Professional Development

State Activities: Florida

The Florida CAELA Network state team is building capacity within the state effectively plan, support, and implement professional development activities that are useful and practical for the state’s adult education teachers. The end goal is to put in place a professional development system that will ensure that teachers who face barriers (such as no paid planning time, limited contact time with students, multi-level and open-entry classes) will have easy access to the tools and information they need to work successfully with their students.

Florida’s professional development plan focuses on two areas: workshops for teachers on using the newly revised Adult ESOL Standards in the classroom; and the annual statewide survey to determine teacher background, experience, and training needs for professional development planning.

In 2006-2007, a team of Florida practitioners developed Adult ESOL Standards for use by full-time and part-time teachers. In 2007, a group of 25 adult education practitioners (ABE, ESOL and GED) participated in four training-of-trainers workshops. During program year 2008-2009, approximately 200 teachers were trained by the trainers to use the standards to guide instruction. The CAELA Network team is analyzing the outcomes of the trainings and developing measures to document effectiveness of the trainings.

In September, 2009, immediately preceding the state’s annual adult education conference, the statewide survey of teacher qualifications and professional development needs was opened for practitioners to respond to. The data will be used by the five regional training councils to determine state training needs and guide state professional development planning.

Professional Development Activities

Review and revise the statewide teacher survey to expand the number and types of questions to focus on teacher qualifications and experience
Train state office program specialists to compile and analyze survey data on a yearly basis
Build the capacity of state program specialists, regional training councils, and trainers to develop a training module with supplemental materials for training teachers to integrate Adult ESOL Standards in classroom instruction
Train and support adult ESOL trainers to provide training on using the Adult ESOL Standards to guide lesson planning and instruction

Desired Outcomes

Results of teacher background and needs assessment guide professional development plans.
State office program specialists collect and analyze needs assessment data on a yearly basis to guide professional development planning.
Trainers are prepared to provide training for teachers on using the Adult ESOL Standards.
Teachers use the Adult ESOL Standards effectively in lesson planning and instruction.

State contact

Philip Anderson
Program Specialist, Adult Education ESOL
Division of Career and Adult Education
Philip.Anderson@fldoe.org
Phone: (850) 245-9450

Resources and Tools

Professional Development

State Activities: Florida

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