Dev Ed/ABE Toolkit: Chapter 3

For unfamiliar terms, agency names, or acronyms, please see Glossary.

Note: What you see below is a somewhat abbreviated version of this Chapter. See Dev Ed/ABE Integration Levels of Integration for additional helpful detail about each level.  

Chapter 3

Successful Minnesota partnerships have reported and demonstrated that when ABE is more deeply integrated in the Dev Ed program, you can expect improved student success rates and student persistence.

Chapter Objectives:

• To provide readers with an understanding the Dev Ed/ABE collaborative education model which utilizes integrated instruction and what that term means for the partnership
• To introduce readers to a five-level framework for using integrated instruction in the partnership, beginning with a light or lower level of integrated teaching to a higher or deeper level, and examples of how or when to use the various levels

Partnership Models and the Meaning of Integrated Instruction

To understand the many ways Dev Ed/ABE Partnerships can be implemented, we can think about it along a continuum of light integration to full integration, which refers to integrated education or instruction. This is defined as “an education model that combines occupational skills training and basic or academic skills instruction to increase and expedite the educational and career advancement of participants.” [Research Brief No. 14, “Integrated Education and Training (IET),” Department of Education, State of California, 2017, p. 1.]

Perhaps the best-known model of integrated instruction is the state of Washington’s Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) program. The program’s website states “I-BEST is a nationally recognized as an evidence-based instructional model that supports career pathways. In an I-BEST program, two instructors are paired in the classroom – one to teach professional/technical or academic content; the other to teach basic skills in reading, math, writing or English language – so students can move through school and into jobs faster.”

How a partnership decides on which level of integrated instruction to use involving the ABE and college instructor is something to be determined in the up-front planning stage, discussed in Chapter 2. What you will see below is a five-level framework for using integrated instruction in the partnership, beginning with a light or lower level of integrated teaching to a higher or deeper level, and examples of how or when to use the various levels.

The authors of the Toolkit suggest that a light or lower level of integration may be the best choice at the beginning stage of a partnership. Then once both instructors clearly see what each brings to the table, and once trust and confidence is built in the partnership, then taking steps towards deeper integration will increasingly become more beneficial for students.

Successful Minnesota partnerships have reported and demonstrated that when ABE is more deeply integrated in the Dev Ed program, you can expect improved student success rates and student persistence.

The Five Levels At-A-Glance

In asking many of the existing partnership practitioners how they might categorize levels of integration, this is the set that most clearly lays things out, from low to high integration.

1. No Integration with College, ABE Stand-Alone Courses
2. ABE-Led Developmental Courses
3. Light Integration – ABE Embedded Classroom Support
4. Moderate Integration – ABE Embedded Classroom Support and Study Skills Instruction
5. High Integration – Collaborative Concurrent Instruction/Co-Teaching Model

1. 1. No Integration with College, ABE Stand-Alone Courses

Classes in this category are ideal for Bridge/Bootcamp Prep Classes, Test Prep Courses. They are intended to prepare students for an identified common need of the local college and ABE community. They are ABE designed, facilitated, and managed.

1. 2. ABE-Led Developmental Courses

These courses are intended to be an ABE-led developmental course created with direct collaboration with college faculty on scope and sequence. The ABE instructor is responsible for academic material, instruction, classroom management, assessment, and grading.

1. 3. Light Integration- ABE Embedded Classroom Support

In this course model, the college faculty provides instruction and course assessment, while the ABE role is intended to provide support for ABE-level learners enrolled in a Dev Ed course. The college instructor provides access to instructional materials and supports the ABE instructor to do intake and testing as required. The course can be completed on campus or online depending on the course delivery method.

1. 4. Moderate Integration- ABE Embedded Classroom Support and Study Skills Instruction

In this model, the college instructor provides course content instruction for students and manages course assessment and grading. The college instructor provides access to instructional materials and has the ABE instructor to do intake and testing as needed. The college instructor may choose to include ABE-approved distance learning opportunities to students as a replacement or as a supplement to instructional offerings. The course can be completed on campus or online depending on the course delivery method. If ABE distance learning platforms are used, the ABE instructor assigns and monitors student progress and completion of tasks. In this case, the college instructor is given access to the platforms.

ABE instruction includes a heavy emphasis on reflective thinking, metacognition, and self-evaluation, developing student relationships which foster strong study skills to develop independent learners, less reliant on external support/resources, and monitoring student progress and assignment completion and providing follow-up and encouragement to increase outcomes and retention.

1. 5. High Integration – Collaborative Concurrent Instruction/Co-Teaching Model

This is a concurrent instruction/co-teaching model with college faculty and the ABE instructor sharing most of the responsibilities including planning, instruction, and some assessment, all of which should be decided upon in the planning phase. This model reflects the highest degree of integration between ABE and the college for courses taught together. A partnership would not likely start with this model. It may take several semesters for the instructors to build this kind of relationship and trust with each other. Therefore, read this section with an eye towards a partnership that through time has significantly matured.

In this model, ABE is well-integrated into the college with several hallmarks of the blending, such as:

• • • ABE having space to conduct office hours located near the cooperating department offices and/or in a place where students can access the instructor with ease
    • The ABE instructor’s role is announced to the class as a second or co-instructor, rather than as a lab instructor/support staff. Introducing the ABE instructor in this way helps to ensure that students understand the value of the ABE instructional time and more actively participate. Both instructors’ name, contact info, and office hours should be included in the Syllabus
    • The ABE instructor is included in college department meetings and briefings

See Dev Ed/ABE Integration Levels for additional helpful detail about each level. 

Conclusion

As a strategy for improving Dev Ed outcomes in Minnesota, any level of integrated instruction has the strong potential to improve student outcomes and college and career readiness. It’s reasonable to think that partners will decide to begin with the lower levels of integration initially, to test things out and to build rapport and trust among the partners involved. As experience and comfort grows, the ideal is to work toward higher levels of integration, allowing for deeper forms of collaboration and student mastery of English and/or math skills. In so doing, higher levels of student success should grow in corresponding fashion.

Additional Resources

The information presented in this chapter reflects one model for integrated instruction. However, there are others from which to choose or learn. Here are just a few:

• I-BEST Team-Teaching Models, a 9-step self-directed learning module
• How to Choose a Co-Teaching Model, by Sean Cassel. Edutopia, October 2019
• 3 Keys to More Effective Collaboration in an Inclusive Classroom, by Braxton Hall. Edutopia, May 2021

Chapter Checklist

It is best to use this checklist with your partnership team to include minimally Dev Ed and ABE managers, and Dev Ed and ABE instructors who will be partnering. If you don’t have a team yet, please return to this checklist when you do. How to begin a partnership and form a team is discussed in Chapter 2.

At the end of this chapter, your team should:

• Understand how integrated instruction can be used in a Dev Ed/ABE partnership
• Have a clear understanding of the five-level model of integrated instruction
• As a team, once you know which courses will be selected for the partnership, have a sense of which level of integrated instruction will be used. (Courses lending themselves well to Dev Ed/ABE partnerships were presented in Chapter 2.)