Mississippi

Professional development system

The adult education program is administered by the Mississippi State Board for Community and Junior Colleges. They are the sponsoring agency for this project.

The Mississippi State Board for Community and Junior Colleges Adult Basic Education program requires all teachers to attend a minimum of 20 hours of state-approved professional development education per year. Twenty-five state Train-the-Trainers develop workshops for state training and local training based on the needs of instructors. Danny Seal, the state professional development specialist, develops all professional development which is delivered at workshops, through videos, and at regional and state conferences. These are guided by evaluation reports from professional development events, feedback from the Mississippi Adult Basic Education (ABE) Self-Assessment Instrument for professional development (submitted yearly from ABE Directors), and Federal mandates.

STAR implementation

Forty-five individuals comprised of teachers and administrators will implement the STAR program in Mississippi. In Mississippi, two adult education programs are implementing the STAR pilot, with two program administrators and 13 instructors participating. The instructors have college level education and nine are certified teachers. All the instructors have experience teaching in adult education. Another group of instructors comprise the Train-the-Trainers for the state. They will implement STAR instructional strategies in their classrooms and share information with teachers throughout the state at trainings and conferences.

Northwest Mississippi Community College

One administrator and 10 instructors will conduct seven classes implementing the STAR project for a period of eight weeks in the fall of 2008. The classes will include six hours of evidence-based reading instruction per week for the eight week managed enrollment period. Implementation is beginning in January 2008 with the pilot classes conducted in the fall.

Grenada School District

One administrator/instructor and two instructors will conduct three classes implementing the STAR project for a period of eight weeks in the fall of 2008. The classes will include six hours of evidence-based reading instruction per week for the eight week managed enrollment period. Implementation is beginning in January 2008 with the pilot classes conducted in the fall.

Mississippi Train-the-Trainers

Twenty-five trainers will implement the STAR strategies in their classrooms and share information with teachers throughout the state at trainings and conferences.

Mississippi STAR Initiative/Reading Reform

Mississippi ABE is concerned about applying knowledge of evidence-based reading instruction to classroom practice. The state goal is to see evidence-based reading instruction implemented into all of the 29 ABE programs. Four individuals experienced in STAR implementation went through certification to become certified State STAR Trainers. The state will seek to increase teachers’ knowledge and use of evidence-based reading instruction. They will continue to improve the capacity of adult education programs to support evidence-based reading instruction. The state trainers will deliver training and technical assistance to increase teachers’ knowledge and use of evidence-based reading instruction. The state seeks to improve adult reading by using explicit and systematic instruction in each of the four reading components by providing techniques and tools for conducting diagnostic reading assessment and providing strategies and resources for teaching the four reading components. Trainers will provide technical assistance to ensure that evidence-based reading instruction is used to improve reading achievement in the ABE programs.

Programs will complete a Program Profile Form and establish a team of administrators, teachers, and support staff who will attend STAR training and implement STAR in their local program. Programs will be chosen based on the following factors:

• Having intermediate-level ABE reading class(es). (GLE 4.0 – 8.9)
• Managing enrollment (having a fixed enrollment process) so that teachers can work with the same group of students over a period of time. These are periods for enrollment rather than open enrollment at any time.
• Administering diagnostic reading assessment in all four reading components upon enrollment so that the teacher can use the assessment results in planning reading instruction. (Four reading components: alphabetics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.)
• Having staff time for professional development, technical assistance, administering diagnostic assessments, classroom preparation, participating in program planning meetings, etc.
• Having leveled materials for teaching each of the four components of reading.
• Selecting teachers who are comfortable with learning evidenced-based reading instruction and are prepared to make changes in their classrooms.
• Having administrators who are willing to make necessary programmatic changes to support their teachers.

STAR is expanding throughout Mississippi. In addition to the two pilots, eight more programs are participating in the new statewide reading reform initiative. Participants from all STAR programs include:

• 11 administrators (state leader, directors, and coordinators)
• 96 teachers and support staff

Programs implementing STAR