With CASAS being used as a tool in almost every US state as a way to evaluate ESL learners, the new CASAS STEPS tests have become a major topic for discussion in adult education. An analysis of the standards reflected in the STEPS reading tests allow us to distill the information
Recently, the National Skills Coalition did a study on the relationship between employability and digital literacy. Through analyzing a sample of job ads, they concluded that, across all industries, 92% of jobs require digital literacy skills. While that percentage is large, it’s possible that this statistic is still a bit
Traditionally, ELT listening lessons often focused on micro-skills like using context and general knowledge to get the gist. More recently, there has been a reconsideration of listening and how we might improve it, based on four main processes. These can be described as: In this post, we define these four
Beginning in 1992, the United States developed standards identifying workplace soft skills for workforce preparation. While these standards changed and new ones were introduced, the same underlying skills were always there: critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and technology skills. Below we discuss four ways to address workplace skills in the Adult
In this blog post, Caroline McKinnon, a teacher in the United States, describes how she connects her online classroom to the real world. Let us know how you are connecting your online classroom to the real world in the comments section below. — Last week, I took my class on
Interactive classroom activities provide an opportunity for students to express opinions, offer suggestions, and ask questions, all while practicing English and becoming more confident in their speaking. Most programs use textbooks in their classrooms. A textbook can be a springboard for easy-to-develop communicative activities. This is especially true for units
In my beginning classes, I have always had a combination of students with different abilities; however, most students at this level lack writing experience. They have written sentences, but many have not written paragraphs or a page-length composition. I always tell the students that writing is like speaking – In