VALRC

VALRC: Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in Practice
2026-03-24 13:00 - 14:00, 2026-04-21 13:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York) | Online
UDL in Practice is a 3-part series that introduces adult educators to practical strategies for designing inclusive learning experiences.
Part 1 will focus on the principle of engagement. Part 2 will focus on the principle of representation. Part 3 will focus on the principle of action and expression.

Register here.

LACES: New Functionality in LACES
2026-03-24 13:30 - 15:00
Join here.

IET Office Hour
2026-04-01 12:00 - 13:15, 2026-05-06 12:00 - 13:15, 2026-06-03 12:00 - 13:15 | Online
Come discuss IET planning tools, IET maps, and all aspects of programming for IETs, IELCE, and workforce programming in adult education. Come with questions!
IET Office Hours will be held the first Wednesday of every month, except January, from 12p – 1:15p.
Register and join here.

NEDP: The Art of Notes to Client
2026-04-08 04:00 - 17:00 | Online
What are the rules governing what an assessor may and may not say to a client regarding a not-demonstrated (ND) response? Learn about these parameters and practice finding the sweet spot between too much and not enough information in this one-hour interactive session.
Target audience: NEDP Program Leaders, Advisors, and Assessors
This session is also offered on Monday, April 13.
Register here.

Career Pathways PLC #5: Career Coaching and Supporting Learners for What’s Next
2026-04-10 12:00 - 13:30
Join us for this five-part series on Career Coaching for adult learners. Part I: Celeste Hall from the Virginia Community College System will facilitate sessions one and two, focusing on the theories and strategies that support career coaching. Part II: Sessions three through five will be facilitated by Dr. Barbara Endel and will focus what it means to be an effective career coach, including intervention strategies, career pathways mapping, and establishing sustainable networks to support learners.
Register and join here.

EdTech Strategy Session
2026-04-10 13:00 - 14:30, 2026-05-08 13:00 - 14:30 | Virtual
Monthly sessions highlighting innovations in edtech and digital learning

On the second Friday of each month, the EdTech Strategy Sessions bring you two lightning talks that highlight practical strategies and innovative approaches to leveraging technology in adult education. After the talks, you are welcome to join a small-group discussion with one of the speakers to exchange ideas, adapt strategies to your context, and plan your next steps.

NEDP: The Art of Notes to Client
2026-04-13 01:00 - 14:00 | Online
What are the rules governing what an assessor may and may not say to a client regarding a not-demonstrated (ND) response? Learn about these parameters and practice finding the sweet spot between too much and not enough information in this one-hour interactive session.
Target audience: NEDP Program Leaders, Advisors, and Assessors
This session is also offered on Wednesday, April 8.
Register here.

ANN: Math Instructional Routines with the Adult Numeracy Network
2026-04-15 15:00 - 16:00, 2026-05-13 15:00 - 16:00 | Online
The Adult Numeracy Network (ANN) website has a collection of math routines for adult math and numeracy classrooms. (Visit https://adultnumeracynetwork.org/Instructional-Routines to explore the collection.) This is one of a free series of hour-long introductions to some of the math routines from the collection.

The session will focus on one math routine and will include:

a brief community builder,
time to experience the routine as learners, and
time to reflect on how to use the routine in our classrooms.

Register here.

VALRC: LACES Data Analysis Session
2026-04-28 14:00 - 15:30, 2026-06-16 14:00 - 15:30 | Online
Join a group of Virginia practitioners for a hands-on experience working with data in the LACES system.
Join here

Literacy Minnesota: Integrated Pronunciation Instruction for Increased Intelligibility
2026-05-01 14:00 - 16:00 | Online
Effective pronunciation instruction that prioritizes intelligibility can greatly support learners both inside and outside the classroom. Yet, many teachers struggle to identify which pronunciation features to focus on and how to seamlessly integrate them into their lessons. This session will help participants refine their pronunciation diagnostic skills, determine key pronunciation features to address, and explore practical ways to incorporate pronunciation instruction into everyday classroom activities.
Please note that you may be asked to participate in discussion groups during the webinar. Please plan to join us from a quiet setting where you can see the PowerPoint slides and use your audio.
Presenter: Suzanne Gilchrist McCurdy, PhD, has more than 20 years of experience in the adult EAL field. She has worked as a teacher educator and consultant in adult basic education and as an instructor at Hamline University and the University of Minnesota. Her interests include EAL teacher education for pronunciation instruction, language teacher cognition, and low-level adult immigrant and refugee learners.
Register here

Literacy Minnesota: Promising Practices for a Multilevel Classroom
2026-05-08 14:00 - 16:00 | Online
English language classrooms feature a wide variety of educational backgrounds, abilities, and learning preferences, which contributes to a multilevel dynamic. This training will highlight promising teaching practices for supporting learners who need additional support, learners who move ahead quickly, and everyone in between. Participants will see concrete ideas for modifying activities to support a range of learner needs and abilities and get ideas for teaching that can be implemented immediately.
Please note that you may be asked to participate in discussion groups during the webinar. Please plan to join us from a quiet setting where you can see the PowerPoint slides and use your audio.
Presenter: Andrea Echelberger (she/her), Literacy Instructor, Robbinsdale Adult Academic Program. About Andrea.
Register here

Bi-monthly Program Managers Meeting
2026-05-18 13:30 - 15:30, 2026-07-20 13:30 - 15:30
Bi-monthly virtual meeting for updates, news, and discussion for all adult education program managers.
Register and join here.

Right Question Institute: How the ‘Why Vote?’ Tool Motivates Lower-Income Adults to Vote
2026-05-19 13:00 - 14:00 | Online
In this free, interactive webinar, RQI will introduce the “Why Vote?” Tool and explain how and why it works. The webinar is designed for staff of direct services and agencies serving low-income communities who want to engage voters but are required to be nonpartisan. Volunteers, community organizers, educators, and others interested in get-out-the-vote efforts are also welcome to attend.
Attendees will also learn:

How people on the front lines of public services in low-income communities can play a role in getting more people to vote.
How voter-engagement advocates can integrate the tool into their work.
Best practices for using and sharing the tool.
About the RQI’s larger Empowerment Program, which helps legal organizations, direct service providers, community-based groups and publicly funded agencies integrate RQI’s empowerment strategies into their work.

Register here

Refresher: LACES Data Analysis Session
2026-05-26 14:30 - 15:30 | Online
Join a group of Virginia practitioners for a hands-on experience working with data in the LACES system. This is a refresher session geared towards beginning users and those who would like a refresher with data entry and using LACES.
Register here

Literacy Minnesota: How Adult Brains Learn Languages
2026-05-29 14:00 - 16:00 | Online
Learn what research has to say about how adult brains learn a new language, how trauma and stress impact learning, and how this influences the teaching practices that we use in the language classroom. Participants will leave the webinar with suggestions for ways teachers and tutors can apply brain-based teaching practices as we are helping adult ESL students develop their language skills.
Please note that you may be asked to participate in discussion groups during the webinar. Please plan to join us from a quiet setting where you can see the PowerPoint slides and use your audio.
Presenter: Andrea Echelberger (she/her), Literacy Instructor, Robbinsdale Adult Academic Program. About Andrea.
Register here

LACES: Getting Ready for Close Out
2026-07-15 13:30 - 15:00
