A DISCUSSION OF DEEPER LEARNING AND ADULT BASIC EDUCATION NATIONAL COLLEGE TRANSITION NETWORK

1. A DISCUSSION OF DEEPER LEARNING AND ADULT BASIC EDUCATION NATIONAL COLLEGE TRANSITION NETWORK Rachel Pleasants McDonnell and Lara K. Couturier November 14, 2013

2. BACKGROUND • Building connections across JFF initiatives • Start a dialogue about student-centered learning & deeper learning across the pipeline • Strengthen our ABE-focused initiatives (such as Accelerating Opportunity)

3. WHAT IS DEEPER LEARNING?

4. THE ULTIMATE OUTCOME: A NATION OF SPIES • Showed video clip from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6BmbdzPcrY

5. DEEPER LEARNING & ABE • Applying DL to ABE • How do you already do this? • In what ways might ABE be out ahead of other sectors? • How might you embrace DL even more? • Do we discuss “learning” enough in the completion movement?

6. HOW DO WE GET TO DEEPER LEARNING? 4 TENETS OF STUDENT-CENTERED APPROACHES TO LEARNING

7. DEFINITION OF STUDENT-CENTERED • Embrace the student’s experience and identity as a key starting point of education • Allow for pacing and advancement based on demonstration of proficiency • Expand and reshape the role of the educator • Harness the full range of learning experiences anytime, anywhere • Emphasize motivation and engagement as central to learning The next iteration of the definition will include a greater and more explicit emphasis on student voice & choice and personalization.

8. BIG TAKE-AWAYS • Dispel the myth of the average learner. • Motivation, engagement, emotion, and student voice (agency) are not “nice” things we do to the side of education. They ARE how we learn. • Assessment can be an integral part of learning, not just a measurement of learning. • Student-centered approaches to learning do a better job of producing the kinds of critical thinking, life-long learners we need to compete in a global knowledge economy than traditional education modes. • Technology is a critical tool in making student-centered approaches viable when used in service of – and not as a replacement for – good instruction, relationships, and expanding opportunities to learn anytime/anywhere.

9. THEMES

10. The Students at the Center Framework are applied with intention, data-driven processes, and consistency at each level of the education landscape… If the tenets of student-centered approaches… they should produce: • Education Systems • Learning Environments Students with the skills, dispositions, and knowledge to succeed in college and career, and civic life Learning Is Personalized Learning Is Competency-Based Learning Takes Place Anytime, Anywhere Students Exert Ownership Over Their Learning • Educators • Learners DRAFT: DO NOT CITE OR DISTRIBUTE

11. STUDENT-CENTERED TENETS & ABE • Begin by talking with your peers…then we’ll discuss as a group… • How well do the SatC tenets apply for ABE? • Do you see these tenets in place now in ABE? • What might it look like if we implemented them further?

12. RACHEL PLEASANTS MCDONNELLrpleasants@jff.orgLara k. couturierlara@jff.org TEL 617.728.4446 FAX 617.728.4857 info@jff.org 88 Broad Street, 8th Floor, Boston, MA 02110 122 C Street, NW, Suite 650A, Washington, DC 20001 WWW.JFF.ORG