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The AutoTutor for Adult Reading Comprehension (ARC) project is developing and testing an intelligent tutoring system (ITS) designed to improve reading comprehension for adults with limited literacy skills. The approach uses collaborative “trialogues” among a teacher agent, a peer student agent, and the adult learner to model effective comprehension strategies. Initial research took place in classrooms, but the project’s long-term goal was to make the tool accessible inside and outside of classrooms, with or without a supporting curriculum. In 2023, this work…

The Writing in Adult Secondary Education (W-ASE) Project was designed to address a two-fold challenge in adult education: how to help learners develop both digital writing skills and their ability to write effective argumentative essays. Drawing on an evidence-based curriculum originally designed for college students who struggled with writing, the W-ASE team adapted lessons for adult learners at the National Reporting System for Adult Education (NRS) levels 2–6 (high beginning through advanced literacy skills). The intervention included 16 lessons delivered…

Help shape the future of assessments for adults.As part of the IES-funded Adult Skills Assessment Program (ASAP), the University of Massachusetts Amherst is piloting short math and reading assessments for adult learners. Currently, learners can take:The ASAP Math Pilot Placement AssessmentASAP Math Assessments associated with selected CALM unitsASAP Reading Assessments associated with SkillBloxASAP Math assessments for students interested in semiconductor training programsASAP assessments for workers in the strawberry harvesting industryWe are inviting…

The Teaching Skills That Matter–SkillBlox (TSTM-SkillBlox) instructional support pilot was designed to help adult education teachers integrate instruction aligned with the TSTM framework, a U.S. Department of Education initiative supporting learners’ academic and employment goals. At the center of the pilot was SkillBlox, an emerging digital application that enables teachers to find, organize, and share open educational resources aligned to TSTM skills and topics. Teachers also received professional development webinars and ongoing support to apply TSTM…

by John TrerotolaCILIA-T (Content Integrated Language Instruction for Adults with Technology Support) is a comprehensive curriculum that has been designed for adult learners with the goal of enhancing students’ academic English skills, civic understanding, and digital literacy. (While the CILIA-T curriculum is primarily leveled for adult ESL classrooms, it also includes many elements that can be effectively adapted for pre-HSE and HSE settings. As a GED English and Social Studies teacher—and as a member of the team that developed CILIA-T—I have incorporated…

When the Adult Numeracy in the Digital Era (ANDE) team set out to design and pilot a new adult numeracy course in Pennsylvania, they began with an ambitious idea: could successful mathematics expertise and technology originally developed for K–12 and postsecondary settings be meaningfully adapted for adult basic education (ABE)?

The Content-Integrated Language Instruction for Adults with Technology Support (CILIA-T) was designed to integrate civics, U.S. history, and academic English with digital skills development through a 16-module open-access curriculum. From the outset, the team recognized that dissemination needed to be more than a final step at the end of the grant period. Building visibility early, even before the curriculum was complete, would help generate interest, cultivate partnerships, and support eventual adoption. This required new thinking: what can be shared when the…

SkillBlox was envisioned as a free application to help teachers find, organize, and share digital learning resources aligned with the Teaching Skills That Matter (TSTM) framework. Rather than serving as a complete curriculum, it was meant to be a flexible lesson design tool, allowing educators to curate high-quality open educational resources into “Blox” of activities they could use directly with learners. The promise of SkillBlox was to make instructional planning more efficient, collaborative, and aligned with evidence-based teaching practices.

The CREATE Network has released a new resource: “Researcher-Practitioner Collaborations in Adult Foundational Education: A Brief on Strategies for Engaging Practitioners in Research on Interventions.” This brief discusses strategies for Adult Foundational Education (AFE) researchers to use in collaboration with state and program staff in designing, implementing, and evaluating AFE interventions.

September 14th through the 20th is National Adult Education and Family Literacy Week. AEFL Week raises public awareness about the need for and value of adult education and family literacy. Follow #AEFLWeek and #AEFL2025 for resources and ideas.