Microcredentials create opportunities for continuing growth of all teachers based on specific needs. They provide ways for teachers to lead their own learning while allowing administrators to identify and address teachers' needs as well as the expertise teachers have to share with their colleagues. Microcredentials are different from traditional…

In 2011, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation extended grants to three educational organizations working to develop or enhance competency-based approaches in large, urbanized school systems. The grant initiative, called Project Mastery, funded the development of technology-enhanced tools, including curriculum materials and online learning…

In 2011, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation created the Project Mastery grant program to support competency-based education initiatives in large school systems that serve a high proportion of disadvantaged youth. Competency-based education meets students where they are academically, provides students with opportunities for choice, and awards…

Improving teacher quality in early education is a major part of ensuring young children's school readiness and closing the achievement gap. This is the book decision-makers and administrators need to begin developing coordinated, effective teacher quality systems--ones that not only get teachers ready for the classroom, but also promote continuous…

The first PA Forward Information Literacy Summit was held in State College at the Pennsylvania State University, University Park campus, on Wednesday, July 24, 2013. This summit brought together K-12 and academic librarians from Pennsylvania to discuss current issues in information literacy. This text is a transcript of a discussion between Ellysa…

As traditional classroom settings are transitioning to online environments, teachers now face the challenge of using this medium to promote effective learning strategies, especially when teaching older age groups. Because adult learners bring a different set of understandings and skills to education than younger students, such as more job and life…

The National Occupational Competency Testing Institute (NOCTI) has been serving the career and technical education (CTE) community for almost 45 years. It is in the unique position to produce longitudinal data that indicates technical competence levels based on end-of-program testing across the country. NOCTI's data confirms that CTE is indeed…

This special demonstration project was undertaken to field test and disseminate a curriculum entitled Emergency English for Refugees (EER). Designed to meet the immediate English language needs of pre- and non-literate adult refugees and immigrants, the EER is a 26-unit competency-based English-as-a-second-language (ESL) curriculum that deals with…

A project was conducted in Pennsylvania to determine what changes might improve the effectiveness of the State's adult basic education (ABE) program. Northcutt's construct of functional competency adult performance level (APL) and Mezirow's program evaluation model provided the basis for the project's two components: APL assessment and program…

The purpose of these guidelines is to suggest to school districts what should be done to implement a competency based vocational business education program for adults. It also provides guidelines for those districts wanting to organize and administer such a program in their own localities. Ten guidelines are presented in the following areas: (1)…

This 310 Special Project performed the following activities: (1) reviewed 10 years of Pennsylvania's materials funded under Section 310 of the Adult Education Act and published six "FOCUS on Curriculum" bulletins describing outstanding projects; and (2) prepared a 1985 addendum to Pennsylvania's listing of publishers' materials for adult…

Presents an evaluation study of competency-based vocational education in Pennsylvania. Data were gathered via interviews with state education officials and representatives of educational agencies and via surveys completed by teachers. Results showed the highest levels of implementation occurring in vocational schools, especially in areas related…

This document contains materials about and from the School-to-Work for Lancaster County Adults program. This program was a special demonstration project designed to develop a school-to-work (STW) model for adult learners. In an alternative high school setting, the program combined academic instruction, career exploration and planning, and…

Issues surrounding teaching competencies in family literacy programs were examined in a study of two well-established Even Start sites in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The program, which served 34 ethnically diverse adult learners, offered 25 hours of adult basic education, general educational development (GED), and…

California University of Pennsylvania developed Project Technology Education Curriculum Help (TECH) for two school districts in Western Pennsylvania. Six objectives were achieved: (1) organized two pilot school districts to serve as curriculum models in technology education for other schools throughout the commonwealth; (2) established California…