About Us

Mission Statement -
ABE professional development services

In the State of Washington, adult education is part of the community and technical college system. Professional Development Services is the professional development arm of Adult Basic Education, which is part of the State Board For Community and Technical Colleges. It is dedicated to supporting the system in attaining its vision for Adult and Family Literacy.

It is the mission of Professional Development Services to facilitate access to best practices learning theories and tools for Basic Skills providers, in order to support the continuous development of high-quality learning environments for students.

To this end, we make the following commitments:

• We will continuously improve our knowledge and resources regarding adult literacy and learning based on the current research so that we can better support providers.
• We will strive to model an adult learning culture for teachers, administrators and other staff that incorporates best practices from research* on adult learning:

We believe that adults learn best when they...

• provide input into the planning of their own learning goals and processes.
• are able to associate new learning with previous experiences, and to use those experiences while learning.
• have an opportunity to apply theory and information to practical situations related to their own lives.
• have a variety of learning options appropriate to their learning styles—including sensory modalities, ways of thinking, individual and group learning formats—and have the opportunity to analyze and expand their modes of learning.
• have opportunities to engage in social learning; that is to say, to learn from peers as well as from an instructor.
• are assigned tasks that can be carried out successfully within the contexts of their limited time and demanding lives.
• feel comfortable with the learning environment.

* Knowles, 1970; Koehler, 1968; Cross, 1981; Brookfield, 1993; Merriam & Caffarella, 1991; National Research Council, 2000.

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