactive site is a collection of information from practitioners in the field of adult literacy. Some of the topics discussed are PD Policy Development, Policy History, and Improving PD Systems. There is a registry for states to post their PD offerings. There are many areas to explore here and a chance to post questions for other practitioners.

  • AE Pro: Adult Education Professional Development
    www.aeprofessional.org/
      "AE Pro was initiated in 2004 through a collaboration between the Center for Literacy Studies at the University of Tennessee, and the Ohio Literacy Resource Center at Kent State University. The mission of AE Pro is to become a national network for online professional development for Adult Education. The guiding goals and objectives are to:
    • Provide online courses and course modules for adult education professional development
    • Provide technical assistance in online course development and facilitation
    • Provide a complete course development platform
    • Be a gateway to other online professional development "

  • Applying Research in Reading Instruction for Adults: First Steps for Teachers
    www.nifl.gov/partnershipforreading/publications/applyingresearch.pdf
      This book is an introduction to research-based principles of reading instruction for instructors in adult education and literacy classes. It is intended as a first resource for those with little knowledge of reading instruction and is written with the needs of teachers in mind-those who want to improve their ability to provide reading instruction for adults in family literacy and other basic education programs.

  • Building Strong and Effective Community Partnerships
    www.nald.ca/CLR/partner/cover.htm
      "Our objective with this manual has been, first of all, to This makes up the first part of the manual establishes a context for community partnerships, in order to provide an understanding of the benefits, issues, and challenges which are attached to forming partnerships. The second half contains practical, useful information on building community partnerships from the ground up."

  • Developing a Parent Literacy Curriculum
    www.nald.ca/CLR/Parent/Index.htm
      "The goal of this booklet is to share with other practitioners some of the curriculum ideas and activities arising from our the authors' experiences in teaching parent literacy."

  • Eager to Learn, a Course on Family Literacy
    www.nald.ca/CLR/eager/cover.htm
      "Many adult learners are parents. Their own desires to learn and to find educational success motivate them to acquire new skills in helping their children or grandchildren become readers and writers at an early age. The Eager to Learn course has been based on the belief that enrollment in A.B.E. gives adult learners the unique ability to co-learn with their children or other young persons in their home environment. This is also true, of course, for parents enrolled in support programs and community outreach services."

  • Even Start Statewide Family Literacy Initiative
    www.ed.gov/programs/evenstartfamilylit/index.html
      One of the primary purposes of this Web site is to provide a mechanism for the Initiatives to share and learn about resources and materials. Check out the various resources available to support statewide family literacy initiatives.

  • Kentucky Virtual Adult Education
    kyae.ky.gov/educators/
      KVAE offers a "Foundations in Family Literacy Course" on-line. This course is part of a three part professional development which includes a two day face to face meeting but works well as a stand-alone activity. Click on the "Professional Development Opportunities" link to see the list of available courses.

  • The National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL)
    www.ncsall.net/index.php?id=25
      Offers many training materials that can be downloaded or ordered including several Study Circle Guides. Study Circles are an opportunity to have professional development and tailor it to your program needs without spending a fortune or leaving out any member of the staff.

  • National Even Start Association
    www.evenstart.org
      Selecting the Professional Development link will take you to "Even Start Guide to Quality" and "Program Self-Assessment."

  • Of Interest to Administrators
    The LINCS Special Collection for Program Leadership & Improvement has useful materials for staff development at http://pli.cls.utk.edu/.

  • Pennsylvania E-Campus
    https://www.ecampus.ed.state.pa.us/default.asp
      Provides several family literacy professional development courses online that are adaptable to other states. Choose the "Search for a course by category" option, then search by "Family Literacy" for a list of both on-line and in-person courses.

  • A Practical Guide to Family Literacy
    www.nald.ca/CLR/Pgtfl/cover.htm
      "The guide provides a rationale for family literacy programs as well as information about the history of family literacy and a description of program models. The information presented also includes such topics as community collaborations, resources, evaluation methods, and contacts in existing programs. The Guide is intended to provide practical, step-by-step information on how to set up a family literacy program. It is also intended to provide support to existing family literacy initiatives. The guide should be helpful for preparing grant proposals and for demonstrating the need for programs to potential collaborators."

  • Practitioner Research as Staff Development: A Facilitator's Guide
    www.aelweb.vcu.edu/publications/research/
      Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center. 2003. "This guide offers activities, guidelines and resources for those interested in using inquiry groups and research methods in their program improvement efforts. The process is organized into four sections: Coming Up With A Research Question, Collecting Research Data, Analyzing Research Data, and Making Our Research Knowledge Public, and provides basic materials needed to implement practitioner research into staff development programs." For more information about teacher research as professional development see "Teacher Research: Getting Started" http://literacy.kent.edu/Oasis/Pubs/0200-20.html, "Guidelines for Planning Action Research Projects" http://literacy.kent.edu/Oasis/Pubs/0200-08.htm and "Inquiry Staff Development" http://literacy.kent.edu/Oasis/Pubs/0200-1.html

  • The Professional Development Kit (PDK)
    www.literacyonline.org/HTMs/project_pdk.htm
      Funded by the U.S. Department of Education contains videos and online materials for ABE, GED, ESL and staff development. In the "Articles" section you can search for information family literacy.


    Fee Based Professional Development Activities and Resources

  • Penn State University World Campus
    www.worldcampus.psu.edu/
      Offers an on-line Certificate in Family Literacy. "This program brings experts in the field of family literacy together with specialists in early childhood education and adult education to offer a multidisciplinary and integrated approach to literacy instruction." This link http://www.worldcampus.psu.edu/wc/StudentServices_Paying.shtml will take you to information about financial aid.

  • Thinkfinity
    http://literacynetwork.verizon.org/tln/courses
      Offers on-line workshops in family literacy topics.



    • Quotes on family and education (Refresh to see another quote)


    Line
    Ohio Literacy Resource Center - Celebrating 10 Years of Enhancing Adult Literacy 1993-2003 This page http://literacy.kent.edu/FamilyLiteracy/forworkers/activities.html
    and is maintained by the OLRC.
    Return to the Top of the Page Return to the Top