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The COABE Journal is a theme-oriented and practitioner-focused journal that is published semi-annually. The COABE Journal seeks contributions from adult education professionals to share best practices, research, innovations, reflections, and reviews for the Spring 2024 edition, focusing on the theme of Advocacy for Adult Education

Adult Education is an impactful field that transforms the lives of adult learners, their families, and communities, yet it is often overlooked, underfunded, and misunderstood, particularly by local, state, and national decision-makers. In recent years, adult education has gained the attention of government leaders at local, state, and national levels through coordinated advocacy efforts. Many advocacy efforts center on sharing student success stories, economic returns, cost-effective delivery of instruction, and the positive impact adult education has had on families and communities. Typically, advocacy campaigns involve in-person visits to local government offices, statehouses, and Capitol Hill, but online meetings with officials and staffers are gaining in popularity and effectiveness.

Over the past decade, COABE has taken a leading role in advocating for adult education programs with a focus on increasing funding and capacity building to foster learner, program, and community success. These efforts have inspired and have been inspired by efforts at the local and state levels.  

The “Advocacy for Adult Education” edition of the COABE Journal seeks article submissions focusing on adult education advocacy efforts, models, campaigns, and partnerships that have positively impacted and empowered learners and their programs. Submissions presenting replicable models and techniques are of particular interest and encouraged.  

Articles for consideration should focus on topics such as those listed below and follow the criteria for the type of article noted in the COABE Journal submission guidelines and be formatted according to the style of the 7th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. Check here for general paper formatting, grammar, and citation and reference guidelines. Please review and apply the principles outlined in the COABE Journal Style Guide prior to submitting your article.

The submission deadline is October 19, 2023.

Suggested Topics:

Models for Adult Education Advocacy:

  • Cooperative efforts between like-minded organizations (state associations, educational entities, national organizations, etc.)
  • The development and execution of statewide campaigns and best practices for impactful advocacy
  • Grassroots advocacy formed around specific issues such as funding, program cuts, or reorganization
  • Advocacy featuring student success stories
  • Mail/email/social media-based advocacy efforts and their impact
  • Student-led advocacy efforts and training
  • Classroom activities and program/community initiatives that promote and facilitate student advocacy and civic engagement

Reflections on advocacy practices and their impact on adult education students, practitioners, and programs:

  • Teacher/program advocacy efforts and their impact
  • Student advocacy efforts and their impact
  • Efforts for forming impactful advocacy partnerships
  • Advocacy efforts resulting in tangible results for adult learners and programs
  • Remote advocacy efforts (email, social media, mail, and calling campaigns)

Submission Guidelines

Instructional Practices and Learner Engagement/Program Development and Innovations (Double-Anonymous Peer Review) submissions should focus on best innovative practices for engaging learners in instructional settings and/or programs with unique characteristics or innovative characteristics that yield exceptional adult learner outcomes. These articles should provide evidence of effectiveness and positive impact on adult learners so that administrators and practitioners can replicate such innovations in their practice. Authorship is limited to those who have made substantive contributions to the manuscript and should be capped at five. Submissions should range between 2,000 and 5,000 words.

Original Research and Theory to Practice (Double-Anonymous Peer Review) submissions include original quantitative and qualitative research and/or the effective integration of educational theory to practice. These pieces aim to inspire others to apply these findings and/or practices to their adult education settings or contexts. Authorship is limited to those who have made substantive contributions to the manuscript and should be capped at five. Submissions should range between 3,000 and 5,000 words.

Innovative/Effective Material Integration (Double-Anonymous Peer Review) submissions should focus on innovative or cutting-edge practices that integrate print, electronic, software, or other technologies that demonstrate effective student understanding and outcomes. Manuscripts should present concise overviews of the technologies/materials, including relevant publications, URLs, or other information for accessing the resource. Readers should be able to effectively integrate these materials into their adult education settings, expecting similar learner impact and outcomes. Authorship is limited to those who have made substantive contributions to the manuscript and should be capped at three. Submissions should range between 1,500 and 2,500 words.

Reflection Essays (Editorial Review) include thoughtful discussions on issues (societal, policy, political, theoretical, etc.) and their impact on adult education administrators, practitioners, learners, or other stakeholders. These pieces may be written in first-person narrative form to provoke thoughtful reflection in the reader. Authorship is limited to two. Submissions should range between 1,000 and 1,200 words.

Review Essays (Editorial Review) should discuss recently published books, instructional materials, or online instructional resources (websites, YouTube, TED Talks, etc.) that adult education administrators, practitioners, learners, or other stakeholders might find useful in their practice. These materials may include commercially available resources; however, such reviews should focus on the utility of the materials in adult education settings and should not be submitted by the resources’ author, an employee, or an affiliate of the project or publisher. Authorship is limited to two. Submissions should range between 800 and 1,200 words.

If you wish to submit a reflection piece, please contact journal@coabe.org before you begin writing. This is an important step in the process.

 

Each submission should be written in APA 7th edition style format and also include

  • A 200-word abstract giving an overview of what the article will cover.
  • A minimum of five keywords that researchers can use to find the article in the future.
  • A 50-100 word bio of each author, written in the third person.