Ohio

Professional development system

Ohio's professional development system consists of:

• Four regional resource centers (RRCs) that provide professional development to staff of local adult basic and literacy education programs. In addition to general technical assistance, each resource center offers assistance in a specialty area: Special Needs, Workplace Education, ESOL, and Reading/Writing.
• The Ohio Literacy Resource Center (OLRC) is another source for professional development, specializing in areas such as standards-based education, distance learning, family literacy, and accountability reporting (ABLELink).
• An array of training opportunities in both traditional (workshops) and alternative (webcasts) delivery modes.

STAR implementation

Ohio selected nine Adult Basic Literacy Education (ABLE) programs from across the state for the initial STAR pilot. Each pilot site had a minimum of two teachers participating to foster teamwork and professional reflection. Pilot site teachers had varied educational backgrounds, but few had formal training in reading instruction. Most participating teachers worked with students at many levels.

An additional fifteen ABLE programs were selected to take part in subsequent phases of STAR implementation in Ohio. Each of these programs has committed a minimum of three teachers to serve on their local STAR teams.

The staff at the Southwest Regional Resource Center has major responsibility for planning and implementing STAR trainings and offering ongoing support to the new as well as original STAR pilots. All Southwest Regional Resource Center staff members have received national STAR training.

A Reading/Writing Steering committee guides the project's operations. The committee includes representatives from several local STAR pilots, representatives from Ohio Literacy Resource Center, Southwest Regional Resource Center Staff, and an Ohio ABLE consultant.

Programs implementing STAR