Washington State Board for Community & Technical Colleges, Olympia,WA
www.sbctc.edu
Director of Adult Basic Education
Jon Kerr recently joined the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges after his tenure as the Dean of Instructional Programs and Library Director at Lower Columbia College in Washington State. There he administered the Transitional Studies (I-BEST, ABE, GED, ESL, and I-TRANS); Humanities; WorkFirst, High School Completion; Library Services; Tutoring Services; and Bridges to Success programs. His initial work with Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training was as founding Director of I-BEST for the Pierce College District. Since then Jon has become a champion in promoting the initiative and providing trainings throughout Washington and in several states across the nation. As I-BEST Director, Jon was responsible for developing and directing all proposed and mandated District Integrated Basic Skills and I-BEST programs, including coordination of outreach and external communications; advising, recruitment, and retention; instructional professional development; curriculum development and data management. He worked with the I-BEST and I-TRANS teams at Lower Columbia College to pilot the first academic I-BEST program in the nation as well as one of the I-BEST for Developmental Education pilots in Washington. He has worked as an instructor, coordinator, director, and dean in secondary education, private language institutes, community colleges, and university graduate programs for over 36 years. He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in theatre and education from Central Washington University.