Narrative: a.

The Arkansas Department of Career Education, Adult Education Division (ADCE–AED) adopted the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education (OCTAE)’s College and Career Readiness (CCR) Standards for Adult Education developed by Susan Pimentel. A task force was created to focus on the CCR standards and the updated high school equivalency test, the computer based GED® assessment. The Task Force was comprised of program directors, resource center personnel, teachers and state staff. On May 22, July 10, and July 11, 2014, the task force met and developed a plan to assist teachers in meeting CCR Standards. The framework was sent out to the field in draft mode on October 16, 2014. The CCR standards were implemented along with Common Core, which is the state standard that has been adopted by the Arkansas Department of Education for K–12 schools by the end of the 2013–2014 program year.

The process of the state’s adoption of adopting the CCR with common core included forming a task force and scheduling meetings twice a month to discuss the research and progress towards a framework that could be used statewide. The CCR standards were studied as well as the Common Core State Standards that have been adopted by the Arkansas Department of Education, for k–12 schools. The taskforce consisted of approximately 18 people, which included five state staff members, two professional development members, four adult education directors and seven adult education teachers. Various task force members researched frameworks and curriculum guides created by other states to find the best practices. Some of the Common Core Standards from other states examined included Kentucky, New York, Georgia and Florida. Each CCR standard was examined closely and the committee held a two–day “retreat” where activities and resources were aligned with each standard. Task force members searched through online and printed curriculum to provide examples of each of the skills that students needed to master at each level. The task force decided to address sample activities and the framework for grade levels 6.0 – 12.9 during the initial phase of this project. Once the framework was completed, the task force set a date for the lower levels to be completed after the document was sent out to all of the programs in the state so that teachers could begin using the tool and provide feedback.

Leadership funds were used to support the task force meetings and included webinars, conference calls, and face to face meetings. State office technical assistance was also provided to support the project and include site visits, conference calls, and regional trainings. The framework was presented as a break–out session at the State’s Spring Administrators’ Meeting and the Arkansas Association of Continuing Adult Education Conference. Participants were given the opportunity to provide additional input.

Lastly, the Arkansas Adult Learning Resource Center (AALRC), the state’s professional development training center, was created to provide a source for identification, evaluation, and dissemination of materials and information to adult education/literacy programs. Several workshops were held such as Career & College Readiness Mathematics, Language Arts, Integrating Technology in the Classroom, and Regional GED® training to help prepare teachers to teach to a more rigorous curriculum.