A new General Education Development (GED) exam is coming to Pennsylvania with a higher degree of difficulty meant to reflect the state’s Common Core Standards and a computer-only test model.
Administrators are rushing to make test takers are aware of the changes as those GED’s currently in progress will be invalidated if not completed by Dec. 31.
Administrators like Kelly Davis of the Seneca Highlands Intermediate Unit 9 are welcoming the changes while encouraging GED seekers to complete testing before those changes take effect.
“Anybody that has not finished the exam by Dec. 31 will have to start all over again,” Davis said.
The IU9 employs two full-time instructors and is contracted to serve a total of 179 students annually in McKean, Elk and Potter counties.
In its attempts to make GED participants aware of the development, the IU9 has been marketing and advertising, mailing out letters with cooperation from school districts’ and urging test takers to make an effort to complete it by the deadline.
Starting over could mean years of work lost in some cases, Davis explained.
“Just like any other change it’s not easy but it’s necessary,” she said.
The new 2014 series test will combine the writing and reading GED tests into one, in addition to math, social studies and science.
Davis said the new test is “more in line with what graduating high school students are expected to do.”
“I think down the road we’re going to find it’s positive,” she said. “We keep raising standards and if we keep raising standards at the high school level we need to make sure the GED test standards are raised as well, but I think it’s a good thing, although it’s been challenging.”
At the center of the challenge is a retooling of GED instruction to cater to the test’s new emphasis.
“We’ve had to look at some new materials and take a look at what we’re teaching and make sure we’re having people prepared for it,” Davis said. “We don’t anticipate issue with amount of time it takes someone to complete the GED but that’s something we won’t know until we get into it for a while.”
In addition, as of Jan. 1 the test will switch exclusively to a computer model eliminating paper tests once and for all. This may be a benefit, according to Davis, who testing centers and IU9 instructors have reported higher scores and passing rates associated with computerized test taking.
“My teachers sending people to take computer tests said success rate seems to be higher when people take it on the computer,” she said.
GED preparation classes are currently offered at the CareerLink locations in McKean, Potter and Elk counties. Testing sites are located at the Community Education Council in St. Marys, Potter County Education and the McKean County Jail in Smethport.
The CareerLink in Bradford is in the process of becoming a GED test center but will likely not be up and running by the first of the year, according to Davis.
