AAE Professional Development and Mandatory Training

Each year, AK Adult Ed staff are required to attend a specific number of hours of professional development (PD) courses. See chart below for required hours. The State Adult Education Office provides opportunities for professional development, training, and technical assistance.

Professional Development Required Hours

Program Coordinators must report the following information at close out to the State AK Adult Ed Office:

Annual Professional Development hours:
Date(s) of training:
Title of training; and.
Trainers name.

Professional development hours must be entered into VOS system (coming soon) for all staff working with adult education students.

Professional Development Requirements

Employment Role and Status

Hours Required

Program Coordinator

16 hours per year

Full-time Teacher

12 hours per year

Part-time Teacher

9 hours per year

Full or part-time Instructional Assistant / Paraprofessional

6 hours per year

Full or part-time Data Entry Staff / Paraprofessional

In addition to professional development hours, Data Entry staff must be up-to-date on all relevant NRS training, policies, and regulations.

3 hours per year

Volunteers

Determined by regional programs

Annual Professional Development Requirements

Professional Development hours must be completed within the fiscal/program year (July 1-June 30).
Employees who hold more than one role must complete the higher of the PD hours. They do not have to combine required hours.
- Example: Part-time Teacher also in charge of Data Entry – Required PD: 9 hours per year.
If hired after December 31 ^st , hour requirement is ½ the time above.
Professional Development hours may only be used in the fiscal/program year they were acquired. Hours may not be “banked” or “credited” in following years.
Professional Development is used to enhance programs. Program Coordinators must approve staff professional development hours.

Required Training Topics

AK Adult Ed Regional Programs are responsible for training staff on the required elements of their position. Although training is individual to each program, the following are required topics that must be included in new AK Adult Ed training orientation and refresher courses (as needed):

Title

Training Requirements

Intake Form Completion

Must be completed by all new staff

Staff assisted completion process

Accuracy of data capture

AAE Student Application

AAE Roles, Responsibilities, & Application Definitions

Timeliness

Assessment Guidelines

Must be completed by all new staff

Pre-testing policies

Post-testing policies

Alaska approved assessments

Virtual testing policies

High School Equivalency

Alaska GED® testing requirements ( all new staff )

GED® Virtual Administration Training( Program Coordinators and any designated individual )

GED® Manager Training ( Program Coordinators and any designated individual )

GED® Test Administrators ( all test administrators and Program Coordinators )

Pearson VUE administrative policies and procedures.
Examiner training.

TABE Training

(AK Adult Ed Programs)

Program Coordinators and all staff administering TABE Assessments

TABE Administration Training

Virtual TABE Administration Training

Certification Process ( optional by recommended ):

Understand and follow general TABE 11/12 test best practices.
Implement correct forms and levels.
Securely administer and handle test resources.
Follow student privacy protocols.
Score and interpret the TABE 11/12 test results.

Regional AK Adult Ed Program Coordinators will train all staff in TABE test administration. Staff are trained according to the directions and test policies stated in the TABE Test Administration Manual.

Only trained test administrators may administer TABE 11/12

BEST Plus / Literacy Training

(ESL Programs)

Program Coordinators and all staff administering BEST Plus and Literacy Assessments

BEST Plus User Agreement (optional)

Only trained test administrators may administer BEST Plus and Literacy
BEST Administration Training – available annually or more frequently as needed

Regional AK Adult Ed Program Coordinators will train staff in BEST Plus test administration..
Virtual BEST Plus Administration Training.

BEST Literacy

Test manual overview.
Test administration procedures (annual training or more frequently as needed).

CASAS Training
Program Coordinators and all staff administering CASAS Life & Work and Citizenship Assessments

CASAS Test Administrator Training http://training.casas.org/
Only trained test administrators may administer CASAS Assessments

Module 4 – highly recommended for all test administrators.
CASAS eTests Basics Training required for all eTest users - available soon.

e-Test Only

Modules 1-2 required.

Paper Tests Only

Modules 1 & 3 required.

e-Test and Paper Tests

Modules 1-3 required.

Teachers, Counselors, and Career Coaches – Recommended Training

Module 1 & 4.

CASAS Citizenship

CASAS Citizenship Interview Test (CIT) – Modules and annual recertification course.

AlaskaJobs System / Data Entry (ongoing training)

All new staff must be familiar with AlaskaJobs System and Data Entry Requirements

Program Coordinators, Teachers and Data Entry staff are required to have ongoing training associated with data entry procedures

Staff account request procedures and log in guidelines

Data entry requirements and procedures

Participation and enrollment information.
Entering student information.
Accuracy of attendance.
Assessment data: TABE, GED Ready, GED, BEST, etc.
Creating and maintaining classes.
Follow up services.

Timeliness

Quality control guidelines

Data review procedures

Entering and updating student information

Duplication of records and how to avoid occurrences

Requesting information change from the State AK Adult Ed office

NRS Tables

Must be completed by all new staff

Program Coordinators must provide training to all staff members as policies changes dictate

Overview of NRS Tables

NRS Definitions of measures

NRS Level to Scale Score Range

Conducting assessments

NRS policy, accountability policies, and data collection process

Data entry staff must stay up-to-date on all relevant NRS training, policies, and regulations

Confidentiality

Must be completed by all new staff

FERPA Regulations

Personal Identifiable Information (PII)

AlaskaJobs System accessibility and information sharing

Recorded Video and Training Documents for Adult Educators

AlaskaJobs

AAE VOS Program Manual (Note: changes to system may not be applied)
AAE VOS Training Videos (Word DOCX).
Grantee Account Activation Instructions (Initial Setup Only)
Help Desk Ticket Template (Word .docx)
Intensive AAE Training
- AAE Enrollment and Creating a Service (October 30th).
- Activities / Enrollments / Services (December 14th).
- Case Notes (December 4th)
- Class Registration and Attendance & Transferring Students (November 6th).
- Closure / Exit & Grantee to Grantee Transfers (November 20th).
- Creating/Editing Assessments (November 9th).
- HS. Equivalency / Practice Tests & Credentials (November 13th).
- Managing Adult Education: Classes, Attendance, & Class Transfers (November 30th)
- Managing an Individual, Creating Individual, & Assisting Individual (October 26th).
- Measurable Skills Gain (November 16th).
- Reports - Program Coordinators only (November 12th).
- Staff Resources & My Staff Workplace (December 4th).
Requesting Access to AlaskaJobs
Staff Account Request Form (Sample Only)

Program Training

Professional Development Resources

The LINCS Learning Portal is an open-access, web-based learning platform that enables learners, instructors, and organizations to access online learning opportunities.LINCS’ self-paced online courses include:.

Career Pathways.

Disabilities and Equitable Outcomes.

Learning to Achieve.

The courses offered on the NRS Learning Portal are freely available to educators in order to boost their skills and further their professional development. There are over 40 self-paced online courses available for use anytime, anywhere. Each course is virtually facilitated, though registration is required.National Reporting System (NRS) for Adult Education webinars are offered as either Informational or Training of Trainer (ToT) webinars.
Informational webinars are 60 minutes and open to state and local program staff. ToT webinars are 90 minutes are designed to assist Program Coordinators with training staff. Program Coordinators are encouraged to view the ToT webinars below.

Back to Basics: Foundations of the NRS , (09/02/2020) - ToT.
Barriers to Employment , (04/29/2020).
Distance Learning , (06/04/2015).
Distance Education Tips , (04/20/2020).
Increasing Posttesting to Improve Measurable Skill Gains , (08/20/2019).
NRS Reporting Tables (Webinar) , (04/03/2018) - ToT.
Postexit Indicators: Data Collection for the Employment and Credential Indicators , (10/03/2019).

Tuesdays for Teachers is a free professional development webinar series designed for educators. This bi-monthly webinar series will take a deeper dive into classroom strategies and techniques for the GED test.

Alaska Adult Education Office Contact Information

Phone (907) 465-8714
Email ak.adult.ed@alaska.gov
State of Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development
State AAE/GED Office
P.O. Box 115509
Juneau, AK 99811