National College Transition Network

ABE to College Transition: A Resource for ABE and ESOL Teachers and Programs

ABE-to-College Transition Program
Caribou Adult Education
75 Bennett Drive
Caribou, ME 04736
Tel: (207) 493-4266
Fax: (207) 498-3857
Roger Dyer, Coordinator
Email: Rdyer@mail.caribouschools.org

Caribou Adult Education is part of the Caribou School Department, providing literacy related services within the local community as well as in several communities in the surrounding area. Students have come from as far away as 50 miles from our site. Caribou Adult Education offers High School Diploma, ABE and GED Programs in addition to a variety of vocational, technical and enrichment classes. Caribou Adult Education offers the ABE-to-College Transition Program serving central Aroostook County and is an Equipped for the Future (EFF) Implementation site.

The Caribou Adult Education ABE-to-College Transition Program features an academic component with four subject matter areas as well as counseling, tutoring, and mentoring components. The primary objective of our program is to minimize (or eliminate) the number of remedial classes our students are required to take during their first semester or year in college.

The academic component of the program consists of 36 hours of instruction in each of four major elements including reading/writing, review math/algebra essentials, computer basics and science fundamentals. The Program meets for 12 weeks from 10 AM until 3 PM on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Students attend classes for Reading/Writing, Math (review or algebra), Computers, and Science. Tutoring and College Bound workshop sessions are provided weekly. Students also receive academic and career counseling as part of the College Transition Program. The Mentoring effort provides each student entering college with an upper-class "buddy", who was a former graduate of our program, as an aid in easing the transition into college (where to go, who to see, etc.).
The program is free and open to any non-traditional student who has a High-School Diploma, Adult Education or Alternative High-School Diploma, or General Equivalency Diploma (GED). The program meets at the Learning Center on Bennett Drive in Caribou. The next class is scheduled to begin on Tuesday 12 October 2004, ending on Thursday 13 January 2005. Class size is limited to a maximum of eighteen.
Caribou Adult Education collaborates with the University of Maine in Presque Isle (UMPI) and the Northern Maine Community College (NMCC) on the ABE-to-College Transition Program. These are the schools of choice for almost all the students in our program. The Maine Educational Opportunity Commission (MEOC) Program has been especially active in providing support for our program. Their staff provides workshops on College Admissions, Financial Aid, the Accuplacer Test, and Study Skills. Caribou is an off-site campus for NMCC. Since many of our students are also workers, economic advancement is a common thread in their education plans.

Collaborating Colleges:

University of Maine at Presque Isle (UMPI)
http://www.umpi.maine.edu/flash/index.html

Northern Maine Community College (NMCC)
http://www.nmcc.edu/

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