1. Participate in a subsequent electronic discussion group on AlphaCom which will take place in a 2-week time frame – from January 19 to 30. The goal for participation is to log in each day the discussion is active (10 days), read comments and post responses. (See Appendix B for information about AlphaPlus and AlphaCom, instructions for logging on to the discussion group and instructions for sending messages.)
  2. Complete an evaluation of the pilot by means of an electronic survey. This will be e-mailed to each participant on the last day of the discussion, January 30. A printed copy is also included in your package. The printed copy is a backup to be used only if you have difficulty with the e-version.

In all, it is anticipated that participants will commit approximately 9-10 hours to the pilot. For those participants who are not already familiar with AlphaCom, it may take more. The focus is on practitioner participation. We want to learn what works and what makes it work... and vice versa of course. Ultimately, the CSC wants to know if e-PD is viable and how it can be used.

Next Steps

Survey results will be tabulated and key recommendations made. This information will be shared with participants and the CSC. The CSC will decide next steps for e-PD based on the results of the pilot and recommendations.

The Report

The document that you will be reading is Classroom Dynamics in Adult Literacy Education, by Hal Beder and Patsy Medina of the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (Harvard University Graduate School of Education). Some of you may have already read this report. It provides a detailed and comprehensive description of classroom behaviour in adult literacy programs in the United States. Don’t panic when you see it! It contains a lot of white space and you will not be required to read the entire report.

Why was this document chosen? This report was identified as a must-read for practitioners by the CSC classroom management project. First of all, it is the only study since 1975 to address the issues of classroom behaviour. The study takes us into 20 adult literacy classrooms and shows us how instruction is structured and delivered. Secondly it links classroom management to student retention which is an issue of ongoing concern to LBS college programs. Thirdly, it highlights three critical issues that impact LBS college programs. They are (1) continuous student intake (2) large, multi- level classrooms and (3) funding pressures. The report provides us with an opportunity to look at these issues more closely. A number of US college programs participated in the study, but the study also included a wider variety of program types including community-based, school board, workplace and welfare sponsored. Although not all observations and conclusions will apply to colleges, the findings of the research are provocative and interesting.