Oakland adult school aids students through mobile education
Oakland Adult and Career Education (OACE) has always had a policy of making learning easily accessible. Rather than operate from one centralized location, courses are held at various locations throughout the city to reach as many students as possible. OACE takes this commitment to access one step further with its mobile learning lab—an RV converted into a classroom on wheels.
Don Curtis teaches several classes throughout the week at select locations. He’s been driving and teaching in the lab since 2004, having joined OACE in 2003.
“The director of adult ed at the time asked if I would be interested in this,” Curtis remembers. “I think two other people tried to drive and teach in it and they didn’t like it for whatever reason.”
“We try to see what is trending, what’s going on out there in the world that is attracting people. We want to bring that to our students so that they have an opportunity for bigger salaries, for a more secure family lifestyle.”
Chandra Kendrix, Administrative Assistant, Oakland Adult and Career Education
The development of the learning lab came in part as a result of budget cuts for adult learning at the time, facilitating a shift from fixed locations to mobile education that better meets students’ needs. This often means taking the learning lab to other schools so parents can attend classes after dropping off their children.
“The idea of the mobile classroom was something for family literacy classes, which means that we initially went to three school sites a year and worked with parents at those school sites,” Curtis says. “That was the goal … instead of having people traveling to our physical classes, I would go to them at the school sites.”
Classes are tailored to try and meet the needs of the parents, covering topics like digital literacy and English skills. Curtis says managing the learning lab on top of teaching courses can be difficult, but says the importance and benefits of this mobile approach to education are well worth it.
“I think being able to go where students are, it’s fantastic,” Curtis says. “Not everybody has the luxury of hopping in a car and going to class.”
Chandra Kendrix, an administrative assistant at OACE since 2006, also acknowledges that budget cuts spurred the development of mobile learning. She explained funding for adult education was already in decline and nearly ended due to a statewide financial crisis in 2008.
“When the funding cuts came about, it cut our programs down to like 75%,” Kendrix said. “We went from having maybe 100 and something teachers down to maybe eight to 10.”
Kendrix recalls OACE saw a drop in enrollment and had to draw back its class offerings at the time, keeping only GED courses and the family literacy program. Legislation enacted in 2015 reformed how adult schools were funded by establishing adult school consortia—regional partnerships committed to providing adult educational and workforce services
“When that came about we had to come back with what is now called our consortia, which included our adult ed program and a work partnership with community colleges and non-profit organizations,” Kendrix says. “That helped to bring back our ESL program.”
Kendrix says this structure has enabled OACE to better meet the needs of its students. The school has since expanded its programming to include healthcare, construction and banking training courses.
“We try to see what is trending, what’s going on out there in the world that is attracting people,” Kendrix says. “We want to bring that to our students so that they have an opportunity for bigger salaries, for a more secure family lifestyle.”
As OACE continues to develop with the times, Kendrix says they want to hold to the mobile education philosophy that has been helping Oakland students for so long.
“Oakland has always been a program to meet students where they’re at,” Kendrix says. “We never stop thinking about how we can help our students.”
For more information about Oakland Adult Career and Education, visit ousd.org/adult-and-career-education.
Written by Jacob Peterson
| Regions | Classes & Topics |
|---|---|
| Bay Area California | Variety of Classes |
