ABLE/GED class sites, schedules
Clark State Community College
Brinkman Educational Center
100 S. Limestone St., Springfield
Wednesday & Thursday: 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Tuesday & Thursday: 3-5 p.m., 5-7 p.m.
Keifer Academy School
601 Selma Road, Springfield
Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday: 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Family Literacy Program Site
Clark Early Childhood Education Center
1500 W. Jefferson St., Springfield
Monday through Thursday: 9 a.m.-noon
For more informaton, call 937-505-4355 and ask for Tina Callahan or Kelly Winggins or e-mail callahant@spr.k12.oh.us or kwiggins@spr.k12.oh.us
OIC of Clark County YouthBuild Program
10 S. Yellow Springs St.
Contact: Neal Browning
Phone: 937-323-6461
Complete coverage
You can count on the Springfield News-Sun to keep you up to date on all the key local education and jobs issues.
By The Numbers
$120: Cost of new computerized GED test
$40: Cost of old GED test
53%: Drop in passage rates in the first year when test was changed 10 years ago
The number of people taking and passing the GED dropped significantly last year after the test was updated, causing concern among lawmakers.
The test was changed to align with the controversial Common Core learning standards, and legislators are expected to examine the issue and possibly discuss potential changes this fall, said Senator Peggy Lehner, R-Kettering and chair of the Senate Education Committee.
The Ohio Department of Education told The Columbus Dispatch recently that judging by 2015 numbers so far, about 3,700 GED certificates would be awarded this year. That is a big drop from last year, less than a quarter of the 16,500 Ohioans on average who got GEDs each year between 2000-2013.
However, that number is up from 2014, when only 2,164 Ohioans passed the test, down from more than 15,000 the previous year. That is an 86 percent drop.
“The cost (of the GED test) has gone up,” Lehner said. “It has also gone online, primarily, rather than the paper and pencil test. It’s increased in its rigor. There are multiple changes that have taken place that could explain both why people are choosing not to take it and why they are not passing it. But it’s a little bit difficult at this point to know exactly which of those is driving fewer people to take it.”
Multiple suggestions for changes have been made to legislators and education officials, including using an alternative, competing test instead of the current GED test or offering two separate tests — a job seeking GED and college entrance GED.
“If the purpose of the GED is to be an alternative way for someone to get into college who hasn’t graduated from high school, that’s a very different goal than someone who is just trying to just get a job,” Lehner said. “If it’s to demonstrate that they have the basic skills to do what is primarily an unskilled job, it doesn’t need to be as rigorous as if it’s being used to help someone get into college.”
A GED is often a requirement for employment, and some are concerned that if the test is too difficult it could delay or prevent test takers’ efforts to obtain a job.
Ana Fiscal, 27, of Medway, said she’s studying to get a GED to get a better job. She started studying for the test last year because all of the jobs she applied for say she needs a GED.
Fiscal has taken the practice test and so far she says the test is “a little bit difficult.”
Lataya Pope, 35, of Springfield, said she has been studying for the current GED since last year, but has wanted to take the test for years.
Pope said she dealt with bullying and a lack of support during her high school years, but now that she’s a mother and has her own family, she’s ready to get her certificate.
“I want to get it for myself,” Pope said. “I want to further my education.”
Test standards increase
The GED Testing Service, a joint venture between the American Council on Education and Pearson, made changes to the test Jan. 2, 2014.
The updates were made due in part to concerns from employers, the military and colleges that recipients of the previous GED test were not college ready and did not have the skills needed to be successful in the workforce, said Scott Salesses, State Relationship Manager for the GED Testing Service.
Salesses said the GED Testing Service typically updates its tests every 10 years as high school curriculum changes.
The previous GED test was based on late 1990s high school curriculum, while the new GED test standards were raised to match the current 12th grade Common Core learning standards.
Common Core curriculum standards were passed by state lawmakers in 2010, but last year were the focus of contentious hearings in the Ohio House Rules Committee.
The new computerized GED test costs $120, up from $40. Test takers can get an $80 voucher after contacting a career technical center. Those who do not pass the GED test can retake it, which costs $10 per subject area test.
The test includes four sections — math, reasoning through language arts, social studies and science — and focuses on problem solving and critical thinking skills, he said.
“What we’re focused on is the people who are passing this new test,” Salesses said. “It is a more rigorous test. It is our hope that they will be better prepared to enter post-secondary, better prepared to enter the workforce, better prepared to compete with high school graduates.”
Salesses said officials anticipated a decline in the number of people passing the GED after the changes were made, especially since they were more significant than in previous years.
Test results are up in Ohio and nationwide this year compared to last year, he added.
“It’s trending in the right direction, it’s just a matter of time,” Salesses said.
When the GED test was updated about 10 years ago, Lehner said, the state saw a 53 percent drop in passage rates in the first year. But after a couple years those numbers improved.
It’s not unusual for the passage rates to drop after changes to the test, she added, but the greater concern is that fewer people are taking the test.
Joe Frank, a spokesman for the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, said Indiana was one of about 49 states that began looking at alternative tests after learning in 2013 that the GED test would become all computer-based and would double in price.
Indiana selected the Mcgraw-Hill Test Assessing Secondary Completion (TASC), a national high school equivalency exam that also increased in rigor, but was paper-based and less costly.
“We as a state need to still retain the ability to take a paper-based test for the more rural areas and for the department of corrections and also county law enforcement jails, etc. Plus the price of the (GED) test was going to be really problematic for folks taking the test,” Frank said.
The completion percentages for the TASC are in the 80s, Frank said. But there was a drop in the number of people taking the test in the first year because of a push in 2013 to get test takers to complete the exam before test changes were made, he added.
“We’re pretty happy with where we are right now,” Frank said.
Impact on GED education centers
Critics of the GED test say it is now too difficult and too costly for adults seeking a GED, which is often required for employment.
But adult education officials and GED instructors say the new test simply requires more study and preparation to successfully pass.
Neal Browning, director of the Opportunities Industrialization Center of Clark County YouthBuild Program, offers participants a nine-month program that includes GED preparation and construction trade and occupational training. Prior to the changes, participants could study for about a month and take the GED test that could take several hours to complete, he said.
“It’s way more engaged than it used to be,” Browning said. “You have to actually study through these sections and these books that we bought. Some people are coming out with more computer (skills).
“It’s working, but it’s more of a long-term goal now instead of coming in here for 30 days and 60 days and then be ready to take it,” he continued. “You have to really, really be in attendance and go over the book. It takes a least seven and a half months.”
Browning said residents seeking a GED come in at different levels of readiness for the test, but OIC increased the length of its program to ensure participants are better prepared to take the test.
Kelly Wiggins, coordinator for the Adult Basic and Literacy Education/GED program, said the new test requires a higher level of skills.
“Across the content areas, there’s critical thinking and problem solving,” she said. “The change in the writing is evidence-based now … Before they were doing essay writing, where now it’s more evidence-based and analytical writing.”
There is also some high-level math, she added, and an advantage of the new test is four sections instead of five. Students can also take the test a section at a time.
Wiggins said it’s too early to judge the impact of the new test, noting educators and students are still in a “transition” phase.
Legislation on GED possible by year-end
Lehner said legislators will discuss if any changes are needed this fall when legislators return to Columbus. Officials are beyond watching GED test data, she added, and have reached the discussion phase with the Ohio Department of Education as to what needs to be done.
Other suggestions for changes have included giving people more options such as a paper and pencil test instead of only offering the computerized test as well as reducing the cost of the exam, Lehner said.
However, moving away from the current GED exam is something that has been mentioned, she added, but is not being strongly considered at this point.
“I certainly don’t want to overstate (switching to an alternative test). We certainly do not have a bid out for an alternative test,” Lehner said. “We don’t really have official results back on the test at this point. It’s too early.
“We’re just seeing some preliminary drops in both people taking it and people passing it,” she continued. “It’s too early to say exactly what might happen here, but there is definitely concern in lots of quarters.”
Lehner said officials need to determine the reason fewer people are taking and passing the test.
“If it gets to the point that we can say they’re not taking it because its online or it’s not the cost, it’s the test itself that’s deterring people from taking it, then I think we are more likely to look at an alternative test or have more patience to see what happens after a year or two of adjustment,” she said.
Frank said Indiana officials were concerned that an all computer-based test would eliminate a large percentage of providers, who would not be able to afford the hefty cost of the infrastructure needed for a computerized test.
“We were more concerned about the ability for folks to be able to access the curriculum and test all across the state more so than whether people are able to do the test on computer-based testing,” Frank said.
Lerner expects to see legislation on the issue before the end of the year.
“I don’t think the status quo is acceptable,” she said. “It might change just as people get used to the test. But it is our goal to have as many people obtain some kind of post-secondary training or college experience.
“We know to be successful in the 21st century, that’s going to be necessary,” she continued. “We need a test that accurately reflects those skills. But we also need a test that is going to not serve as a barrier to people getting those credentials.”
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