GED Exam Undergoing Changes
Individuals who never graduated from high school may find that earning the GED is a goal they hope to achieve as a way to attain a higher paying job, or employment in general. A GED is the equivalent of having earned a high school diploma. The test has not changed in decades but test takers in 2014 will be faced with a new test than individuals who took it in the past may have seen. The American Council on Education (ACE), the organization responsible for developing the General Educational Development test, will make changes as a way to not only allow adults to earn the high school diploma equivalent but to move them toward higher education.
The test changes will take place beginning in the 2014 testing year. Originally geared to returning World War II veterans as a way to let those who’d served the country before they graduated high school earn a diploma, the GED is not just high school dropouts. The average test taker has been out of high school for close to a decade before they decide to take the test.
The GED 21st Century Initiative will be offered in two separate testing levels – the high school equivalency and a career and college readiness test. Individuals will still be expected to master proficiencies in reading, writing, math, social studies science. No longer will the test takers take the exam with paper and pencil as the test is going digital in 2014. The change to digital testing will not negate the need for those taking the exam to take the test at an official GED testing site.
Scores for the specific areas of the test haven’t been established yet to test proficiency but will likely be changed. The changes in the GED are felt necessary because of the ever-changing economic times and it’s been harder for those who don’t graduate high school to find jobs.
The figures are astonishing when you consider that if half of the 1.3 billion United States high school drop outs got jobs once they graduated that $8 billion would be pumped back into the economy. Earning a GED not only helps someone become a more attractive job applicant but also can help individuals who are employed compete for promotions and may make them eligible for higher wages than they earned before taking the GED.
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