Welcome to Adult Basic Education
More than 1 million adults in Washington State lack the basic education skills they need to succeed in an increasingly complicated world. For these citizens, Adult Basic Education (ABE) opens doors to self-sufficiency, stronger families, and improved citizenship. But adult basic education does more than help individuals. It lays the foundation for our state’s success in building a strong workforce, a vital economy, and healthy communities. When one person learns, everyone benefits. We hope you will find on this site information and connections that will help you as an adult learner, provider, or partner and discover opportunities to influence ABE in our state.
Adult Basic Education at the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges works with adult learners, service providers and literacy supporters across the state of Washington to ensure that all adults will have access to the adult and family literacy services that can assist them in getting the skills they need to:
- Have access to information
- Act independently
- Express their own ideas and feelings
- Keep up with a changing world
- Exercise their full rights and responsibilities as family members, workers and community members.
If you have questions, please contact Kathy Cooper at 360-704-4322 or kcooper@sbctc.edu.
Israel David Mendoza
Director of the Office of Adult Basic Education
Adult Basic Education Programs
- ABE/ESL/GED Prep - Adult and Family Literacy learning options exist to help adults become literate. Literacy is defined by the Federal Adult Education and Family Literacy Act as an individual's ability to read, write, and speak in English, compute and solve problems, at levels of proficiency necessary to function on the job, in the family of the individual, and in society. More »
- ABE Week Literacy - With the support of Governor Gregoire, this week provides an opportunity for ABE providers and partners to increase public awareness and understanding about adult basic education and the way it assists Washington state to meet its economic and workforce goals. More
- EL Civics - English Literacy and Civics Education (EL/Civics Education) funding supports projects that demonstrate effective practices in providing, and increasing access to, English literacy programs integrated with civics education. More »
- Family Literacy - Through the creation of the Washington State Adult and Family Literacy State Plan, teachers, administrators, and students identified literacy services for family members as one of the state's two priority areas. More »
- Learning Standards - The Washington State Adult Learning Standards are complete and available to ABE programs statewide! More
- Volunteer Literacy - Not every adult who needs help with reading, writing, math or English can thrive alone in a classroom. Some are so far behind they need one-to-one extra help. More »
- WABERS + - The Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) developed the WABERS+ program to facilitate data collection and reporting of student enrollments in adult education programs. More
Adult Basic Education Initiatives
- Assessment - As part of the Adult and Family Literacy service provision, states that accept federal funding are subject to audit by staff sent by the federal Office of Vocational and Adult Education [OVAE] to gauge compliance with the requirements of their grants. More »
- Equipped for the Future (EFF) - Equipped for the Future (EFF) is a National Institute for Literacy research project that seeks to improve the quality of adult education services by offering the field a comprehensive content framework, better-defined results, and standards that enable programs to focus on achieving those results. More »
- Goal Setting - Adults who enroll in adult basic education classes know why they have come back to school. Each states her/his purpose clearly, "...to learn English, to get a GED, to make a better life for me and my family." These purposes have propelled adult learners, despite the stresses of family, community and work, to dedicate time to gaining needed basic skills. More »
- Learning Disability Qualtiy Initiative - The Quality Initiative is a program improvement process that plans how local and state leaders will use resources, critical reflection, and research to implement program changes in a way that reduces anxiety and resistance and results in permanent, systemic changes. More »
- Program Reviews - As a result of the 2003 USDE audit, Adult Basic Education at SBCTC was required to conduct in-person monitoring visits to local basic skills programs to ensure compliance with the National Reporting System (NRS). More »