Learner Persistence

• Persistence Among Adult Education Students Panel (streaming video)
  This panel discussion focuses on persistence in ABE, ESOL, and GED programs, and features a NCSALL study entitled, Supporting the Persistence of Adult Basic Education Students. This report examines student persistence in adult education programs. It presents a working definition of persistence, examines existing research, and describes NCSALL’s 3-phase study of factors that support and inhibit persistence.
  http://www.nifl.gov
  
  
• A good overview/introduction to the topic: Persistence: Helping Adult Education Students Reach Their Goals by John Comings, through NCSALL:
  http://www.ncsall.net.
  
  
• NCSALL-The National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy – additional research, reports and other citations on persistence can be found here and specifically on student persistence:
  http://www.ncsall.net
  
  see also, in Focus on Basics, the online journal of NCSALL research, written specifically for adult education practitioners:
  http://www.ncsall.net
  
  
• Adult Literacy Education Wiki – Learner Persistence
  http://wiki.literacytent.org
  
  
• Beyond the checklist: Using reflective practice to remove barriers in family and community literacy by Cheryl Brown and Wendell Dryden – while specifically examining an intergenerational literacy project, the article poses a number of considerations useful in thinking about learner persistence across learning spheres:
  http://www.literacyjournal.ca
  
  
• California Adult Learning Persistence Project
  http://www.adultlearnerpersistence.org
  
  
• The Change Agent issue #25 on adults taking action to stay in school
  (if you are new to the website, start here: http://www.nelrc.org to get a password).
  http://www.nelrc.org
  
  
• Distance learning for the adult learner: Improving persistence and effectiveness Bartlett, et al, California Department of Education, 2005
  http://www.cdlponline.org
  
  
• Learner Persistence in Adult Basic Education -
  California Adult Education Research Digest, January, 2005
  
  
• Managed Enrollment: An opportunity to reinvigorate the ABE experience – Alisa Povenmire, Massachusetts Coalition for Adult Education, 2006
  http://www.mcae.net
  
  
• National Adult Education Professional Development Consortium – learner persistence resources:
  http://www.naepdc.org/resource_library
  
  
• Responding to people's lives, Yvon Appleby and David Barton 2008 -
  One of a series of practitioner guides addressing teaching practice, often related to supporting persistence:
  http://www.nrdc.org.uk
  


• Stick with it! Motivating Skills for Life learners to persist, progress and achieve - UK based initiative focused on learner persistence http://www.stickwithit.org.uk/



• Student Persistence in Adult ESOL Classroom (from Pearson Education; read critically)
  http://www.pearsonlongman.com (HTML Version)
  
  
• Adult Learner Persistence - resources from the New England Literacy Resource Center's research into and learning about persistence

  http://www.nelrc.org/persist/