To GED or not to GED?

All this talk and heartache over the PARCC, and I almost forgot about the GED, which has also come under the ownership of Pearson. If you have been reading my blog, first of all, thanks, but also, you know that I've grown to become strongly opposed to standardized testing.

So where does that leave me with my own nonprofit, which was formed in part to provide instruction to help adults pass the GED? (GED, GED, GED...still can't find that registered trademark sign...I'm not looking that hard)

I have to ask myself, are the issues the same with the GED as with the PARCC? In a way, yes, at least to those potential students who are just leaving high school. It has become "harder" so that it better matches what public schools are expected to learn. It aligns with the common core and all that crap. It is focused on the college-bound.

But what about the 85% of the students in the program who are not just out of school? All they want is that piece of paper that says they are smart enough to pass high school, a high school they left years ago, sometimes decades. Believe it or not, these are the people who value education more than anyone...because they were denied it at some point in their lives. 

There are so many reasons people have to leave school, not just that they are lazy or not smart. Several years ago, in the UNM-Los Alamos /Bernalillo program, we all witnessed the GED graduation where two sisters and their brother, all in their 50s, received their high school diplomas. They dropped out of school a long time ago when their father died and they had to work. They didn't have to get their GED but it meant the world to them -- they were role models for their kids and grandkids.

Now the test is "harder", in efforts to make it more legitimate, I guess, and I have to wonder what will happen to those who do not pass the new test, a more expensive test and only offered online, by the way. Honestly, I really don't know if I could pass that test. If I took it and didn't pass, would I be good enough to help others pass it?

What punishment lies in store for those who still believe in, but can't get, a piece of paper that says they are smart enough? What happens to those who haven't been in school for years and who have pretty great lives despite that? Will adults who  have been out of school for years and don't pass have to return to high school or a program like mine? Will my program be flooded with new students? Will anyone lose their job because they didn't pass? What about those kids who just dropped out? If they fail, will they double their efforts, study, retake the test, and pass... or not?

No, they won't retake the test, in any of those situations. It's not that important if they can, and already do, learn from life and the Internet. Young people find this an easy idea to grasp. They already are starting to see that testing isn't that important in the greater scheme of things.

For older students in our program, though, a lot of what we do is build their self-esteem about school and learning back up, and failing the new test will not help our efforts at all.

To answer my own question, are the issues with the GED the same as with the PARCC? Yes, in many ways but one really important one. This kind of standardized testing in no way supports the students; it only works to break down self-esteem, which prevents true learning from taking place in the classroom.

Will I still offer GED prep classes? Of course I will but the main thing I want my students to learn in my class is that they are SOOO much better than a stupid test.