ProLiteracy

ProLiteracy is a nonprofit adult literacy organization whose Courses & Learning section offers professional development for the people who teach adults to read, write and do math. Its home page headline reads "Leading the advancement of adult literacy in the US and throughout the world", and the footer gives its address at 308 Maltbie Street in Syracuse, NY, along with the line "ProLiteracy is a 501c3 nonprofit organization."

For this directory the product is the training side: online classes and webinars for adult education instructors and for the leaders of literacy programs. ProLiteracy describes its wider work as providing "funding, comprehensive training, professional learning, accessible research, and New Readers Press digital and print resources", and the courses sit alongside that research, a membership community and its own publishing imprint.

Who it is for

The home page addresses its training section to "Adult Educators" under the line "Build Your Capacity to Transform Lives". It describes the Courses & Learning area as a place to "Explore professional learning opportunities, such as teacher training to develop best practices and executive leadership courses to enhance program success." So there are two audiences: the instructor in an adult education classroom, and the director or manager running a literacy program.

ProLiteracy says it has been "working to make strong adult literacy programs stronger" for over 60 years, and calls itself "the world's leader in adult education practice, innovating and building the capacity of all literacy programs everywhere", from "the smallest community-based organizations to large adult education programs and institutions." That is the organization's own description, but it shows who the courses are pitched at: volunteer-heavy community programs as much as large institutions.

A sample course: Financial Literacy Instructor Training

The one course page shown in detail is Financial Literacy Instructor Training, labeled an "Online Class" and marked "Free | 2 Hours". The page says the course "introduces adult education instructors to the role of financial literacy and how to teach it in the classroom" and is "designed to help instructors learn the basic principles of teaching personal finance and money management."

The course lists five outcomes. Participants will:

• create a portfolio of materials and resources to use when teaching financial literacy;
• learn strategies to teach money management concepts, skills and vocabulary;
• learn activities that connect students to financial resources in their communities;
• connect with financial professionals in their area who can be resources for students;
• learn to use their own financial experiences to engage students and prepare them for future financial decisions.

Along the way, the page says, there are "many opportunities to view video examples and download valuable tools and resources", and instructors learn how to adapt a financial literacy curriculum to their students. The portfolio they build is meant to be shared with other instructors in their program, which makes the course useful for a lead teacher who trains colleagues.

Some of the material comes from Control Your Money, a New Readers Press publication that the page says "can be used as a supplement to any adult education class, or as part of a financial literacy program." Its topics include spending plans, types of bank accounts, understanding credit reports and a glossary of terms. Access works through a "Go to Course" button and a "Create Free Account" link.

Related classes and webinars

The same page lists related learning, all marked free:

• How to Add Financial Literacy to Your Existing Program, an online class on adding a financial literacy initiative to a program that already runs.
• Understanding Finance and Money, described as a "direct-to-student course" with lessons that introduce financial ideas and vocabulary at an easier reading level. This one is for adult learners themselves, not their teachers.
• Help Students Improve Their Financial Literacy with Learning Upgrade, a video or webinar about Learning Upgrade's financial literacy course, with an invitation to apply for a pilot.

The menu adds Upcoming Webinars and the ProLiteracy Conference to the Courses & Learning area, so the format mix runs from short online classes to webinars and a conference.

Research and resources

Next to the courses, ProLiteracy publishes research and reports "written for practical use", plus toolkits for advocacy and the Adult Literacy Education Journal. Examples on the course page include a digest on themes in developing and studying interventions in adult foundational education, a report on strategies and tools for teaching high frequency and domain-specific vocabulary to adult English language learners, and a piece on using Learning Chocolate, a free web-based vocabulary platform, with adult learners.

The home page also points to New Readers Press materials revised for the TABE 13&14 curriculum blueprints, which ties the publishing side to the assessments many adult education programs use.

Cost and membership

Every course and webinar shown on the pages is marked free, and joining requires a free account. The paid side of ProLiteracy is its membership and its publishing. The home page says members can "Engage with the ProLiteracy community as a member and enjoy unlimited access to exclusive Education Network resources and New Readers Press discounts." The Education Network is listed in the Courses & Learning menu, so the membership extends the free training with extra resources and a community of practitioners.

The organization is funded by partners and donors as well: the home page names the Dollar General Literacy Foundation and Lancome among its partners and asks visitors to donate. It also runs grant funds of its own, the Literacy Opportunity Fund, the Mobile Learning Fund and the National Book Fund, which a program leader taking the leadership courses may want to look at too.

Support

The footer gives a phone number, 1-888-528-2224, a contact page and an email link, and there is a newsletter for grants, research and resource updates. The site also links to a careers page, volunteer and advocacy pages and an Urban Alliance program.

Who it suits

ProLiteracy suits adult education instructors and volunteer tutors who want short, free and practical training, and program leaders building capacity in a literacy organization. The financial literacy course is a good example: two hours, a portfolio of materials at the end, and a direct link to classroom resources and a student-facing course. Programs that already use New Readers Press or TABE materials will find the training lines up with what they teach.

It suits less well a schoolteacher working with children, since everything here is about adult learners, or anyone who needs a formal credential, because the course pages describe the learning without naming any credit or certificate. It is not a platform for building one's own courses either; the content is ProLiteracy's, offered as part of its nonprofit mission.