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CDE Adult Education Staff Collection at the California Adult Education Archives
OTAN FA 007
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Table of contents
Title: CDE Adult Education Staff
Date (inclusive): 1981-2001
Identifier/Call Number: OTAN FA 007
Creator:
California. Dept. of Education. Adult Education Office
Physical Description:
Three boxes
Repository:
Sacramento County Office of Education. Outreach and Technical Assistance Network.
P.O. Box 269003
Sacramento, CA 95826-9003
Abstract: The California Department of Education (CDE) supports the adult education programs of over 350 public schools in the state.
In addition to state (apportionment) funding, California adult education is supported by federal funds which are allocated
based on census data. The Adult Education Office (formerly the Adult Education Unit, among other name variations) has primary
responsibility for monitoring both the state and federal programs. An administrator is designated as the State Director of
Adult Education for the federal program, and the staff consists of field and internal program consultants and support staff.
The largest part of the collection consists of the working files of a program consultant, Lynda T. Smith, 1984-1994. The Smith
files feature correspondence and contracts related to the 1989 strategic plan for adult education in California and to several
important federally funded projects. Smaller parts of the collection are files of consultants James S. Lindgren (1980s) and
Olga Uribe (2000-2001), support staff person Sandi Martin (1990), State Director Robert A Cervantes, 1995-1996, and some of
his consultants, and State Director Joan Dailey Polster, 1998-2000.
Language of Material:
English
Physical Location: The materials are in the California Adult Education Archives maintained by the Outreach and Technical Assistance Network at
the Sacramento County Office of Education. For current information on the location of the materials, please consult the OTAN
Web site at http://www.otan.us.
The collection is open for research by appointment. Please call the Outreach and Technical Assistance Network.
California Adult Education archival materials are publicly funded and not subject to copyright restrictions. Publications
should properly reference the Archives and the specific collection that contains the quoted materials. See Preferred Citation.
Some copyrighted materials are contained within this collection and the copyright has not been ceded to the Archives. For
these materials, the owner of the copyright should be contacted.
Guide to the CDE Adult Education Staff Collection at the California Adult Education Archives. OTAN FA 007. Outreach and Technical
Assistance Network, Sacramento County Office of Education, Sacramento, CA
In 2003 the Adult Education Office moved to a new building in Sacramento housing the California Department of Education. In
anticipation of reduced storage space in the new building, the consultants transferred some of their older working files to
the OTAN office at the Sacramento County Office of Education, where the files were evaluated for inclusion in the California
Adult Education Archives, organized, and processed.
The California Department of Education (CDE) supports the adult education programs of over 350 public schools. In addition
to state (apportionment) funding, California adult education is supported by federal funds that are allocated based on census
data. Types of provider agencies that are eligible to apply for federal supplemental funding are public adult schools, community
colleges, community-based and faith-based organizations, library literacy programs, and state agencies such as the California
Youth Authority.
The Adult Education Office (formerly the Adult Education Unit, among other name variations) has primary responsibility for
monitoring both the state and federal programs. An administrator is designated as the State Director of Adult Education for
the federal program, and the staff consists of field and internal program consultants and support staff.
Each state submits to the USDOE a plan for the use of its federal dollars, consistent with the authorizing legislation and
with local needs. A state plan typically covers three to five years and may be extended. In the late 1980s, California also
pursued a strategic planning process which produced several research documents and, in 1989, a strategic plan "Adult Education
for the 21st Century," that guided the progress of adult education in the state for the next decade.
Most of the federal supplemental funds are distributed to local providers, but a percentage is reserved for statewide projects.
The CDE Adult Education Office identifies service priorities such as assessment, staff development, information disssemination,
and support of the use of technology and distance learning. Requests for proposals are designed and contracts are awarded
for one to three year periods. Contractors in the 1980s and 1990s have included San Francisco State University Foundation,
Pacific Management Research Associates, the Association of California School Administrators, Hacienda La Puente Unified School
District, the Sacramento County Office of Education, CSU Dominguez Hills, Los Angeles Unified School District, UCLA, and WestEd.
The individuals whose files are preserved in this collection all worked for CDE in the adult education offices during the
period 1981-2001. Their files give insights into the contracting process, including some of the political issues of the time,
and to the progress of statewide efforts to support and improve adult education, some of which were controversial.
The papers of Dr. Lynda T. Smith, who was the monitor for several significant contracts during the 1984-1994 period, are the
richest. Dr. Smith was a member of the Advisory Committee on Adult Education that produced the 1989 strategic plan, and also
was active in national organizations that advocated for adult education, such as AAACE. Dr. Smith's untimely death in June
1994 resulted from a brain tumor.
Adult Education Institute for Research and Planning
California Adult Student Assessment System [pre 1986] see Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment System
California. Dept. of Education. Adult Education Policy and Planning Unit
Outreach and Technical Assistance Network
San Francisco State University Foundation. Center for Adult Education
Association of California School Administrators
California. Dept. of Education
California. Dept. of Education. Adult Education Office
California. Dept. of Education. Adult Education Unit
California. State Dept. of Education [pre 1990] see California. Dept. of Education
Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment System (Foundation for Educational Achievement)
Literacy Volunteers of America.
Pacific Management and Research Associates
United States. Division of Adult Education and Literacy
WestEd (Organization)
James S. Lindberg
Joan Dailey Polster
Lew Pebbles
Lynda T. Smith
Melinda M. Jan-Flanders
Olga Uribe
Raymond G. Eberhard
Robert A. Cervantes
Sandi Martin
Delaine Easton
Gerald H. Kilbert
K. Lynn Savage
Thomas G. Sticht
Adult Education
Adult Literacy
Adult Students
Citizenship Education
Educational Assessment
Educational Research
English (Second Language)
Information Dissemination
Management Information Systems
Staff Development
State Departments of Education
State Federal Aid
Statewide Planning
Strategic Planning
Technology Education
Scope and Content of the Collection
The largest part of the collection consists of the working files of a program consultant, Lynda T. Smith, 1984-1994. The Smith
files feature correspondence and contracts related to the 1989 strategic plan for adult education in California and to important
federally funded initiatives. Some highlights of her papers include materials related to the protest of the award of the staff
development contract in 1988, to the commercial publication of the ESL Teacher Institute modules, to the minigrants funded
through CASAS that were open to local agencies, and the difficulties with the Learning Networks.
Smaller parts of the collection are the people lists of consultant James S. Lindgren (1980s); camera ready print masters from
the files of support staff person Sandi Martin (1990); correspondence and materials related to the controversial ESL Citizenship,
Federal 321 program from the files of State Director Robert A Cervantes, 1995-1996 and some of his consultants; correspondence
and materials related to the new federal law that funded adult education in 1998, the Workforce Investment Act, from the files
of State Director Joan Dailey Polster, 1998-2000; and correspondence and contracts related to the CCE adult education model
standards efforts, from the files of consultant Olga Uribe, 2000-2001.
The Cervantes file contains a copy of a memo with 13 attachments from Gerald H. Kilbert to Delaine Eastin, giving a detailed
two-year political history of the ESL Citizenship program.
The collection is organized into six series, one for each of the CDE staff persons represented. The Smith collection has eleven
sub-series, ten are related to specific projects, and one for general correspondence. The projects are Federal Supplemental
Programs, Adult Education Act, 1984-1989; San Francisco State University Foundation, Staff Development Contracts, 1987-1988;
Advisory Committee on Adult Education, 1988-1989; Pacific Management Research Associates (PMRA), 1988-1992; Association of
California School Administrators (ACSA), ESL Teacher Institute, 1986-1994; Outreach and Technical Assistance Network (OTAN),
1991-1992; Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment System (CASAS); YAAES Division Regional Workshops, February, 1990; Tehama-Glen
Adult Learning Consortium, 1991; Learning Network Project, 1992-1995.
Smaller parts of the collection have only one sub-series each: the people lists of consultant James S. Lindgren (1980s); camera
ready print masters from the files of support staff person Sandi Martin (1990); correspondence and materials related to the
controversial ESL Citizenship, federal 321 program, from the files of State Director Robert A Cervantes, 1995-1996, and some
of his consultants; and correspondence and contracts related to the CCE adult education model standards efforts, from the
files of consultant Olga Uribe, 2000-2001.
The files of State Director Joan Dailey Polster, 1998-2000, have two sub-series related to the new federal law that funded
adult education in 1998 Workforce Investment Act: materials from the National Conference of State Directors of Adult Education,
September 22-25, 1998; and working files.