The Street Value of the GED Diploma.

Abstract

GED certification provides an opportunity for education (or training), but it is not a substitute for it, Mr. Boesel maintains. The credential should be regarded as a starting point, not as an end in itself GED testing is a big operation. Each year, some three-quarters of a million high school dropouts take the General Education Development Tests, which are produced and administered by a division of the American Council on Education (ACE). About half a million of the examinees pass and are awarded high school certification by their states or districts. In fact, GED credentials make up about one-sixth of the high school completion credentials (mostly diplomas) awarded each year. Federal student aid programs use the GED diploma as a criterion in grant and loan decisions, and federal manpower initiatives, such as the Job Training Partnership Act and the Job Corps, frequently set attainment of the GED diploma as a training goal or a criterion for training. A broad network of adult education classes, many supported by the Adult Education and Training Act, prepare participants for the exam. Private companies provide materials and services for GED test preparation. The GED diploma is commonly called a high school equivalency diploma, and federal, state, and local government statistics usually classify recipients of the GED diploma as high school graduates. According to surveys, GED examinees take the test primarily in order to qualify for further education and better jobs. To what extent do they achieve these goals? Do they do better than other dropouts? Do they do as well as regular high school graduates? And what role, if any, does the GED diploma play in these outcomes? In an effort to answer these questions, three analysts from the U.S. Department of Education - Nabeel Alsalam, Thomas Smith, and I - collected and sifted through 50 years of research on GED outcomes in post-secondary education, the military, and the civilian labor market. This article is based on the results of that effort, which are fully synthesized in a Department of Education study called Educational and Labor Market Performance of GED Recipients.(1) The Tests and Test-Takers Before examining the performance of recipients of the GED diploma, it will help to say something about the tests and the people who take them. The GED tests were developed for the Army during World War II, in part to enable veterans who had not finished high school to attend college under the planned GI Bill. The tests were drawn from the earlier Iowa Test of Educational Development and reflected progressive education's emphasis on practical learning rather than academics. In the years immediately after the war, GED test-takers were primarily veterans and servicemen, and test results were used chiefly in the college admissions process. Later, increasing numbers of civilians took the test, and states began to award high school equivalency credentials for passing it. By 1959, civilian examinees outnumbered veterans and service members taking the test. From the beginning, there have been five GED subject areas - reading, writing, math, science, and social studies. The content of the tests has changed over the years to keep up with changes in high school curricula. The tests present written passages in each of the five subject areas and pose multiple-choice questions about them. Thus there is a premium on the ability to read and understand the passages. Most, but not all, of the factual knowledge needed to answer the questions is in the passages or in supplementary sections. In 1988, a requirement for a short written essay was added, an exception to the multiple-choice rule. An ACE commission sets the minimum passing scores for the tests. Above the minimum, states are free to set their own standards for passing. Over the years, the GED tests have become more difficult to pass (critics would say less easy), both because the material has become more difficult and because the passing standards have been raised. …