Professional Development

State Activities: Arizona

Arizona’s adult education delivery system has undergone significant changes in recent years due to three primary factors. One factor has been the decline of the ESL adult learner population over the last few years due to an Arizona law that requires adult education programs to provide services only to students who can provide documentation that they have legal status in the United States. However, after the first two years of the law’s implementation, there has been a steady increase in the number of students served, with ESL students representing approximately 40% of the learners served annually in state-funded programs. The second factor impacting the English Language Acquisition for Adults (ELAA) delivery system has been the state office grant contract requirements for adult education providers. Although Arizona continues to be one of the top states in the nation in the number of immigrants with ESL needs, funding for programs is determined by county based on census data that includes resident demographics, educational levels, and ESL needs. The last factor was the adoption and implementation of a new standardized adult ESL assessment in July 2009. The TABE CLAS-E, published by CTB McGraw-Hill, is the only approved assessment for AZ ELAA students for federal accountability and related assessment policies.

In response to these changes, Arizona’s CAELA Network team identified two primary goals for their work: to establish a consistent data analysis process at the state and local program levels and to continue to build a comprehensive professional development system for ELAA teachers and program administrators.

Arizona’s involvement in the CAELA Network has provided an opportunity for the state to form a team to focus exclusively on the ELAA delivery system. The Arizona CAELA team has been working to expand the professional development system for ELAA practitioners to include ELAA learning communities, peer-coaching, and on-line ESL courses. Arizona also plans on forming a task force of AZ adult educators in the fall of 2010 to develop ELAA teacher standards. The CAELA Network staff contributed resources and expertise to the State team in second language acquisition, on-line resources, the professional development framework, survey samples from other states, and adult ESL practitioner standards.

Professional Development Activities

Identify common elements and patterns in student, teacher, and program data to contribute to on-going recommendations for professional development in content, process, and context standards
Continue to build the system of data-driven program improvement and professional development planning at the state and local levels
Train a state network of regional assessment coaches focusing on TABE CLAS-E test administration training, state assessment policies, and the use of assessment results to inform classroom instruction
Identify and design on-line course modules for ELAA teachers aligned to the practitioner standards and the processes of language acquisition

Desired Outcomes

A consistent data analysis process is in place at the state and the local program level.
A comprehensive professional development system for ELAA teachers and program administrators is in place. It reflects evidence-based practices and is informed by multiple measures of data, grant contract requirements, and federal and state initiatives and policies for assessment and professional learning.

State contact

Beverly Wilson, M.Ed.
Professional Learning Manager
Arizona Department of Education
Adult Education Services
beverly.wilson@azed.gov
Phone: (602) 364-2728
Fax: (602) 258-4977

Resources and Tools

Professional Development

State Activities: Arizona

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