Certificate Program Description The LAC Academy offers fee-based professional certificate programs to develop current and future adult educators. All LAC Academy certificate programs can make a difference in your career and life by providing you with: Core knowledge necessary to be an effective adult educator n Opportunities to share ideas, experiences and networks with peers n An opportunity to try out new strategies and methods with immediate feedback n A valuable credential from a reputable leader in adult education. The City University of New York’s College Transition Teaching Initiative, in collaboration with the LAC Academy is pleased to announce a new course called “A Comprehensive Approach to College Transition.” This foundational seminar offers current and future educators an overview of best practices for college transition reading, writing, math and advisement. This program is appropriate for: n Teachers in GED programs, high schools and college developmental skills courses interested in learning approaches and strategies they can use in their classrooms to support their students’ transition to college;
“ The mission of the CUNY College Transition Teaching Initiative is to bring guidance and expertise to agencies and individuals who want to raise the quality of their curriculum
n Program administrators and advisement staff seeking to improve their college transition support services;
design, instructional practices and program
n Those new to the field of college transition and those who have already begun to address this area of work.
college transition.”
approaches in the rapidly evolving field of
Gayle Cooper-Shpirt, Director, CUNY College Transition Teaching Initiative
(100Hours/10CEU’s) This certificate program offers current and future adult educators an overview of best practices for college transition, including reading, writing and math instruction at the college level as well as advising strategies. Format: Participants attend 25 hours of on-site classes, in addition to 75 hours of study and reflection online, as part of a professional community of practice.
Session One: College Transition: An Overview This session introduces participants to the CUNY Start College Transition Program model, and to David Conley’s comprehensive college transition framework, upon which the CUNY Start model is based. CUNY Start, created by professional developers from CUNY’s Adult Literacy/GED Program, helps students to learn academic knowledge, college readiness behaviors and reading, writing, math and study skills.
Sessions Two and Three: An Introduction to College Transition Reading and Writing To prepare for college, students have to understand and apply information and ideas from many types of complex texts. In these two sessions, participants will gain awareness of their own reading processes and learn techniques for helping students to better understand, discuss and write about fiction and non-fiction texts. These will include activities that support students in annotating, summarizing, questioning a text and building greater metacognitive awareness.
KATE BRANDT
worked as reading consultant on numerous CUNY projects, includ-
classroom observation. Moira has worked closely with counselors
Kate Brandt is a Professional Development
ing Graduate NYC! and College Now, and as a member of the New
and teachers over the past four years, training them in lessons she
Coordinator for the City University of New
Community College planning team.
created about going to college at CUNY, and providing support for their college going work. She has created the CUNY College Going
York (CUNY) Adult Literacy/GED Program
HILARY SIDERIS
Wiki, a platform for sharing information about college transition and
Teaching Initiative. She provides staff development support to CUNY
Hilary Sideris is a Professional
college going resources with the wider New York City community.
and non-CUNY teachers in the areas of reading, writing and content-
Development Coordinator for CUNY’s
based learning through an array of activities that include conferences,
adult literacy and English language
MARK TRUSHKOWSKY
workshops, seminars, and curriculum design.
programs. She provides workshops
Mark Trushkowsky is the Mathematics
and a member of the College Transition
Session Four: Academic Writing In this session, participants will become familiar with college-level writing prompts and texts, such as those used on the CATW (CUNY’s Freshman Writing Skills Test) and in English composition and general education classes. They will learn about essay writing templates and other ways to support students as they respond to non-fiction texts such as essays, editorials and news articles. Participants will be introduced to the CATW essay writing template used in CUNY Start classes and learn about effective ways to helps students develop and revise their essays.
Sessions Five and Six: An Introduction to College Transition Math To prepare for the mathematics of college and the workplace, students need to understand more than procedures and computation. In these two sessions, participants will learn instructional techniques to develop students’ conceptual knowledge, as well as develop effective mathematical habits of mind. These techniques will include building student communication of mathematical ideas, metacognitive awareness and fluency to make connections across math topic areas.
Session Seven: An Introduction to Advisement Non-traditional students are likely to be the first in their families to attend college, and they often lack the skills and knowledge necessary to navigate the college system and culture. Participants will be introduced to some of the common gaps and areas of needed college knowledge. These include the vocabulary and procedures necessary for accessing college offices, systems, and classes. Participants will also learn some strategies for helping students deal with those gaps.
Session Eight: Work-in-Progress Presentations In this session, participants will give “work in progress” presentations of their final projects. Each participant will get a chance to provide an overview of his or her project, ask questions and discuss next steps.
Online Learning
and training to teachers in the areas of responding to student
Professional Development Coordinator for
All LAC Academy Certificate programs are blended models, incorporating both on-site and online learning environments. Incorporated into each certificate are tutorials and support to make sure students have the tools they need to succeed in the online portion of our certifi-
GAYLE COOPER-SHPIRT
writing, the essay writing process, and preparing students for
the CUNY Adult Literacy & GED Program
cate programs.
Gayle Cooper-Shpirt is Director of the City
the CAT-W (CUNY’s basic skills writing assessment). She helped
and the College Transition Teaching Initiative.
University of New York (CUNY) College
develop and trains teachers in the use of the CUNY Start reading
In both of these roles, he provides teacher and program development
For More Information
Transition teaching Initiative (CTTI) and
and writing curriculum.
to programs in the area of mathematics. Mark has taught GED classes
LAC Academy fee-based certificate offerings vary by season. Please visit: www.lacnyc.org/lacacademy for current certificate offerings, tuition, and application deadline information.
at LaGuardia Community College for the past eleven years; worked
Professional Development Coordinator for CUNY’s Adult Literacy/GED and CUNY Start programs. She
MOIRA TAYLOR
closely with CUNY Start and its prior incarnations, the CUNY College
provides in-house and field-based training to ABE/GED teachers
Moira Taylor is an ESOL Professional
Transition Institute and the CUNY College Transition Program; and
and college transition professionals in the areas of reading/writing
Development Coordinator for the CUNY
served as the student panel facilitator at the first two BMI-sponsored
curriculum development, academic literacy models and practices,
Adult Literacy Program. Moira provides
Annual College Transition Conferences at Hostos Community College.
and writing to learn, and helped develop and train teachers in the use of the CUNY Start reading and writing curriculum. Gayle has
support to instructional staff through materials development, professional development workshops, and
To Apply: An application is required to be admitted to all programs. To apply, please visit the LAC Academy website for more information and to download the application. For LAC Academy inquiries, Please contact the Dean, Marilyn J. Rymniak: marilynr@lacnyc.org or 212-803-3322
Literacy Assistance Center
LITERACY ASSISTANCE CENTER
and curriculum design in health literacy, family literacy, civics education, digital literacy, and the incorporation of language and basic skills development into occupational education courses.
College Transition: A Comprehensive Approach
Recognized as a national leader in adult education, the LAC provides a variety of fee-based services in addition to its Academy Certificate Programs: n Custom-designed, contextualized workplace and
special-target curricula for ESOL, ABE, HSE, and occupational training programs, as well as assistance preparing materials and publications n Data services, including customized data system
Since 1983, the LAC has been working to expand and strengthen the Adult Basic Education, English for Speakers of Other Languages, and High School Equivalency programs that serve New York’s most educationally disadvantaged and economically marginalized adults. Our staff has spent years in the field witnessing the power of adult literacy education to transform lives. Our expertise includes programming
n Educational consulting to improve the
overall quality of program offerings or to help organizations develop new adult education programs n On-site, customized LAC certificate programs
and staff development workshops
Come visit us in New York City.
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For more information about the Literacy Assistance Center, please visit our website at www.lacnyc.org or call us at 212-803-3300.
design, professional development on managing and analyzing data, and consulting in using data to guide programmatic decision-making
39 Broadway, Suite 1250 New York NY 10006
212-803-3300 www.lacnyc.org
LAC Academy Certificate Program
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