BUFFALO, N.Y.
(AP) -- Adults who've begun working toward their GED are being urged to
finish up this year, before the test for a high school equivalency
diploma changes and they have to start all over.
GED
Testing Service will introduce a new version of the test, given
nationwide, on Jan. 1, 2014. Developers say the first major changes
since 2002 will align the test with the new Common Core curricula
adopted by most states to increase college and career readiness. It also
will shift test-taking from pencil and paper to computer.
Joyce
Monroe, 24, is feeling the pressure as she puts in dozens of hours in
class every week at the Buffalo Educational Opportunity Center. Two
practice tests showed she's ready for writing and science but needs
slightly more work in math, along with social studies and language arts.
"I'm
really trying to get in before it changes. I'm so close," said Monroe,
who said she left high school before graduating for family reasons and
is trying to set an example for her 5-year-old daughter. "I don't want
to start all over. That would make me want to drop GED like I did high
school."
Those who administer the test have
begun to alert the million or so adults who have passed some but not all
of the five parts of the current test to complete the missing sections
by Dec. 31. If not, their scores will expire and they'll have to begin
again under the new program Jan. 1.
"If they
are in the pipeline, they need to get it done," said Dr. Danis Gehl,
education director at the University at Buffalo's Educational
Opportunity Center.
There is also financial
incentive to complete the GED this year. At $120, the computer-based
version is double the cost of the current test. Several states subsidize
some or all of the expense but the student share is widely expected to
rise.
About 700,000 people take the GED exam
yearly in the United States, said Armando Diaz, spokesman for
Washington-based GED Testing Service, the trademarked test's creator.
About 72 percent passing to earn their states' high school equivalency
credential. More than 1 million people are expected to try in 2013 in
advance of the change, a number that could strain preparation programs
and testing sites.
Although the General
Education Development exam has undergone regular updates since being
introduced in 1942, the upcoming changes are the most dramatic yet.
"We
see that higher ed has new standards, the workforce, the economy's
changing," said Diaz. "We decided it's time to completely give the
testing program a facelift."
Instead of five
sections, the test will be re-aligned into four: reasoning through
language arts, mathematical reasoning, science and social studies. The
current stand-alone essay section will be incorporated into writing
assignments within the language arts and social studies sections, Diaz
said.
"I don't think it's going to be a harder test, I just think we're testing different skills," he said.
Tashia
Malone of Buffalo is taking no chances, spending her mornings at the
Seneca Babcock Community Center's preparation class in hopes of sitting
for the two-day test in May.
"I should have
done it already. Procrastination is my middle name," said Malone, 34,
who dropped out of high school when she became pregnant. "I heard it's
going to be a lot harder and cost more next year so I want to get it in
now."
EOC Executive Director Julius Gregg
Adams suggested that adults unfamiliar with the Common Core standards, a
uniform school curriculum heavier on writing and content analysis, may
be more comfortable getting the test out of the way this year, though
he's reluctant to say the new test will be harder.
"The
current test more than likely reflects learning standards that
individuals have been exposed to when they were in secondary education,"
he said. "The Common Core standards more than likely probably reflect
standards that individuals have not been exposed to."
In
New York City, the Fund for Public Advocacy-led Campaign to Finish has
set up a hotline to refer students for tutoring, targeting those who've
taken the test before but haven't passed all sections.
"It's
going to be more difficult. It's going to cost more money next year, so
I think that motivates people," said Juan Santos, 34, who is preparing
for the GED in Methuen, Mass., with the goal of becoming a police
officer in Florida. "I couldn't believe I waited so long."
While
the GED, initially developed for U.S. military personnel who had not
completed high school, is the pathway recognized by every state toward a
high school equivalency diploma, New York and other states are
exploring development of an alternative. Without the computer
infrastructure statewide to test large numbers of people and one of the
lowest pass rates in the nation, at 59.4 percent, New York has solicited
bids for development of a test that would maintain the paper and pencil
option for the time being and more slowly phase in the Common Core
standards.
"We're trying to make the
transition to the test a little more seamless, a little softer, not put
so much stress on our programs, on our infrastructure and most
especially our students," said Kevin Smith, the State Education
Department deputy commissioner for adult career and continuing
education.
Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
