The General Educational Development test (GED) has been revamped for the first time in more than a decade, and the new, more rigorous test released January 1 is intended to go beyond providing adults with the opportunity to earn a high school equivalency credential by also measuring their college- and career-readiness skills.
One reason for the changes is to make the GED better aligned to the Common Core State Standards. And like the new Common Core assessments, the GED will now be computer-based. The new test is also more expensive than the previous version. At $120″”almost double the previous cost””it will cover services like same-day scoring and disaggregated exam reports for students, according to the president of the GED Testing Service. Still, states have expressed concern about the increased costs and the potential of a computer-only exam limiting access to the test. The Education Testing Service and CTB/McGraw-Hill each developed separate but less costly high school equivalency exams that are also available now. Nine states have now severed ties with GED and will offer one of the two newly created tests. Other states have said they will offer more than one test option to allow consumers to choose their preferred version.
Another noteworthy change for GED consumers is that because of the new test content (PDF), partial passers of the previous test will need to retake the entire test, as opposed to allowing previously passing scores to roll over.
Charging low-income, non-high-school graduates more money to get a high school diploma is insane. Obviously in a desire to have students obtain a GED degree is not high on the educational agenda.