ADULT EDUCATION PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION: RESOURCES AND CHALLENGES CoTESOL Convention 2008 Virginia Nicolai, Community ESL Program Coordinator Community College of Aurora

Objectives  Think about the qualities of an effective administrator  Learn about a leadership training opportunity offered by TESOL  Reflect on your experience as an administrator  Share ideas, brainstorm, problem-solve  View some resources I’ve created

What position do you currently hold? What program do you work for? Question

How did you become a program administrator? Question

How have your past experiences prepared you to be an administrator? Question

How is administration different from teaching? Question

TESOL Leadership Development Certificate Program Resource:

What is the TESOL LDCP? From the TESOL website: “The Leadership Development Certificate Program (LDCP) is designed to meet specific needs of TESOL members who have asked for opportunities to learn more about the association and to develop their skills as leaders of the association and its affiliates.” 

How does it work?  Open to all TESOL members  2 strands of 12 workshops offered at the TESOL convention  Participants must complete a total of 9 hours of coursework to receive certificate – 4 required workshops and 2 optional  Coursework can be completed over 2 conventions  $90 for two years  Limited to 35 participants, first-come first-served

TESOL LDCP Strands  Learn more about TESOL  Develop skills as leaders of the association and affiliates (CoTESOL)  Build leadership & supervisory skills needed in the ESL workplace Leadership in Professional Organizations Leadership Development for Professional Growth

Required workshops  About TESOL  Dynamic Grassroots Advocacy  TESOL Policy and Governance Issues  Perspectives on Leadership for TESOL  Qualities of Effective Leadership  Financial Planning: Budgets and Course Costing  Leadership for Teacher Change: Supervision  Strategic Planning Leadership in Professional Organizations Leadership Development for Professional Growth

Examples of optional workshops  Time Management Strategies for ELT Professionals  Presentation Skills for Emergent ELT Leaders  How to Run Effective Meetings

How do you rank these factors that contribute to success as a leader?  Being in the right place at the right time  Experience in the front lines of service  Formal education  Individual competence  Respect of colleagues  Respect of students or customers  Support from the boss – director, chair, dean  Support from the organization  Support from loved ones

What are the qualities of an effective administrator? Question

What challenges have you encountered as a program administrator? Discussion

Administrative challenges  Finding good teachers  Providing professional development  Teacher supervision and evaluation  Communication/paperwork  Time management

Resource: Interview questions  Tell us a little about yourself.  What experiences in your past have prepared you to teach ESL to adult immigrants?  What nationalities have you worked with?  How do you feel about L1 use in the classroom?  Tell us about a difficult situation you encountered in the classroom and how the conflict was resolved.  We use the CASAS Listening test to place students and we separate classes by level. However, often students in the same class have different levels of English ability, varying levels of education, or even different levels of literacy. How will you deal with a multi-level class?  Retention is a problem we deal with in adult education classes. How will you build community in your classroom?  How will you deal with students who miss class/having different students each class?  Our goal is to help students transition into GED and college classes. How will you encourage students to continue their education?  Teachers are required to administer post-tests and submit paperwork such as monthly attendance hours for their students and bi-weekly timesheets. On a scale of 1 to 10, how do you rate your organizational skills?  Our instructors are expected to participate in professional development. What are your professional goals in ESOL/Adult Ed?  PROGRAM INFO (i.e. schedule, curriculum, facilities, salary)  When are you available to teach? Are you available as a substitute teacher?  Do you have any questions for us?

Resource: Teacher evaluation Teaching and classroom environment  Is the teacher well prepared?  Were objectives/expectations made clear?  Is the classroom environment positive and conducive to language acquisition?  Are a variety of activities being used and are all of the students involved?  Is teacher talk clear and level appropriate?  Is the teacher responsive to student questions?  Which of the CASAS life skills competencies were evident during instruction?

Resource: Staff wiki  Wikis are free and easy to create  They allow your staff to access program information, paperwork, and procedures from any computer  Staff can also communicate on the wiki and share teaching ideas/materials  Example:

Online resources  CAELA Practitioner Toolkit prac_toolkit.html  NCSALL Program Administrators’ Sourcebook cebook.pdf

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