Some try to avoid GED test changes

The test means a diploma for those who pass, but it's about to become more difficult.

By KENT FISCHER

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 28, 2001

High schools throughout the Tampa Bay area are being besieged by people trying to take the GED test.

The applicants, which include people who last tried to pass the test in the early 1980s, are trying to beat deadlines that will dramatically alter the exam, which means a high school diploma to those who pass.

The reasons are twofold:

High school dropouts, who once thought they had an open invitation to take the GED, are trying to avoid a tougher test that will debut in January.

Current high school student are trying to beat a December deadline that will nullify scores on parts of the test they already passed.

GED testing in Pinellas County is booked up through October, and November test dates are filling up fast, school officials said. Pinellas is now offering the test twice a week and has doubled to 80 the number of people who can take the test at each site.

Hillsborough schools are expecting to test nearly 500 students each month -- double the typical amount -- between now and the end of the year. Hillsborough has added five new test dates to handle the crunch. Numbers are up substantially in Hernando County, too.

"Our teachers -- a huge network -- are being very vigilant about talking with their students and encouraging those who are ready to take it now," said Laura Sargent, a supervisor in the Pinellas school district's adult education department. "Come January, they'll all have to start from square one with a whole new test."

A year ago, Pinellas schools sent letters to students who had passed some, but not all, of the GED's five subjects. The letter encouraged the students to try and pass the remaining subjects before the end of the year. Hillsborough and Hernando have made similar attempts to contact former students.

The General Educational Development test debuted in 1942 as a way of granting a high school diploma to GIs returning from World War II. The test was opened to civilians in 1957, and although its content was last updated in 1988, the exam's format has changed little over the years.

Come January, students will have to pass a new test that is more complex and rigorous than its predecessor, both in its material and format, said Joan Auchter, the executive director of the national GED program.

For example, 25 percent of the test's math section will deal with data analysis, statistics and the functions of a scientific calculator, areas that aren't covered on the current exam.

"Twenty years ago, who cared about data analysis?" Auchter said. "But now we've got to reflect how the secondary schools have changed, and we need to measure what they measure."

Currently, students can take any of the five sections of the GED as often as needed until they pass them all. Passing scores could also be carried over from year-to-year, so students didn't have to continually take portions of the test that they had already passed.

Come January, however, students will not be able to carry over their passing scores from the current test to the revised one.

In Florida, passing all five of the GED's subjects -- math, writing, reading, science and social studies -- earns the test-taker a high school diploma. Last year, about 860,000 people took the GED nationally, and about 70 percent passed.

Although the passing scores for the new test haven't been established yet, teachers say they've been told to expect test-takers to earn lower scores.

"The state believes that this is a much more difficult test, which is why we're encouraging these students to finish up," said John Weber, an administrator with Hernando County schools.

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