Adult Basic Education
Adult Basic Education Tim VINCENT
Adult Basic Education which is known by its acronym form ABE in most educational circles is focused on getting adult students a GED and preparing them for higher education while also aiding them in particular aspects of adult life such as, financial planning, family relations, and work placement. The area of adult basic education which will be focused on in this paper is the English language learner aspect of ABE, or ELL aspect of ABE. First we will cover the basic aspects of ABE here in Minnesota. According to ("Minnesota department of," 2012), each year over 500 delivery cites serve approximately 75,000 students and are assisted by more than 3,000 trained volunteers. Even though the majority of ABE students are above the age of 18, the minimum age requirement is 16 years of age and must not be enrolled in public k-12 or private school. The goals of ABE ELL are to attain employment and or better their current employment, achieve high school equivalency (G.E.D or H.S. Diploma), attain skills necessary to enter post secondary education and training, exit public welfare and become self sufficient, learn to speak and write in English, master basic education skills to help their children succeed in school, become a U.S. Citizen and participate in Democratic Society, and of course to gain self-esteem personal confidence and sense of personal and civic responsibility. Many ABE ELL programs such as the Union Gospel Mission work mainly teaching students only English not specifically with the goal of helping students to attain a GED, their goal is simply to teach the students English. The basic ABE classroom is offered morning, afternoons, evenings and weekends although many classes prefer to set their times in the evenings as a large percentage of the students are working during the afternoons in minimum wage jobs they wish to upgrade to higher paying ones through ABE ELL.
Adult Basic Education which is known by its acronym form ABE in most educational circles is focused on getting adult students a GED and preparing them for higher education while also aiding them in particular aspects of adult life such as, financial planning, family relations, and work placement. The area of adult basic education which will be focused on in this paper is the English language learner aspect of ABE, or ELL aspect of ABE. First we will cover the basic aspects of ABE here in Minnesota. According to ("Minnesota department of," 2012), each year over 500 delivery cites serve approximately 75,000 students and are assisted by more than 3,000 trained volunteers. Even though the majority of ABE students are above the age of 18, the minimum age requirement is 16 years of age and must not be enrolled in public k-12 or private school. The goals of ABE ELL are to attain employment and or better their current employment, achieve high school equivalency (G.E.D or H.S. Diploma), attain skills necessary to enter post secondary education and training, exit public welfare and become self sufficient, learn to speak and write in English, master basic education skills to help their children succeed in school, become a U.S. Citizen and participate in Democratic Society, and of course to gain self-esteem personal confidence and sense of personal and civic responsibility. Many ABE ELL programs such as the Union Gospel Mission work mainly teaching students only English not specifically with the goal of helping students to attain a GED, their goal is simply to teach the students English. The basic ABE classroom is offered morning, afternoons, evenings and weekends although many classes prefer to set their times in the evenings as a large percentage of the students are working during the afternoons in minimum wage jobs they wish to upgrade to higher paying ones through ABE ELL.