In December 2007, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation gave MDRC a grant to conduct reconnaissance on promising strategies to reengage disconnected young people and improve their long-term outcomes. The primary objective of the grant was to identify key leverage points for future investment by government and foundations. MDRC consulted with…

This document includes a final performance report and evaluation report from the Weck Ed program, through which job-linked adult basic education and General Educational Development (GED) test preparation courses that were jointly developed by the company Pilling Weck and Durham Technical Community College were offered to Pilling Weck employees on…

This document was developed as a resource for teacher trainers and adult educators who are teaching writing to adults. It has been designed to provide suggested intended learning outcomes, instructional strategies, and resources in an easy-to-use format. Most of the document is a chart that lists 10 intended learning outcomes, with parallel…

This document is intended as a template for individuals initiating and developing adult education distance learning programs. The introduction discusses the following issues: benefits of distance learning; flexibility; confidentiality; retention; and the best students to target. The template and supplementary materials are organized in five…

This guide contains an annotated bibliography of 107 resources for: (1) Basic 0-4; (2) Adult Basic Education; (3) English as a Second Language; (4) pre-General Educational Development Test; (5) General Educational Development Test; and (6) workplace programs published since 1986. It also contains a listing of job-specific workplace curriculum and…

The College of Lake County in Grayslake, Illinois, formed an educational and business partnership with four area businesses to design and implement workplace literacy programs targeted to the needs of each business. The project's four objectives were as follows: develop a model of cooperation between a community college and the business community…

This guide describes development of the problem-based approach of GED as project. It is Volume 1 of a proposed four-volume series. Section 1 describes the concept of GED as project, thinking and problem solving, successful intelligence, and integration of content and skills. Section 2 covers GED as project implementation using learning projects…

This guide presents reading-focused learning projects and accompanying inquiry activities to help students pass the language arts/reading portion of the General Education Development (GED) Test 2002. Section 1 relates GED as project to the reading portion of the GED and explains how inquiry activities used Official GED Reading Practice Test…

This paper suggests techniques that teachers who prepare adult students for the General Educational Development (GED) tests can use with students who have learning disabilities. The first part of the paper presents a brief overview of symptoms exhibited by students who are learning disabled. Symptoms are classified under general behaviors,…

This guide presents writing-focused learning projects and accompanying inquiry activities to help students pass the language arts/writing portion of the General Education Development(GED) Test 2002. The Introduction relates GED as project to the writing portion of the GED and explains how inquiry activities used Official GED Reading Practice Test…

This handbook is intended to provide teachers with background information about the writing skills needed by General Educational Development (GED) students as well as practical instructional activities for use in the adult basic education/GED classroom. A guide to using the ideabook explains the POWER format that involves Prewriting, Organizing,…

This handbook provides General Educational Development (GED) teachers with information on critical thinking and teaching ideas to support a commitment to the idea of critical thinking as an essential tool for adult basic education (ABE) students. The importance of critical thinking skills for GED students is emphasized. Sample questions from the…

This final report documents the development of a workplace literacy program for 100 employees of the Geriatric Authority of Holyoke, Massachusetts (GAH), a major nonprofit nursing home and rehabilitation facility. It describes how GAH employees received instruction in English as a Second Language, adult basic education, and General Educational…

This professional development package is designed to assist General Educational Development (GED) instructors in developing teaching skills to help them prepare students for the written essay part of the new GED exam. An introduction discusses some research and theory that support collaborative teaching situations that most efficiently and…

This guide presents math-focused learning projects and accompanying inquiry activities to help students pass the math portion of the GED 2002. It is Volume 2 of a proposed four-volume series; Volume 1 describing the concept of the GED as project is also available. Section 1 relates GED as project to the math portion of the GED and explains how…