The work of the TSTM-SkillBlox project is supported by the Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education through AWARD R305N210025 to the American Institutes for Research (AIR). The work of the Network member projects is supported by the Institute. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent the views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education.
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Welcome to the Teaching Skills That Matter (TSTM) – SkillBlox Research Hub
Welcome to the Teaching Skills That Matter (TSTM) – SkillBlox Research Hub
This page shares updates from a multi-year research collaboration between the American Institutes for Research (AIR) and the EdTech Center @ World Education.
The study examines how open educational resources (OER) and the SkillBlox application support implementation of the Teaching Skills That Matter (TSTM) framework in adult foundational education. Developed by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE), TSTM emphasizes the skills, topic areas, and instructional approaches most relevant to adult learners. SkillBlox is a free app that helps educators locate, organize, and share open and free resources.
Our research explores how digital tools and curated OER can help teachers align instruction to the framework and strengthen learner persistence and academic outcomes. The study is part of the CREATE Adult Skills Network, funded by the Institute of Education Sciences.
Research Phases
Research Phases
Exploratory Research
Exploratory Research
AIR led an implementation study to examine how states rolled out TSTM using a train-the-trainer model and how teachers began integrating the framework into their classrooms. As part of this phase, World Education led a series of EdTech Maker Space (ETMS) events designed to accomplish three goals:
Provide professional development to teachers on how to use OER
Curate, create, and evaluate free and open resources useful for teaching TSTM
Gathering insights on how teachers search for and prioritize OER in instruction
Development Research
Development Research
Drawing on lessons from implementation study and our ETMS activities, we partnered with teachers to refine SkillBlox. Through iterative design and testing, we developed new features, which were strengthened through a feasibility and usability study.
Instructional Support Pilot
Instructional Support Pilot
The final phase is a quasi-experimental study to test expanded supports and refined tools to better understand their impact on instructional alignment and learner outcomes.
Collectively, these phases build evidence about how digital tools and open resources can support sustainable implementation of TSTM in adult education settings.
Our Blog
Our Blog
Project Resources
Project Resources
These aggregate frameworks provide a structure to support learning in five subjects relevant to adult learners: Civics Education, Digital Literacy, Financial Literacy, Health Literacy, and Workforce Preparation. They include domains, topics, and subtopics in each subject. The frameworks were developed by aggregating existing curricula, assessments, and frameworks used in adult education and compiling insights from organizations and individual instructors. Use them to support Teaching Skills That Matter-aligned instruction, to locate and use resources in SkillBlox, or as a checklist for planning instruction and assessment. This resource was developed under the Teaching Skills That Matter (TSTM)-SkillBlox Instructional Support Pilot.
Use this guide to evaluate open education resources (OER) according to five criteria: credibility, relevance, learning and support features, accessibility, and openness. The guide will help curriculum developers and teachers think through important considerations when using OER. It was developed through a process of literature review, aggregation of similar tools, and direct input from educators in an EdTech Maker Space, under the Teaching Skills That Matter (TSTM)-SkillBlox Instructional Support Pilot.
This resource is used in EdTech Maker Spaces to guide educators as they design activities with credibility, relevance, learning and support features, accessibility, and openness in mind. These are the same criteria that are included in the Resource Evaluation Guide, this time applied through the lens of design to ensure the creation of quality, reusable open education resources (OER). The guide includes a concise checklist, throughout explanations of the criteria within the checklist, and a list of sources that shaped its development. This resource was developed under the Teaching Skills That Matter (TSTM)-SkillBlox Instructional Support Pilot.
Our Team
Our Team
We are a group of researchers and professional development specialists who strongly believe that in order to make technology-rich teaching and learning equitable, teachers and learners need to be able to access quality, relevant, free, and open digital content.
Project Directors
Project Directors
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Stephanie Cronen, PhD, is a managing researcher at AIR and a nationally-recognized expert in research on adult foundational education—programming intended to improve adult literacy, numeracy, English language proficiency, and other skills needed for success in education or the workplace. Currently, she serves as a principal investigator for two Institute of Education Sciences (IES)-funded CREATE Adult Skills Network projects, including the network lead project and the Teaching Skills That Matter-SkillBlox Instructional Support Pilot Study.
Co-Principal Investigator
Jen Vanek, PhD, is a researcher and teacher educator focusing on digital literacy, online learning, and English literacy and language learning. Jen is co-principal investigator (with AIR) on two US Department of Education/Institute for Education Sciences (IES) research projects exploring technology use in adult education as part of the Create Adult Skills Network, the largest public investment made in research on adult education. She leads the TSTM-SkillBlox team at World Education.
World Education Core Team
World Education Core Team
SR. TECHNICAL ADVISOR
Jeff Goumas is a professional developer and digital learning specialist whose focus is to help educators enhance instruction through strategic use of educational technology, supported by high-quality open education resources (OER). He supports the TSTM-SkillBlox project through EdTech Maker Space design and facilitation as well as managing new feature development for SkillBlox.
TECHNICAL ADVISOR
Rachel Riggs is a teacher trainer who specializes in building educators’ capacity to implement edtech, digital resilience, and open education resources. She supports the TSTM-SkillBlox work through EdTech Maker Space design and facilitation as well as aiding in SkillBlox research and development activities.
PROJECT COORDINATOR
Justine Schade is an applied linguist and researcher with a passion for digital literacy. Justine previously worked on the EdTech Center @ World Education and Portland State’s Literacy, Language, and Technology Research Group’s collaborative project, 21CLEO. She now joins the team at World Education to support the data collection and analysis of EdTech Maker Spaces.
World Education Specialist Consultants
World Education Specialist Consultants
EDTECH MAKER SPACE LEAD -
INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN CONSULTANT
Jennifer Maddrell, PhD studies, teaches, and designs learning experiences as both a consultant and Instructor at the University of Virginia School of Education and Human Development within the Instructional Technology program. She joins the team at World Education to support the design, research, and facilitation of EdTech Maker Spaces.
SKILLBLOX TECHNICAL CONSULTANT
Javier is a co-founder of Processim Labs, a company that develops advanced college-level educational games that allow students to learn through hands-on experience. He has over a decade of experience in managing software projects, mobile apps, and websites making him a go-to expert for organizations and product teams. Javier is an innovative leader with ample knowledge and proficiency in the tech industry.
American Institutes for Research Team
American Institutes for Research Team
SENIOR ECONOMIST
Neha Nanda, PhD, is a researcher who focuses on socioeconomic issues among the underprivileged, low-skilled and low-income families and adults. She has led the design and evaluation of multiple large-scale demonstrations and evaluation studies. She is the Project Director and the co-quantitative study lead of the TSTM-SkillBlox grant to develop, and pilot test a technology tool for adult education teachers to help them better align the skills and topics they focus on in the classroom with learners’ broader needs and interests.
RESEARCHER
Amani Talwar, Ph.D., is a researcher with a focus on adult and postsecondary education. She conducts qualitative and quantitative research to support the TSTM-SkillBlox Instructional Support Pilot. Her other projects include implementation and evaluation studies involving adult learners. She has previously worked on an adult literacy research center and an adult education researcher-practitioner partnership funded by IES.
PRINCIPAL TA CONSULTANT
Cherise G. Moore, Ph.D., is a principal TA consultant at American Institutes for Research (AIR). Cherise leads OCTAE’s LINCS (lincs.ed.gov) and Teaching Skills That Matter in Adult Education projects for the U.S. Department of Education. She has extensive experience as a TA provider and practitioner in adult learning and career technical education.
RESEARCHER
Deeza-Mae Smith, M.S. is a mixed-methods Researcher with a focus on education and evaluation data. She coordinates and conducts multiple data collection activities such as student assessments and teacher surveys to determine the impact on student achievement; and surveys to gather evaluative data on project products and services. She supports both the Create Adult Skills Network lead and the TSTM-SkillBlox Instructional Support Pilot Study.
TA CONSULTANT
Adria Katka is a technical assistance consultant, instructor, and faculty trainer whose focus areas include making digital literacy, college and career readiness, and employability skills accessible for adult learners and adult education practitioners alike. She draws from roles as an instructional coach, training lead, and deputy project director for Teaching Skills That Matter (TSTM) to support professional development and teacher engagement for TSTM-SkillBlox.
SENIOR RESEARCHER
Gauri (Gee) Rege is a senior industrial-organizational researcher at AIR. She conducts applied research and consulting in the areas of human capital and workforce development for public and private employers, associations, and foundations. Her current areas of focus include projects that focus on talent pipeline development, selection and retention strategies, occupational licensing, and usability of technology tools. For the TSTM-SkillBlox Instructional Support Pilot study, Ms. Rege leads data collection efforts, including the developing the baseline and follow-up surveys, developing interview and focus group protocol, and facilitating these qualitative data collection efforts.
RESEARCHER
Maya Escueta, PhD, is a researcher with expertise in measuring the costs and impact of educational and social interventions and programs. She is the cost evaluation lead for the TSTM-SkillBlox Instructional Support Pilot Study. Other projects include multiple state-led initiatives to model the costs of child care, and other IES and EIR funded cost and impact evaluations of early childhood and school-based programs.
RESEARCH ASSISTANT
Arianna Bollens is a research assistant at American Institutes for Research (AIR), where her work focuses on issues of economic mobility. She supports quantitative and qualitative research tasks and other coordination activities as part of the TSTM-SkillBlox Instructional Support Pilot study. She earned her Bachelor’s in Sociology from the University of Southern California.
The work of the TSTM-SkillBlox project is supported by the Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education through AWARD R305N210025 to the American Institutes for Research (AIR). The work of the Network member projects is supported by the Institute. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent the views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education.
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