The federal adult education program serves over 2 million eligible adults who seek basic literacy and English language skills. Using administrative student-level panel data, this study provides the very first assessment of the relationships between adult education teacher characteristics and student achievement using hierarchical linear modeling design. Results show that students in classes with teachers with a bachelor’s or higher degree have higher post-test scores. Having a part-time adult education teacher was associated with lower odds of students transitioning to postsecondary education. Compared to teachers specialized in English as a second language, having an adult secondary education teacher is correlated with an increase in test score gains as well as higher odds of transitioning to postsecondary education. We also identified student characteristics (age, disability status, attendance hours, race, and employment status) and program characteristics (size, quality, and setting) that are statistically significantly correlated with student learning and students’ transition to postsecondary education.

联邦成人教育计划为超过 200 万寻求基本识字和英语语言技能的合格成年人提供服务。本研究使用行政学生层面的面板数据，首次使用分层线性建模设计评估成人教育教师特征与学生成绩之间的关系。结果表明，师从本科以上学历的班级学生的考后成绩更高。拥有兼职成人教育教师与学生过渡到高等教育的几率较低有关。与专门将英语作为第二语言的教师相比，拥有一名成人中学教师与考试成绩提高以及过渡到中学后教育的几率更高相关。