Description
The core of the collection covers the years 1993-1999 and focuses on two initiatives by different administrations in the California
Department of Education, Adult Education Unit, to involve the field in the development of program standards for older adult
programs in the state. Other series in the collection are brochures and handouts about California's older adult initiatives,
information about six exemplary older adult programs in California, and resources on older adults.
Background
In the early 1990s, the California Department of Education (CDE), Adult Education Unit, in response to the recommendations
in Adult Education for the 21st Century: Strategic Plan to Meet California's Long-Term Adult Education Needs (Adult Education Advisory Committee, 1989) formed a field committee to develop model standards for adult English as a second
language programs. Following the publication of that project, in January 1992, five additional task forces were created and
charged with developing model standards for other core programs: adult basic education, adult secondary education, parent
education, older adults, and adult with disabilities. The model program standards for adult basic education and adult secondary
education were published by CDE in 1996. The standards for the other program areas, including older adults, went through several
development cycles. The materials in this collection, donated by Susan Sundell, a CDE consultant with responsibilities for
an older adults standards development effort in the 2000s, document two of the early development cycles for the older adult
standards. The drafts produced in 1994 and 1997 are included, along with working committee data, resources, and correspondence.
In the 2000s, an additional development cycle was undertaken to add performance measures to both the published and unpublished
program standards. As of 2008, none of the revised model standards documents had been released.