Adult Education Partners with Minnesota State Campuses to Serve Academically Underprepared Students

Minn State/ABE Co- Requisite Affinity Group Update

Throughout Minnesota, Adult Education programs partner with their local colleges to support students in co-requisite classes. Minnesota State defines co-req as a course that is taken at the same time as another course. In this context the developmental co-requisite course supports the college level gateway course and is taken at the same time.

Affinity Group meetings bring together practitioners who wish to explore and promote effective partnership models for student success in the co-req environment. All attendees are helping to shape local and statewide collaboration strategies. The winter season Affinity Group sessions occurred in January 2025 with approximately 40 Adult Education and Minnesota State educators in attendance. Attendees received an update from the Minnesota State P-20 Office regarding the status of Minnesota State’s shift from stand-alone Developmental Education (Dev Ed) course offerings to a co-req model and heard from guest speakers on current challenges and successes in co-req partnerships.

P-20 Department Update Involving Director Anthony Miller

A recent interview with Anthony Miller provided Affinity Group members with the following update:

Phase 1 of the shift to a co-req format continues to occur this academic year, having begun last academic year. This phase features a broadly represented steering committee that guides reform efforts. Faculty work groups in the areas of math, reading, and writing provide input and recommendations to the steering committee. A separate group is charged with improvements to ESL student academic preparation practices.

The three faculty work groups have discussed and provided their perspectives involving Co-req definition and design, staffing, grading, drop/withdrawal policies, contact time, class size, and transferability. A few items yet to be more deeply discussed and determined include wrap-around supports, professional development and placement.

What is proposed for Phase 2 is a partial rollout of co-req courses across all Minnesota State campuses in 2025-26, with Phase 3 being full use of co-req coursework scheduled for the 2027-2028 school year.

Minn State/ABE Partnerships Spotlight

The January 30 meeting included guest speakers:

• Jody Greniger (Duluth Adult Educator) working with Lake Superior College on co-req writing courses
• Chris Dahlke (Winona Adult Education) working with Minnesota State Southeast College on co-req reading courses
• View the January 30 remarks and discussion (tip: forward to the 24:40 mark)

The January 31 meeting included guest speakers:

• Katie Ferrell (Austin Adult Education) partnering with Riverland Community College on co-req Algebra and Statistics courses
• Patrick Hobot (Metro North Adult Education) partnering with Anoka Ramsey and Anoka Technical College campuses on Math/Algebra co-req courses
• View the January 31 remarks and discussion (tip: forward to the 25:40 mark)