Start By Connecting Participants
Introduce yourself Name
to your neighbors: Organization
How has your
organization’s practices
changed over the past 5
years?
What important issues
is your organization
currently facing?
What is a key innovation
you have witnessed
recently?
Brad Hasskamp, ABE Policy & Operations Specialist, Minnesota Department of Education
Start By Connecting Participants
Introduce yourself Name
to your neighbors: Organization
How has your
organization’s practices
changed over the past 5
years?
What important issues
is your organization
currently facing?
What is a key innovation
you have witnessed
recently?
Brad Hasskamp
ABE Policy & Operations Specialist
Minnesota Department of Education
Background
2002
Volunteer ESL Teacher
Neighborhood House
2002-2003
EFL Teacher
Bibo Middle School
(Shenzhen, China)
2003-2006
ESL/ABE/Children’s
Literacy Program Manager
Neighborhood House
2006-2010
ABE Learning Centers
Manager
Minnesota Literacy Council
2007-2010
Professional Development
Advisor
St. Paul Community
Literacy Consortium
2006-2010
Board Member
Literacy Action Network
How would you define
“Creativity is thinking up new things.
Innovation is doing new things.”
- Theodore Levitt
Cultivate
Replicate
Partner
Network
Open
Source
“Innovation – any new idea – by definition will not be
accepted at first. It takes repeated attempts,
endless demonstrations, monotonous rehearsals before
innovation can be accepted and internalized by an
organization. This requires courageous patience.”
- Warren Bennis
What sparks innovation?
Innovation comes from our needs to
Innovation comes from failure.
survive & improve.
Analyzing your organization
Work
individually or
in small
groups
Program
Organization
Consortium
State
Federal
Issues:
 Communities with low student numbers
and low need
 Struggling with student retention
 Teachers struggle with technology
 Low student literacy gains
Need:
 Increase student retention and literacy
gains
Idea:
 Use volunteers in areas of low need to
tutor students on distance learning
curriculum
Issues:
 Struggling with student retention
 Teachers struggle with technology
 Students want to work on distance
learning curriculum
Need:
 Serve students online
Idea:
 Volunteers serve as online tutors helping
students via Skype
Issues:
 Low student literacy gains
 Struggling to effectively serve students
who are deaf and/or have disabilities
 Program resources are low/insufficient
Need:
 Better serve students with disabilities
Idea:
 Work with a graduate school to have a
class/group research international,
national, and state data and practices
Issues:
 Too many students in the class
 Students want to gain work experience
 Students’ levels and needs vary greatly
Need:
 Serve smaller groups of students
without turning lots of students away
Idea:
 Have a graduating/former student tutor
a beginning-level group
Issues:
 Volunteers from a local business are
only willing/able to volunteer
 And…?
Need:
 Articulate the need
Idea:
 What’s your idea?
Issues:
 Identify key issues
Need:
 Articulate a primary need
Idea:
 What’s your idea?
“Vision without action is merely a dream.
Action without vision just passes the time.
Vision with action can change the world!”
- Joel Arthur Barker
What additional
questions do
you have?
Minnesota ABE Web Site
http://mnabe.themlc.org/
Rob Podlasek
Volunteer Training Manager
Minnesota Literacy Council
[email protected]
Brad Hasskamp
ABE Policy & Operations Specialist
• Minnesota Department of Education
• [email protected]
• 651-582-8594
Which volunteers are
required by MDE-ABE
policy to receive
training?
All ABE volunteers who:
Directly tutor or instruct
students; &
Generate ABE contact
hours independent from a
classroom teacher.
How long is the
training volunteers
receive at the
beginning of their
service, according to
MDE-ABE policy?
The pre-service training is
hours
Do volunteer
classroom assistants
working under the
direct supervision of
a teacher need to be
trained?
according to MDE-ABE policy
but…
Do volunteers need
the pre-service
training if they are
working with students
when the teacher is
not in the building?
according to MDE-ABE policy
Do volunteers need
the pre-service
training if they are
responsible for a class
of students and under
only minimal teacher
supervision?
according to MDE-ABE policy
Do volunteers need
to be trained if they
are taking a group of
students to another
room to work with
them?
according to MDE-ABE policy
as long as…
Do volunteers need
to be trained if they
are only doing
student intakes?
according to MDE-ABE policy
but…
Do volunteers need
to be trained if they
are only working
with programming
not receiving state or
federal ABE funding?
according to MDE-ABE policy
Which 4 types of
certification or
experience can make
an ESL volunteer
exempt from the
state’s pre-service
training requirement?
ESL volunteer exemptions:
TEFL/TESL Certificate
College degree in ESL or
Linguistics
Current Minnesota K-12 License
Over 400 hours of documentable
ESL instruction (paid or volunteer)
in comparable programs
Which 3 types of
certification or
experience can make
an ABE volunteer
exempt from the
state’s pre-service
training requirement?
ABE volunteer exemptions:
Current Minnesota K-12
License
Current Minnesota ABE License
Over 400 hours of
documentable ABE instruction
(paid or volunteer) in
comparable programs
What 5 topics must be
covered in a preservice volunteer
training, according to
MDE-ABE policy?
Required Pre-Service Topics:
Initial & Ongoing Assessment
Goal Setting & Follow-Up
Working with Texts
Lesson Planning
Working with Adults
Proposed Pre-Service Topics:
Accountability & Assessment
Goal Setting & Follow-Up
Working with Texts &
Curriculum Resources
Lesson Planning
Working with Adults
Volunteers must
receive pre-service
training within what
time from their
volunteer assignment,
according to MDE-ABE
policy?
Volunteers need to get
trained within
months
Where can volunteers
get pre-service
training, according to
MDE-ABE policy?
Minnesota Literacy Council’s
Main Office
Local sites that bring in MLC
trainers
Programs that get their
training certified by the MLC
& by the MDE-ABE office
Are volunteers
required to receive
ongoing training?
according to MDE-ABE policy
Programs cannot count ABE contact hours
for students who have not made a level
gain in 30 months. Some programs use
volunteers to work with these students.
Is this a best practice? How
would you balance an effective
use of resources and using the
best resources for the students
that need it most?
Volunteers must
receive what amount
of ongoing training,
according to MDE-ABE
policy?
Volunteers need
hours of ongoing training annually
Can school districts
use unlicensed
volunteers and
count ABE contact
hours?
according to MN State Statute
and MDE-ABE policy, BUT…
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