The Coalition on Adult Basic Education (COABE) provides leadership, professional development, advocacy, and communication for the field of adult education. In our leadership role, we often have the opportunity to recognize exemplary work taking place at the state and local levels. Such was the case with a grassroots training that was developed to…

Adult learners come to the learning experience from diverse backgrounds, myriad experiences, interests, and preferences for perceiving information, engaging with the learning, and expressing what they know. To ensure equitable learning outcomes, these dimensions of predictable variability must be proactively designed for in the curriculum. While…

Historically, distance or remote learning has not been a typical instructional model for agencies serving at-risk, nontraditional (noncollege) adult learners (Rosen & Stewart,2015). However, the COVID-19 shutdown compelled adult-serving agencies to explore new instructional models in order to continue teaching their students. Many agencies,…

In Canada, there are few long-term developmental education studies of adult basic education (ABE) students. This lack of studies impedes the understanding of ABE students' complex motivations, their diverse challenges, and their exceptional achievements. This 5-year cohort longitudinal panel study used interview data augmented by quantitative…

The incorporation of digital technologies into adult education classrooms has seen steady growth for over two decades. Many computer-based applications are used for skills development, practice, and other activities inside and outside the classroom. Despite such integration, the COVID-19 pandemic profoundly affected in-person learning, catching…

Adult students have different backgrounds, knowledge, experiences, abilities, interests, and learning needs. Hence, teaching all learners the same way is not the most effective. Individual differences should be considered. Exposing a whole class to one set of content, exercises, and assessment activities is unrealistic. In other words, to learn…

Although some of the issues facing adult literacy students are multifarious and answers may seem out of reach, it is important for practitioners of adult literacy programs to initiate strategies and explore viable options that address persistence. The purpose of this discussion is to share best practices of a large adult literacy program and…

This article outlines a writing study circle aimed at enhancing the writing instruction practices of teachers working with adult learners. The study circle focused on professional development, collaboration, and reflection as key components to improve both the quality and quantity of writing produced by adult learners. The study circle's design,…

Technology has become a way of life since March 2020 and the statewide shutdowns after the COVID-19 pandemic. People who had gotten by without ever having to use the internet, much less turn on a computer, had to learn quickly to change and adapt. The administrative team of Fontana Adult School realized the need to help students with basic digital…

This study sought to examine the pre-task planning and post-task revising practices of adults with low literacy and how those practices affect overall writing quality. Seventy-six adults with low literacy composed essays in response to a prompt and were given time for pre-task planning and post-task revising. Results showed that participants with…

There are a multitude of reasons why students choose to attend adult education. Some enroll to obtain their GED® credential, while others enroll to improve their literacy or numeracy skills or wish to improve their employability. In any case, for many adult learners, there are gaps and barriers present that have resulted in the need for remedial…

Adult learners come to us at many different points along their journeys. As practitioners, we are responsible for understanding the range of purposes for which they seek our programs, so that we may partner with them in naming and achieving their goals. In working to get "many" students to progress to "many" steps, it can be…

When a loved one dies, there is no real order to the grieving process. It is common for a family to feel guilt, yearning, anger, and despair. Often, the cause of death can amplify these feelings. School leaders in all contexts are tasked with helping the school community navigate the turbulence that follows the deaths of community members. This…

At Fontana Adult School, they saw a need to create a strong, unified student group on campus to help them not only promote their school and the services they offer the community, but also to improve their school climate and understand student needs better. At the end of 2018, they created a student leadership team on their campus, and it has made…

Though people of color continue to be disproportionately affected by COVID (Gawthrop, 2022), because Native peoples in the U.S. are often marginalized and made invisible (National Congress of American Indians, 2019), the impact of COVID-19 on Native peoples continues to be largely overlooked. This article examines the words and stories of three…