With the goal of raising math achievement for our adult learners, Vita’s math teachers are participating in professional development through Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Adult Numeracy Institute (ANI) Statewide Virtual Professional Learning Community.
This year, Vita’s teachers are paired with a group from central Pa. They alternate developing and critiquing lessons about particular math concepts. So far, Vita has developed a geometry lesson and the partner group designed a decimal/percent lesson. Next up is a data/statistics lesson. The totality of the lessons that are developed by the ANI teams statewide are shared amongst all participants and are then filed to become a resource for teachers.
This professional development is a continuation of the ANI project that has been going on for a few years across the state, developed by the US Department of Education’s Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE) Division of Adult Education and Literacy.
OVAE is committed to raising math achievement for adult learners through the rigor and quality of instruction. A strong mathematics foundation is critical; many adults need to build their math skills to succeed in the workforce, advance careers, and participate fully as citizens. This initiative is an important component of Vita’s professional development focus on teacher effectiveness to increase student outcomes.