The Nuts and Bolts of Designing IET Programs: Models, Tools, and Tips for Success

The Institute will take place on Sunday, November 12 from 1 PM – 6 PM and Monday, November 13 from 8:30 AM – 12:30 PM.

Overview

This 1½-day interactive Institute, presented by the National College Transition Network at World Education and the Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy, focuses on three themes that are key to successful Integrated Education and Training (IET) program planning and implementation in the context of WIOA:

  • IET program design considerations and options;
  • Partnerships with training providers, employers, and social supports; and
  • Basic skills curriculum development for IET programs.

Participants will learn about:

  • IET program models through the experience of established IET programs providing contextualized services for specific populations (e.g., ELLs) in urban and rural settings, in response to labor market demand with the available resources.
  • Partnership development strategies aimed at aligning adult education, workforce, career and technical education, and social services for adult learners.
  • A process for planning and developing basic skills lessons and activities for IET:
    • How to identify the basic skills that are required for understanding and learning the occupational skills;
    • How to integrate workplace skills in lessons; and
    • Fundamentals of contextualizing basic skills lessons related to occupational skills training.

The Institute will be interactive with many opportunities for networking and learning from colleagues, including IET program presenters. Participants will receive hands-on training to use the tools that are provided and be encouraged to adapt them to their own contexts. They will leave the Institute with a plan of action for designing their own IET program and developing basic skills curriculum for it.

Everyone will receive complimentary copies of two guides containing the tools and program profiles that are referenced and used during the Institute:

  • Developing Basic Skills Curriculum for an IET: A Guide for the Pathways to Employment Program by the Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy at Penn State University; and
  • Building Contextualized Integrated Education and Training Programs by National College Transition Network at World Education.

Presenters

Carol Clymer (Ed.D. Curriculum and Instruction) is Co-Director of Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy and Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy at Penn State. She has over 40 years of experience managing and evaluating programs to improve the education and employment prospects of dislocated, low-income, and/or low-skilled individuals.  She has extensive experience developing curriculum and workforce development guides. Carol also directed the California Career Advancement Academies evaluation and was a member of the Urban and Aspen Institutes’ evaluation team for the Accelerating Opportunities Initiative.  She is a co-author of the Developing Basic Skills Curriculum for an IET: A Guide for the Pathways to Employment Program.

Ellen Hewett (ABD, Adult Education) is Director of the National College Transition Network. She works with state, regional and municipal agencies, and educational institutions or programs to build the systemic collaboration needed to ensure the success of adult learners in postsecondary education, training, and careers.  Ellen’s recent TA projects include:  prior learning assessment for Retraining the Gulf Coast Workforce through Information Technology; helping faculty at Delgado Community College (LA) integrate adult education students into technical education programs; and facilitating the curriculum redesign process for the Guided Pathways in STEM initiative for a consortium of 16 Massachusetts community colleges. Ellen co-developed NCTN’s IET webinar series and companion guide profiling contextualizedmodels of IET programming. 

Andy Nash (MAT, Bilingual and ESL Studies) is a PD specialist and the Director of the New England Literacy Resource Center. She has contributed over 30 years of adult education experience to many national projects, including Standards-in-Action, the Teacher Effectiveness in Adult Education project, Accelerating Opportunity, and the Networks for Integrating New Americans initiative. Andy co-developed NCTN’s IET webinar series and companion guide profiling contextualized models of IET programming. She led the development of the LINCS State PD System Self-Assessment and will provide TA for building high-quality PD systems.

Blaire Willson Toso (Ph.D., Adult Education) is Associate Director of Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy, Penn State. Blair has over 20 years of experience in adult education as an instructor, administrator, curriculum and materials developer, teacher trainer, and researcher. She leads or collaborates on multiple research and evaluation projects, provides training and technical assistance on career pathways projects, such as the Pennsylvania Career Pathways for Adults, and has participated in national professional development projects. Blair is a co-author of the Developing Basic Skills Curriculum for an IET: A Guide for the Pathways to Employment Program.

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