Southern Illinois ProfessionalDevelopment Center

Part ofIllinois Professional Development Network

Summer 2020 Volume 8, Issue 3

TRANSITIONS NEWSLETTER

MESSAGE FROM DR. KATHY OLESEN-TRACEYSENIOR DIRECTOR FOR ADULT EDUCATION AND FAMILY LITERACY, ICCB

Colleagues, As we conclude FY20, I wanted to take a few minutes to thank you all for the work completed on behalf of our adult learners who rely on the services provided in their local adult education program. This year has been unprecedented in the multiple challenges we faced together. We serve students who are suddenly facing an uncertain economic future. They may often be living with food and housing insecurity. Their struggles often become our struggles. For all of our adult educators who spend their time hear-ing their students’ stories and leading change, we see you. The weight of their burdens can feel exhausting. On behalf of the 1.3 million adults in Illinois with less than a high school diploma and the 2.3 million adults in Illinois who speak a language other than English, thank you for your service and commitment.

In 2018, my mother passed away from an ex-tended illness. Many of the transport service providers, medical assistant staff, nursing staff, of ce personnel, transport drivers, food service staff, and home care aides provided her with the ability to live independently and have a digni- ed end of life. Many of these professionals were former adult education students who began their careers in the local adult education pro-gram. The work we do is personal. Our students work in our communities, our local businesses, factories, hospitals, small businesses, local indus-tries, and schools. They are our neighbors, friends, and colleagues. On behalf of the 12.6 million residents in Illinois, thank you for the work that you do every day. As we move into the next year, we will continue to be challenged in the delivery of Bridge and ICAPS programs as we shift to a reality that in-corporates remote learning and support services, building to guide students through very uncer-tain times. The ICCB staff is committed to your success and we look forward to a new year.

Sincerely,

Kathy

The College of DuPage Adult Education (CO-DAE) program faced the same hurdles expe-rienced statewide in its attempts to transition from a primarily face-to-face, traditional deliv-ery model to 100% at-a-distance learning. Ad-dressing issues such as teacher training, the stu-dents’ ability to successfully participate in online learning, access to technology, lack of digital lit-eracy skills and continuation of support services were at the forefront of our transition planning. While these challenges at times seemed insur-mountable during this rapid transition, CODAE had a number of positive programming aspects from which to build, especially in the Bridge and IET program areas.

• Results from recent student technology survey identifying gaps in technology access/digital literacy skills

• 250 Chromebooks/Laptops checked out to all Bridge/IET/I-DEA students

• Feeder courses to Bridge and IET pro-grams already utilizing 100% online or hybrid models

• All on-campus core ELA students (ap-proximately 300 students) participate in the Integrated Digital English Accelera-tion (I-DEA) program

◊ Hybrid – 50% online, 50% face-to-face

◊ Flipped model – students complete online coursework prior to face-to-face instruction

◊ Modularized – incorporates digital literacy, numeracy, workplace and academic preparedness skills

• 3 of the 4 Spring IET cohorts partic-ipated in online learning within the

academic/CTE content delivery• Burlington English used as a supplement

in targeted ELA core programming

Based on this existing foundation and the re-maining identi ed barriers to successfully transi-tioning to 100% at-a-distance, the CODAE team utilized the period of between March 17 and April 6 to obtain additional resources, provide training opportunities for faculty and staff, explore best instructional practices, transition face-to-face delivery to online synchronous and/or asynchronous delivery and move all recruit-ment, retention and support service delivery to at-a-distance.

CODAE provided faculty access to more than 20 internal and external professional development opportunities for online course delivery, pur-chased an additional 325 Chromebooks/laptops for student checkout, expanded the number of Burlington English student seats, participated in CASAS and TABE remote proctor training, restructured program schedule, converted stu-dent orientation and support service delivery to synchronous and asynchronous online formats and engaged partners to provide additional wraparound services at-a-distance.

Our goal is to learn from the successes and failures we experienced during this process and continue to improve upon our existing efforts to provide meaningful educational opportunities for our community members.

College of DuPage – How the BandPlayed on During Covid-19

by Dan Deasy,Manager of CE Operations and Grant Compliance

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Click the link here to see the recorded webinar.

Click the link here to see the presentation slides.

ICAPS in the Time of COVID-19 at the

College of Lake County

by Arlene Santos-George, Ph.D.,Dean of Adult Education

The College of Lake County was in full armor mode when COVID-19 caused a major change in the delivery of instructional and student support programs. Preparations to move classes, credit, adult education, and non-credit, were swift in a matter of two weeks to ensure classes continue in an alternative modality. The ICAPS programs in the various career and technical education (CTE) elds and their Adult Education (AE) support classes were no exception. They were all converted to an online live via Zoom delivery and also used Blackboard and other online resources.

How did the CTE and AE programs move so swiftly? In the two weeks prior to the go-live date with the alternative delivery, there was of course, a sense of panic and urgency. Just as can be ex-plained by chaos theory, there emerged symme-try, cohesiveness and a sense of pattern through organized planning. For the ICAPS programs, this symmetry involved the three C’s: Communication, Collaboration, and Commitment—the key ingredi-ents in CLC’s response to COVID-19.

Communication between stakeholders occurred at all levels. In the rst three weeks of going on-line, the Adult Education Division held daily fac-ulty assistance sessions via Zoom to troubleshoot technology and distance education challenges of its faculty. ICAPS CTE and AE team instructors continued communicating with each other through emails, texting, and phone calls. The AE instructor reached out vigorously to students through mul-tiple ways—Remind, emails, phone calls, texting, Google Voice—to ensure they do not drop out. To further support ICAPS instructors and students, the Adult Education Student Success Coordinators reg-ularly checked-in with them to provide assistance when needed.

Collaboration between the ICAPS CTE and AE team instructors intensi ed during COVID-19. The instructors met via Zoom or called each other to prepare before the content class, al-ways identifying where the students may need support. The AE instructors were given access to the content class’s Blackboard and were able to upload their own support class materials. Some AE instructors attended the CTE content class for the entire duration of the class, far more than the 25% requirement. Some CTE instructors attended the support class to ensure that the students were able to meet the learn-ing objectives for the week.

Lastly, there was a commitment of resources to ICAPS faculty and students to successfully transition into an online format. Trainings on Zoom, Panopto and Blackboard were provided by CLC’s Teaching, Learning, and Educational Technology unit. At the same time, the Adult Education Division provided Zoom trainings and opportunities to share best practices on other online or smart phone applications and resources such as Burlington English, Remind, Hyperdocs, Google apps, etc.. For ICAPS stu-dents in need, they were provided technology resources (e.g., laptops and hotspots) and most importantly, nancial assistance through a spe-cial CLC Foundation fund for adult education students.

All these three C’s ensured the continued suc-cess of the ICAPS students—seven of the nine ICAPS programs had a 100% retention rate after COVID-19. In the end, it was worth all the efforts by administration, faculty, and staff to continue to provide quality instruction and support to students.

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Click the link here to see the recorded webinar.

Click the link here to see the presentation slides.

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Rend Lake College -A Year of Transition

by Christina Hutcheson,Director of Adult Education and

Family Literacy

FY20 was a year of transition and growth for Rend Lake College (RLC). RLC began offering ICAPS/IET programming in 2015 under Accelerating Opportunity. As we add-ed and modi ed the program some aspects had become blurred and somewhat im-precise. Therefore, we pulled all our Bridge and ICAPS offerings off the schedule for Fall semester to review and make needed up-dates. Through one of the additional ICCB grant opportunities, we were able to hire an individual person to focus on the ‘back-bone’ of IET, the policies, procedures and curriculum. After the internal evaluation, we changed two of our ICAPS programs and added an additional career path. RLC now offers phlebotomy, Goggle IT Professional, Basic Machining, and Fundamental Welding certi cates for students. The reorganization took more time than expected and did not allow us to offer ICAPS in the Spring as we had planned, but the results of the planning will lead to a more cohesive and smoother running program.

Plans include a comprehensive Geofencing campaign over the summer months, more emphasis on student orientation and intense

team teaching training. Locating and en-rolling students who have a true interest in a career pathway is ground rule number one. A comprehensive student orientation and intake that includes more student interest pro les and one-on-one interviews can help students decide if they are making the best choices for themselves. And of course, well-trained, well-prepared team teachers are the key to student retention and successful com-pletion. We used time to complete at-a-dis-tance team teacher training provided by the Southern Illinois Professional Development Center to integrate program outcomes and assignments. Despite the additional challeng-es brought on by COVID 19, RLC looks for-ward to making a fresh start with our ICAPS programs.

Click the link here to see the recorded webinar.

Click the link here to see the presentation slides.

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Being an Adult Education Director is like playing a game of baseball: you never know which pitch is coming and you have to be ready to swing and run as fast as you can in order to score. That basically sums up our COVID experience, and the state of Adult Education the past ve or six years. We rst had the budget crisis, which caused a lot of changes and rebuilding to get programs back where they were pre-crisis. Things were nally “normal” and running smoothly, and then COVID came. Mid-semester. Finishing up and launch-ing summer certainly were going to have their challenges. Idioms began popping into my mind: Sink or Swim! Dodge the Bullet! Keep your head above the water! And what exactly do Adult Educators do best? All of the above, so in Dan-ville, we rolled up our sleeves and got busy.

We rst prepared the students and instructors for what was to come: online learning. Instruc-tors reviewed IPATHWAYS and Zoom meetings, and discussed ways they would keep students engaged (phone calls, emails, drop-off materi-als). We then sent students instructions on how to access online learning and we made lots of phone calls to let them know we were still going to do our best to work with them.

We also wanted to ensure students knew there would be a summer session, so we developed a large marketing campaign. We had front page newspaper articles, numerous radio shows, yers placed in 650 Housing Authority of Danville rent statements, mass emails to all of our contacts; including the Step-Up initiative that has over 250 community mentors/volunteers/non-pro ts/

pastors/business owners. We used phone calls and letters to any student we had within the last year, Facebook postings, press releases and media contact through our internal Marketing Dept, direct letters and phone calls with Proba-tion and IDHS, and yers/contacts with all of our WIOA partners. The important thing to stress here is that we used our network, and in order to have done that, you had to have a network. This is the main reason you want to ensure you and your staff are participating in community meetings, fundraisers, initiatives, service orga-nizations, WIOA meetings, etc. You have to be at the table and these relationships are almost always mutually bene cial. You never know when you will need the other, so be prepared.

Finally, we took advantage of the many online learning formats ourselves. Webinars! Go to Meetings! Zoom, zoom zoom! This helped us all learn more and become better deliverers for our students and community. We also took advan-tage of the extra dollars coming from ICCB to purchase disposable books. All of the above got us through the ‘crazy-stage’ and prepared us to move forward with summer and fall. Finally, we celebrated! All of us stepped up in big ways, and as a team we became stronger and prouder to learn that when the shoe dropped, everyone on the team took it personal and got to getting!

Danville Area Community College - COVID Baseball

by Laura Williams,Dean of Adult Education

and Literacy

Click the link here to see the recorded webinar.

Click the link here to see the presentation slides.

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How does the ICAPS band keep playing during COVID-19 at

Elgin Community College?

by Elizabeth Hobson, EdDDean of Adult Basic Education Center

Like community colleges across the state, Elgin Community College (ECC) has been impacted by COVID-19. Due to COVID-19 and the ensu-ing governor’s stay-at-home order this spring, classes moved quickly from face-to-face to remote instruction, including Bridges and ICAPS. ECC has bridge programming in early child-hood education, healthcare, and industrial arts/manufacturing. The college also has ICAPS/IET pathways in the career clusters of Health Scienc-es; Manufacturing; Architecture and Construc-tion; and Law, Public Safety, Corrections and Security.

ECC has been able to develop nine ICAPS path-ways due to a 5-year USDOE Title III Strength-ening Institutions Grant to scale up ICAPS and expand the available pathways. Many results of the grant also put ECC in better shape to weather the COVID-19 situation. Developing and executing the grant led to greater ICAPS collaboration within the college. Also, two stu-dent support specialists were hired to provide student case management and coordinate with CTE. These student support specialists have been incredibly helpful during the COVID-19 crisis and planning for the new COVID environ-ment.

Collaboration and communication were key to supporting students throughout the move to remote instruction in the spring. The student support specialists and ICAPS support instruc-tors played signi cant roles in keeping students engaged as instruction went remote. Faculty deserve an incredible round of applause for the creativity, innovation, and understanding with

which they facilitated classes. ICAPS support instructors and student support specialists used countless strategies to communicate with and reassure students. While bridge programming nished the spring semester remotely, only one of the ICAPS pathways had completed when the campus moved to remote instruction, leav-ing labs, practicals, and clinicals on pause due to the stay-at-home order.

With the stay-at-home order lifted, spring labs and practicals started resuming in June. Spring clinicals will resume when possible, but students may not be allowed back at clinical sites un-til late summer or early fall. Fall planning is underway, but with the uid COVID-19 situa-tion, little has been con rmed. Possibilities for labs and practicals have been discussed related to scheduling and the number of students in person at one time. The scheduling of clinicals for fall depends on when students are able to be on clinical sites. Plans for ICAPS support courses include meeting in a synchronous remote envi-ronment.

As we continue in this COVID environment, much of the marketing, recruitment, and en-rollment will be done virtually. We need to use every opportunity to inform students about our programming.

Click the link here to see the recorded webinar.

Click the link here to see the presentation slides.

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SAVE THE DATE!2020 VIRTUAL Forum for Excellence

September 24 & 25, 2020ONLINE

Due to the interruption of the COVID-19 pandemic the 2020 Forum for Excellence will be held entirely online, and to be considerate of resources the conference will be free for attendees.

The Adult Education and Perkins Administrator meetings will take place onSeptember 23, 2020. Conference registration will open in July.

The theme for this year’s conference is

Equity and Innovation

Currently accepting Request for Presentations here!

Additional topic areas for the Forum include:

• Curriculum Development

• ICAPS

• Data/Accountability

• Marketing programs

• On-boarding / Intake

• Orientation

• Instruction

• Assessment

• Transitioning Students

• Recruiting Students Please complete this survey to assist the planning team in meeting your expectations.

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Contextualization in ICAPS, Part II:Developing Joint Activities,

Assignments, and Assessments

Presented by: William Durden, Policy Associate, Basic Education for Adults: I-BEST, Washington State Board for Com-munity and Technical Colleges

So, you’ve created contextualized out-comes and standards for your ICAPS program. That’s a critical fi rst step! Now sign up to take the next step as we look to develop contextualized activities, assign-ments, and assessments that fl ow from the integrated outcomes. This webinar will provide practical steps and examples and dedicated practice time. Participants are encouraged to have integrated outcomes on hand for the webinar, but sample out-comes will be shared in the webinar so that everyone can participate. This unit is worth 1 hour of professional development.

Please note Contextualization in ICAPS: Integrating Adult Ed Standards with Program Outcomes is archived here.

Now on iLEARN!

The Case for Contextualization: Why It’s Important for Your Students…and

for You

Do you think contextualized instruction is just for Bridge and ICAPS teachers? Join Bevan Gibson and Sarah Goldammer in this previously recorded webinar as they make the case for contextualization. Learn what it is and how it is important for EVERY Adult Education teacher to embrace. Through the use of research and application exercises, see how contextualization can increase interest, deep learning, critical thinking, problem solving, and integration of new skills and knowledge into an already existing knowledge base. Learn how easy it is to adopt learner-centered instruction princi-ples by using contextualization! This unit is worth 1 hour of professional develop-ment.

Training Partnerships for ICAPS/IETs

Partnerships are key in any integrated training program regardless of whether you have ICAPS Model 1 or Model 2. Learn from Paula Barry of DCEO requirements and process for becoming an approved Title I training provider. Laura Williams of Danville Community College will share their experiences with Title I partner Ver-million Works. Angela Lopez from the Pilsen American Jobs Center will provide information about their partnerships in Near West Chicago. This unit is worth 1 hour of professional development.

Acceleration Strategies for ICAPS/IETs

You have built or are building an ICAPS/IET and are looking for next steps. This recorded webi-nar will show you proven acceleration strategies from successful ICAPS programs. Learn how they have innovated to benefi t their students.

Presenters: Dan Deasy – College of DuPage Matt Beasland & Chris McElroy – South Suburban College

Click the course titles to visit iLEARN!

More information coming soon!

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Career Navigator OrientationTransitioning Through Adult Education

Online Learning

Instructional/Professional Pathways:

Career Navigator andTransitions Specialist

The Career Navigator Orientation is nowavailable on the iLearn website. Login information is available on the PD Portal under Career Navigator Professional Pathway, or you can send an email to sipdctrainer@gmail.comfor more information or support.

If you are an Illinois Adult Education instructor and have recently become a Standards Profi cient instructor or are considering completing this train-ing, please consider continuing on the profession-al pathways to become a Transitions Specialist.

All of the training is online, and you can complete the training on your own schedule! If you have already completed any of these sessions, you will earn credit for your prior completion.

Career Navigators now have their own profes-sional pathway! Online training allows you to earn the status of Profi cient Career Navigator (CN), CN Specialist, or CN Master.

We hope you will continue the training for Tran-sitions Specialist or Career Navigator and serve your program and students in this capacity.

Contact Sarah Goldammer at sgoldam@siue.edu if you have any questions or would like to talk through this process.

More information coming soon!

Southern Illinois ProfessionalDevelopment Center (SIPDC)

Southern Illinois University of EdwardsvilleAlumni Hall Room 1137, Box 1128Edwardsville, IL 62026-1128(618) 650-2254(618) 650-3455 (Fax)

Bevan Gibson, Directorbgibson@siue.edu

Sarah Goldammer, Education Training Specialistsgoldam@siue.edu

Maile Signorotti, Offi ce Support Specialistmmills@siue.edu

For more information, see SIPDC’s website atwww.siue.edu/sipdc

Illinois Center for Specialized Professional Support (ICSPS)

Illinois State UniversityCampus Box 5911BNormal, IL 61790-5500(309) 438-1952icsps@ilstu.edu

Aimee LaFollette Julian, Directoralafoll@ilstu.edu

Brittany Boston, Equity and Special Populations Coordinatorbnboston@ilstu.edu

For more information, see ICSPS’ website aticsps.illinoisstate.edu