Serving adult learners in the following school districts:
Alexandria
Brandon-Evansville
Hancock
Herman-Norcross
Melrose
Minnewaska
Morris
Osakis
Parkers Prairie
Sauk Centre
West Central Area
Welcome and thank you for joining us! ABE will register new learners through this site and then meet learners for an in-person meeting with staff in the classroom to set up learning goals and assignments. ABE learners have access to one-on-one instruction with teachers, online and printed learning materials, staff support, and guidance to reach their educational goals.
abe program overview
Alexandria Adult Basic Education Consortium
The mission of Adult Basic Education in Minnesota is to provide adults with educational opportunities to acquire and improve their literacy skills necessary to become self-sufficient and to participate effectively as productive workers, family members, and citizens.
ABE Programming Available:
GED: National high school equivalency assessment operated by GED Testing Service. Includes a set of four tests: Math, Reasoning through Language Arts, Science and Social Studies.
Local Credit Completion Adult High School Diploma: Instructional programs for eligible adults leading to a high school diploma from a Minnesota public school district.
State Competency-Based Adult High School Diploma: Portfolio-based high school diploma completion programs for adults that embed prior experience, standardized assessment scores, ABE instruction and applied learning.
ESL: Instruction for learners whose native language is not English.
Basic Skills Enhancement: Elementary or secondary level basic skill building, such as work-related math, functional literacy, reading or writing assistance.
Family Literacy: Instructional programs for adults and their preschool aged children. Features instruction for adults in literacy, math and/or ESL, instruction in parenting and educational.developmental services for kids.
Integrated English Language and Civics Education: Civics education includes ESL, work readiness and contextualized career skills to encourage full participation in US communities and employment.
To be eligible, learner must be:
17 years old and over
not enrolled in a K-12 school
seeking a high school credential or lacking skills in any of the basic academic areas including math, reading, writing and/or speaking English
ABE Content:
Learners must have a core content goal in order to also have conditional content goals.
Core Content
Reading
Writing
Speaking
Listening
ESL/ELL/ESOL
GED/Adult Diploma
Conditional Content
Citizenship/Civics
Technology skills
Transition to higher ed
Employment readiness
Mathematics
Workforce education
Study skills
Personal, group and societal effectiveness
Knowing how to learn and solve problems
Adult Basic Education
Adult Basic Education (ABE) is available statewide at no cost to adult learners. It is administered through the Minnesota Department of Education. Each year, more than 500 delivery sites serve approximately 75,000 adult students. About one-half of these students are enrolled in English Language Learner (ELL) programs. Licensed teachers provide ABE instruction and are assisted by more than 3,000 trained volunteers.
Characteristics of an Adult Learners
Adults are highly pragmatic learners and need to see the practicality of what they learn and be able to apply that learning to their own lives.
Adult education students often need to understand the reason for acquiring knowledge and skills they see as academic as they attempt to assess themselves and their own skills realistically.
Four principles of adult learning:
Adults are autonomous and self-directed.
Adults have a foundation of life experiences.
Adults are relevancy-oriented.
Adults are practical.
Our approach to teaching adult learners is to assess current knowledge, build on skills already attained and offer instruction that meets the needs of the learner to accomplish their educational and occupational goals. The pace is set by the learner, with guidance from ABE staff as needed. We offer classroom study using textbooks and computer based programs, as well as, online learning platforms and specialized programming or tutors as necessary.
next steps: Register for class and begin learning!
Alexandria Location:
Alexandria Technical & Community College
North 700 Building - Enter Door K
Room 712
Address: 410 - 18th Avenue E., Alexandria, MN 56308
Phone: 320.762.3312
Email: abe@alexschools.org
Melrose Location:
Melrose High School Media Center
546 5th Ave NE
Wednesdays 5:00 - 7:30 pm
Morris Location:
Morris Elementary
153 S Columbia
Wednesdays 5:00 - 7:30 pm