Adult learners are varied in educational levels, aptitudes, goals, interests,age, and determination. These students come to Rankin County Adult Education with one goal in mind. They want a GED. Some will obtain the credential quickly, while some may never.
The one room school house setting has been the learning format for these classes. The students progress at their own rate without pressure to perform. The one area missing from these classes is socialization. The students work independantly with little interaction with other students. Socialization would be an important and beneficial aspect to these students and their success. At the GED graduation the lack of socialization is evident. The students stand alone or with one other friend. The social bond would make their schooling more rounded.
The United States Department of Education is changing the format of adult education classes to teacher led, instead of self-paced student work. There is one class of this nature in Rankin County. It is the research based STARS Reading class. The reading levels are 4.0 - 7.9. It was met with much resistance from administration, teachers and students as it was implememnted in the 2009/2010 school year. Some of the students were embarrassed to attend a reading class. It also placed a time consuming demand on these part time teachers to develop detailed lesson plans. The format has, however improved the reading level of 60% of the class. The improvements ranged from a few months to several grade level increases. Not only has the reading level improved for many, the socialization of the class is noticeable. The students encourage one another and are anxious to meet with each other in class. The students also keep up with each other outside of class.
The goal of Adult Education has been to accommodate learners in many ways. Some of the attractive aspects are location and class time. The RCSD program offers morning, afternoon and evening classes in the north, south, east, west, and central parts of the county reducing travel expense for students. The class times were developed to cooperate with the students' varied work schedules.
The formation of all teacher led classes will result in grade grouping similar to K-12 schools or the teacher led one room school house style. Both will add socialization. Typically, adult education students want the class near their home to reduce travel expenses. The grouping of classes would require students to travel to the class that is formatted for their educational level. The added travel expense will typically reduce attendance. This would make the teacher led one room school house more appealing to students.
More planning will be required for the teachers. This will be an excellent opportunity for teachers to team teach and share lesson plans with fellow teachers throughout the county. But as in the old days of one room school houses, the teachers will receive assistance from the students. The older, more advanced students would help the less advanced, there by strengthening the knowledge of all students. Each student would be able to contribute to another. Social bonds would be formed uniting the class and solidifying the community.
Your ideas would be valuable as to how one or two teachers can lead such a diverse group of students. At many of the sites only one room is available for instruction. Do you think grouping within the class is effective or would it be better to send people throughout the county to attend an appropriate grade level class?
Adult learners are varied in educational levels, aptitudes, goals, interests,age, and determination. These students come to Rankin County Adult Education with one goal in mind. They want a GED. Some will obtain the credential quickly, while some may never.
The one room school house setting has been the learning format for these classes. The students progress at their own rate without pressure to perform. The one area missing from these classes is socialization. The students work independantly with little interaction with other students. Socialization would be an important and beneficial aspect to these students and their success. At the GED graduation the lack of socialization is evident. The students stand alone or with one other friend. The social bond would make their schooling more rounded.
The United States Department of Education is changing the format of adult education classes to teacher led, instead of self-paced student work. There is one class of this nature in Rankin County. It is the research based STARS Reading class. The reading levels are 4.0 - 7.9. It was met with much resistance from administration, teachers and students as it was implememnted in the 2009/2010 school year. Some of the students were embarrassed to attend a reading class. It also placed a time consuming demand on these part time teachers to develop detailed lesson plans. The format has, however improved the reading level of 60% of the class. The improvements ranged from a few months to several grade level increases. Not only has the reading level improved for many, the socialization of the class is noticeable. The students encourage one another and are anxious to meet with each other in class. The students also keep up with each other outside of class.
The goal of Adult Education has been to accommodate learners in many ways. Some of the attractive aspects are location and class time. The RCSD program offers morning, afternoon and evening classes in the north, south, east, west, and central parts of the county reducing travel expense for students. The class times were developed to cooperate with the students' varied work schedules.
The formation of all teacher led classes will result in grade grouping similar to K-12 schools or the teacher led one room school house style. Both will add socialization. Typically, adult education students want the class near their home to reduce travel expenses. The grouping of classes would require students to travel to the class that is formatted for their educational level. The added travel expense will typically reduce attendance. This would make the teacher led one room school house more appealing to students.
More planning will be required for the teachers. This will be an excellent opportunity for teachers to team teach and share lesson plans with fellow teachers throughout the county. But as in the old days of one room school houses, the teachers will receive assistance from the students. The older, more advanced students would help the less advanced, there by strengthening the knowledge of all students. Each student would be able to contribute to another. Social bonds would be formed uniting the class and solidifying the community.
Your ideas would be valuable as to how one or two teachers can lead such a diverse group of students. At many of the sites only one room is available for instruction. Do you think grouping within the class is effective or would it be better to send people throughout the county to attend an appropriate grade level class?