Wisconsin Technical College System's Innovative Practices for Integrated Education and Training
This website contains resources curated by state staff in Wisconsin to support the development and expansion of Integrated Education and Training.
Integrated Education and Training (IET) is an instructional approach that provides adult education and literacy activities concurrently and contextually with workforce preparation activities and workforce training for a specific occupation or occupational cluster for the purpose of educational and career advancement. This website contains resources curated by state staff in Wisconsin to support the development and expansion of Integrated Education and Training. Content includes research on contextualized learning models, tools to create IET, and strategies for ensuring equity in IET. Additionally, an interview from the field with Mid-State Technical College highlights Mid-State's experiences in creating and assessing local IET programming.
Adult educators may use this resource to understand Integrated Education and Training (IET) through a practical lens. The website not only focuses on the elements necessary for an IET program but provides a plethora of accessible resources, tools, and other research from a variety of sources upon which educators may expand. The site acknowledges the need to improve IET programs through diversity, equity, and inclusion and proffers strategies and resources to achieve inclusive teaching (e.g., fostering belonging, engaging growth mindsets, and employing universal design for learning).
Because the site describes both primary educational elements (e.g., adult education, workforce preparation, and workforce training) and critical components (e.g., employer engagement, including use of labor market information, support services, credentialing, etc.), the site may be used to explore and improve upon inclusive teaching in general and stimulate examination of a multitude of related topics available on the site. It could be used as a checklist for IET programs in their infancy and continuous improvement for established programs. The resource can be the basis for state or program level professional development on Integrated Education and Training. The resource could also be used by program administrators to create program level planning and implementation strategy, as well as policy and reporting guidance. Classroom practitioners could use the resource for continuous improvement efforts as they implement IET programs.
The site succinctly defines IET and extends an understanding by allowing the user to select from resources that drill down further into different aspects of the model. The research substantiates effective strategies, and the resources and tools define promising practices to support the model. This includes identifying potential weaknesses in achieving equity in teaching and the means to minimize these challenges. Because resource links are embedded in the site, it eases navigation, reducing time and frustrations associated with "finding" the referenced resource(s)/sources(s).
The role and value of creating relevance and setting common learning objectives are emphasized along with the critical nature of contextualizing curricula/instruction. The Roadmap to IET section of this site includes an excellent interview with an adult education practitioner about her process of creating effective IET programming. It also includes a link to the Wisconsin AEFLA Integrated Education and Planning Tool which administrators and educators may find useful as they develop their own reporting/documentation processes. An annotated list of resources for integrating basic skills is also included.
The Achieving Equity in IET section. which includes the “Toolkit of Inclusive Teaching Practices”, supports program inquiry into equity considerations when developing and implementing IET programs.
The site includes ideas for funding both instruction and support services in IET. Additionally, for those interested in action research and open educational resources of related topics are also available on the site.
No prior training required.
What constitutes Integrated Education and Training (IET) and, more importantly, effective IET is important to adult educators, including state agency staff, program administrators, and instructors, to recognize and advance meaningful educational and workforce outcomes for learners. Through the availability of a variety of resources, tools, and research, educators may determine to what extent they wish to understand elements and critical components of an effective IET and how best to attract diverse populations and engage learners with inclusive teaching practices.
The IET section on the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS)'s Innovative Practice site, which prioritizes effective strategies through research and resources, includes general IET information as well as three resource-filled pages on key topics:
- Roadmap to IET, including co-planning, integrating basic skills and occupational content, and workforce preparation;
- Achieving Equity in IET, including equity decision making tools, marketing considerations, funding, and student supports;
- Mid-State On-Ramps, including information on three IET programs at Mid-State Technical College.
These resources signal WTCS's priority for serving adults with foundational skill needs through comprehensive career pathways and provide excellent research and resources for practitioners.
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