VALRC

VALRC: Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in Practice
2026-02-17 13:00 - 14:00, 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.

Refresher: LACES Data Analysis Session
2026-02-17 14:30 - 15:30, 2026-03-17 14:30 - 15:30, 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

TABE Assessment Updates and Questions Answered
2026-02-18 14:00 - 15:00 | Online
This session featuring DRC representative Brian Shedd will provide updates on the TABE 13/14 assessments and address questions submitted by Virginia educators. Please use this form to submit questions in advance of the webinar.
This webinar is Part 2 of the Designing Programs with the New Assessments in Mind virtual PLC. VALRC will facilitate a follow-up session to discuss instructional and program design for the new assessments.
Register here.

NEDP: Assessing Civic Participation and Community Participation
2026-02-18 16:00 - 17:00 | Online
Join NEDP National Trainer Janita McNemar for a one-hour professional development session designed for new and veteran NEDP assessors. Spend time with NEDP colleagues for a consensus discussion on these recently revised competencies.
Target audience: NEDP Program Leaders, Advisors, and Assessors
This session will also be offered on Friday, February 20.
Register here.

NELRC: Teach ABE Reading and Writing with Relevant, Peer-Written Content
2026-02-20 12:00 - 13:00 | Online
Using relevant, peer-written content doesn’t just engage learners, it builds a powerful bridge to more complex reading and writing. When students see their own experiences reflected in the material, they’re more willing to stay with it, even when the text gets harder. That engagement becomes a form of scaffolding, helping them stretch their skills and confidence.
Join this webinar to learn more about The Change Agent, which showcases student-written articles on a wide range of topics (disabilities, digital literacy, transferable skills, immigration, and much more). This content makes a great tool for teaching reading and writing in your ABE class. Virginia adult educators and learners can access The Change Agent online for free using the username VALRC and password VALRC2025 (password is case sensitive!).
Come and learn about this rich source of readings—including many ready-to-use, standards-aligned activities and worksheets. As an added bonus, this workshop coincides with the release of the 2026 Call for Articles. Learn about how you can bring the writing prompts from the Call for Articles to your class and support your students to submit their writing to a national publication. This webinar is hosted by the New England Literacy Resource Center (NELRC) at World Education.
Register here.

NEDP: Assessing Civic Participation and Community Participation
2026-02-20 13:00 - 14:00 | Online
Join NEDP National Trainer Janita McNemar for a one-hour professional development session designed for new and veteran NEDP assessors. Spend time with NEDP colleagues for a consensus discussion on these recently revised competencies.
Target audience: NEDP Program Leaders, Advisors, and Assessors
This session is also offered on Wednesday, February 18.
Register here.

LACES: Tracking MSGs and Outcomes
2026-02-24 13:30 - 15:00
Join here.

VALRC: Using Technology to Enhance Reading Instruction PLC
2026-02-26 14:30 - 15:30 | Online
SkillBlox is a free platform that contains over 10,000 vetted, high-quality, free and open educational resources you can use to build engaging lessons in a variety of subjects. In this 2-part workshop, we’ll explore a growing set of ready-to-go lessons (“Blox”) that you can easily save, copy, and adapt for use with your learners.
In part 1, you’ll learn the basics of how to explore SkillBlox for Blox created by other users, as well as how you can copy and adapt these Blox by adding activities, contextualizing content for your learning context, and more.
In part 2, participants will come together to showcase their work and share strategies and tips for how they used and adapted lessons from SkillBlox. Participants will also learn how to create custom pages to build lesson sets to share with learners or other instructors.
Register here.

Career Pathways PLC #3: Career Coaching and Supporting Learners for What’s Next
2026-02-27 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.

IET Office Hour
2026-03-04 12:00 - 13:15, 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.

VALRC: Structured Literacy that Works: Practical Tools for Multilingual Learners
2026-03-04 13:00 - 14:15 | Virtual
Join this informational webinar to learn how ESL Word Nerds is transforming literacy instruction for English learners through structured literacy intentionally designed for multilingual students. Discover how our carefully crafted scope and sequence supports all four language domains while building vocabulary, grammar, and confidence. Participants will leave with practical, research-based, classroom-tested strategies and highly visual resources ready to use with newcomers and developing learners.
Suzy Sylvester, co-creator of ESL Word Nerds, is a National Board Certified Teacher with a Master of Education from William & Mary, where she serves as Clinical Faculty. With 15 years of experience in special education and ESL—including teaching internationally in Honduras—she specializes in structured literacy for multilingual learners. She is currently the High School Teacher of the Year for Williamsburg-James City County (WJCC) and serves on the VATESOL board.
Register Here

Designing Programs with the New Assessments in Mind, Part 3
2026-03-04 14:00 - 15:00 | Online
Join adult educators from around the state to discuss the impact of new standardized assessments on program design and instruction. Focus will be on implementing CASAS Goals 2 and/or TABE 13/14.
You do not need to have attended earlier professional learning community (PLC) offerings before attending this collaborative session.
Register here.

Bi-monthly Program Managers Meeting
2026-03-16 13:30 - 15:30, 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.

Career Pathways PLC #4: Career Coaching and Supporting Learners for What’s Next
2026-03-20 12:00 - 13:30

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

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.

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 Wednesday, April 8.
Register here.

Career Pathways PLC #5: Career Coaching and Supporting Learners for What’s Next
2026-04-10 12:00 - 13:30

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

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