I always knew that there was a test called the GED — a test of General Educational Development — but I knew only one person who took it. Because I taught AP and Honors level courses during my high school teaching career, almost all of my students graduated from high school on time and then went on to higher education. I had only one student who dropped out of high school when he turned 18 in the middle of his senior year and took the GED. He was apparently done with high school. He went on to college along with the other people he would have graduated with.
After I had been tutoring with Literacy for Life for a couple of years, I was asked if I wanted to work with a learner who was preparing for the GED. “Sure,” I said. I thought “how hard can it be?” I was soon to learn.
Here’s the structure of the test:
Language Arts-Writing. The scores from these two sections are combined to give the Writing Test Score. The sections are not reported separately.
· Part I: Multiple Choice (50 questions, 75 minutes)
· Part II: Essay (one essay, 45 minutes)
Social Studies (50 questions, 70 minutes)
Science (50 questions, 80 minutes)
Language Arts-Reading (40 questions, 65 minutes)
Mathematics
· Part I: with calculator (25 questions, 45 minutes)
· Part II: without calculator (25 questions, 45 minutes)
You don’t have to take all of these tests at the same time, and you can take each section as many times as you need to until you pass all sections.
The test is not ridiculously hard, but it’s no walk in the park. If you have been out of school for a while and have forgotten quadratic equations, the periodic table of the elements, and Macbeth, you’ll have some reviewing to do. Now imagine that you are not a native English speaker and that you’re trying to take this test under time limitations. It can be very difficult.
There is a Spanish version of the test, but the native language of my first GED student was neither English nor Spanish. She had a terrible time, even though she was smart and very literate in her own language. She had even completed several licensure programs (which were offered only in English) while she was working with various tutors in the literacy program. However, one of the programs she wanted to get into required evidence of her high school graduation. She had graduated from high school 20 years earlier, in a country where records were not very well kept. And oh yeah, her school no longer existed. So if she wanted to get into this program, she had to take the GED.
She took the GED several times – and failed each time, because her English language skills were not adequate for her to answer enough questions correctly in the time provided. The test offered no accommodations for people whose primary language was not English. I tutored her before she took the GED again – but she failed the test again. That happened again before we discovered another approach – the National External Diploma Program, which is a task-based program that allows learners to work at their own pace to earn a high school diploma. It requires them to perform a range of real-world tasks to evaluate their general level of knowledge and their workforce readiness, and is recognized as the equivalent of the GED. Here’s the description of this program (http://www.casas.org/nedp):
The NEDP is a hands-on learning program that assesses the high school level skills of adults and out-of-school youth. The NEDP evaluates the reading, writing, math, and workforce readiness skills with real-world relevance.
· Assesses high school-level skills awarding a traditional diploma so graduates can meet their academic and career goals
· Designed for self-directed out-of-school youth and adults with life and work experiences and a general familiarity with the computer
· Offers flexible scheduling and confidentiality
· Includes tasks for in-demand career and lifelong learning experiences in Financial Literacy, Health Literacy, Civic Literacy, Geography, History, Science, and Twenty-First Century Workplace.
· Evaluates skills based on the Common Core College and Career Readiness standards.
This program is offered through a series of modules that address all of the components of the standard GED, but the assessments are task-based rather than test-based. This process is done in coordination with the local public school system, and at the end of each module, an employee of the system interviews the learner and certifies that the module has been completed.
It’s been a few years since I worked with this program, but here are some of the tasks I remember:
For the language arts module, she had to read To Kill a Mockingbird and answer some questions about the book. In addition, my learner watched the 1962 Gregory Peck version of the movie and we talked about the differences between the book and the movie. That meant I had to read the book and watch the movie again.
For the math module, one of her tasks was to find bank websites and select the best type of savings account, taking into consideration various fees and interest rates.
For the geography module, she had to create a 3-slide PowerPoint presentation about her state (Virginia) and describe the various terrains and topography found in the state.
For the economic literacy module, she had to identify the major source of tax revenue for a nearby location (we chose Virginia Beach) and write an essay explaining how the local economy was impacted by this industry.
For the workplace literacy module, she had to write a resume and interpret a W-2 Statement.
For the Civic Literacy module, she had to write a letter to her member of Congress and attend a local School Board meeting.
For the Computer Literacy module, she had to create an Excel spreadsheet and turn it into a bar graph.
There were many more modules that I can’t think of right now. It took my learner more than a year to complete this program. But at the end of it, she was awarded her high school diploma and was granted admission to the program she wanted to get into.
If any of you try to tell me that immigrants are lazy and want handouts, come over here so I can punch you in the nose.
My step-brother took the GED when he went into the Navy. I never gave it a second thought. What a process! We certainly don't make it easy for immigrants to build a new life for themselves unless they can prove that they are at least as exceptional as every single one of us native-born people is. Good grief. Colloquialisms for non-English speakers must throw them for a loop, too.