Professional Development

State Activities: Virginia

Large numbers of Southeast Asian refugees settled in Northern Virginia in the 1970s. As other refugees and immigrants have continued to arrive-from Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Europe-Virginia has strived to provide effective adult ESL instruction for its new residents, and to provide innovative, quality professional development for the adult ESL teachers. According to the 2007 American Community Survey, 10.3% of Virginia's total population is foreign born.

In recent years, as more immigrants have settled in rural areas of the state, Virginia has expanded online delivery of resources and professional development for teachers in those areas. In addition, Virginia has developed and disseminated content standards for adult education programs and is providing technical assistance on using the standards.

In 2008, Virginia initiated another professional development program to provide long-term support for adult education teachers. Virginia is developing a certification program for ABE, GED, and ESL administrators, instructors, and support staff. The CAELA Network Team has joined with the Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center (VALRC) to contribute to the building of the ESL certification program.

Professional Development Activities

Develop and implement Tier 1 of a 3-tiered training program for state certification of adult ESL instruction.
Develop and implement evaluation criteria for Tier 1 of the state certification training for adult ESL instructor certification

Desired Outcomes

ESL Teachers will complete the professional development program of Tier 1 for ESL Certification.
An evaluation protocol will be developed to include instructor knowledge assessment, opinion survey, and action plans.

State contact

Nancy Faux
Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center (VALRC)
nfaux@valrc.org
http://www.valrc.org

Resources and Tools

Professional Development

State Activities: Virginia

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