Describes the action research model used by the Pennsylvania Action Research Network, summarizes impact evaluation results since 1995, and concludes that the network has had a major impact on the professional development of adult educators in the state. (SK)

Practitioner inquiry groups formed by Pennsylvania adult literacy practitioners provide an alternative to traditional professional development. The network provides opportunities for sharing contextualized knowledge and acquiring new ways of practice. (SK)

Many volunteer literacy tutors in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, have not completed their 1-year tutoring commitment. Consequently, an action research project was undertaken to determine the causes of the high tutor turnover and to identify ways of improving the tutor retention rate. All tutors involved in the program from 1998 onward were asked…

The Southwestern Pennsylvania Area Labor-Management Committee (SPALMC), which serves approximately 180 adult students annually, was experiencing inconsistencies in performance among its adult education staff. The problems included teachers arriving late 50% of the time and individualizing instruction only 70% of the time. To remedy these problems,…

The Pennsylvania Adult Literacy Practitioner Inquiry Network (PALPIN) project was conducted to establish statewide and regional inquiry groups to help adult literacy practitioners improve their performance by raising and investigating issues meaningful to their day-to-day practice. The conceptual framework underlying Philadelphia's Adult Literacy…