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Supporting Teachers Through Flexible Curriculum Design
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The Content-Integrated Language Instruction for Adults with Technology Support (CILIA-T) was designed not only for learners but also with teachers in mind. Developed through two pilot rounds with six teachers and 95 learners across Minnesota, the project emphasized content integration, technology use, and classroom community. Teachers were expected to facilitate lessons that combined reading, writing, listening, and speaking with civics and history content, while also supporting learners’ digital literacy.
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Refining Implementation Through Learner-Centered Adaptations
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The Content-Integrated Language Instruction for Adults with Technology Support (CILIA-T) project developed a 16-module, open-access curriculum integrating civics and U.S. history content with academic English and digital literacy. Piloted in Minnesota across six classes and nearly 100 students, CILIA-T was designed to serve a wide range of adult learners: intermediate and advanced English learners, pre-GED and GED students, and those preparing for citizenship or strengthening basic literacy. Implementing such a curriculum in real-world adult education programs…
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CREATE @ COABE 2026 Posters
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The PDF file below contains all of the posters for the CREATE Research Teams presenting sessions at the COABE 2026 National Conference.
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From ESL to HSE: How a New Curriculum Helps Build Academic English, Civics/History Knowledge, and Digital Literacy
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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…
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Disseminating Throughout Development
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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…
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A Year Ahead: About the CREATE Research Teams
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Interested in learning more about the CREATE Research Teams? This document compiles one-page flyers about each team. Read more about what their project is and questions they have for the field among other ideas.
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What do Immigrant and Refugee ELLs Say About Their Experiences?
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by Aydin Durgunoglu and Erin CaryAccording to the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), 108.4 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced as of late 2022 (https://www.unhcr.org/us/). Although these statistics help illustrate the incredible scale of this problem, it is also important to understand how it is affecting individuals and their families. Recently, we have completed a small-scale implementation of our CILIA-T curriculum with approximately 50 adult English learners in four classrooms. The students came from various cultural and…
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CILIA-T Curriculum: Content-Integrated Language Instruction for Adults with Technology Support
Join guest presenters, Aydin Durgunoglu and Erin Cary with the University of Minnesota Duluth to learn about a new curriculum that integrates Civics, US History and English instruction enhanced by digital resources and activities, called Content
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Developing digital proficiencies of English learners in adult education
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All around the globe, the development of digital skills is considered a priority because individuals are increasingly asked to interact with digital information. Digital literacy is required to communicate effectively and accomplish social and work-related tasks. Although there is a significant body of literature on the development of digital proficiencies in educational settings from elementary school to university, there is limited research with adults who are continuing their education later in life, usually outside of formal educational systems.
The purpose of this paper is to report results from a study conducted with English learners in an adult education program in the U.S. The study evaluated the digital component of a new curriculum named CILIA-T (Content-Integrated Language Instruction for Adults with Technology Support), CILIA-T is a 16-module curriculum supporting adult learners to build their English skills, US History and Civics knowledge and digital proficiencies.
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Mya Shaftel, CILIA-T research team member, interviewed by MPR News
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Check it out! Mya Shaftel, one of the adult educators developing content for the CILIA-T research team and a teacher at Literacy Minnesota, was recently interviewed by MPR News host Cathy Wurzer regarding upcoming changes to the US citizenship test.In the interview, Mya discusses the potential implications for both adult education providers and adult learners. The Content-Integrated Language Instruction for Adults with Technology Support (CILIA-T) team is proud to have Mya supporting the development of their curriculum.Read the article:…
