Ohio will offer GED testing by computer

Ohio will soon offer GED tests by computer at five sites, including the Greene County Career Center, as part of the testing service’s move to make all testing computerized by 2014.

Ohio is the nation’s 26th state to implement the computer tests, which officials hope will make the process easier and more accessible for the nearly 1.4 million Ohio adults who don’t have a high school diploma or equivalency. One adult education proponent said there are still unanswered questions about how the computerized testing will perform when used widely, while others cite a three-fold increase in the cost as a potential deterrent for some prospective takers.

Registration for the Greene County Career Center’s computer tests begins today, and the first tests will be given on Oct. 2. Those tests will be offered two days per week to start, and the center hopes it can grow interest and add testing times in the future.

Officials say the computerized tests will help takers by immediately offering results and making registration available online instead of forcing them to call individual testing centers for hours and availability. Owens Community College in Toledo, Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland, Marion Technical College in Marion and Belmont College in St. Clairsville also will offer the computer tests in Ohio’s pilot program.

Last year, 20,275 in Ohio took a GED test, and 14,959 passed.

“It certainly streamlines the testing process,” said John Charlton, a spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Education. “It’s important to move very quickly to get into job training programs and other types of education, and this should help them do it fairly quickly.”

The GED Testing Service first introduced computer testing in January, and more than 10,000 computerized tests have been taken since. States joined the effort quickly, in part preparing for the GED’s move to computer-only testing in 2014.

Aside from working only on computer, the tests after 2013 will increase to two performance levels. Takers can qualify for high school equivalency or “career and college readiness endorsement,” which they can use to encourage continued training or education.

“A lot of jobs out there you can’t get with a GED or high school diploma,” said CT Turner, a spokesperson for GED Testing Service. “You need some other form of training or education, and this is another stepping stone.”

Officials say the computer tests will allow test-takers to move from one section to another without waiting for others in the group to finish, as is required with paper testing. Registration is available at gedtestingservice.com.

The Greene County Career Center has already worked with the GED Testing Service’s partner, Pearson VUE, for computer testing in other arenas, which helped it become one of the five state sites, said Barbara Wagner, the center’s adult workforce education director. The center plans to offer computer testing from 3:30 to 10 p.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and it will reevaluate its offerings in December.

Wagner said the most significant aspect of the new testing is the quick results.

“If your job demands you having a high school equivalency and you have to wait six weeks to get results back, that can be very difficult,” Wagner said. “In this test you get results immediately, and that’s how much faster you can get back in the workforce.”

Some have concerns about the new testing. Robert Seaman, president of the Ohio Association for Adult and Continuing Education and director of Scioto County ABLE (Adult Basic Literacy Education), said the increased cost could deter some from taking the test. It will increase from $40 for all five sections in the paper version to $24 for each section ($120 total) on computer.

Another concern is that some test-takers have limited or no computer skills.

“I had a student who just recently earned his GED who is 75 years old,” Seaman said. “His computer skills in relationship to my computer skills are completely different. People who don’t use a computer very often will have a much more difficult time.”

The computer testing is meant, in part, to encourage those without computer skills to learn them, Wagner said. Officials said they are uncertain what kind of demand to expect in Ohio, but they hope to reach more Ohioans without diplomas or equivalencies.

“It’s going to be, like any transition, slow at first,” Wagner said. “But I look for more people to be taking the test (in the future) than do now.”

About the Author