GED Testing Service will be offering several presentations and professional development workshops during COABE’s 2018 Annual Conference being held March 25 through 28th at the Sheraton Grand Phoenix. While you’re at the conference be sure to stop by booth 101 to get new flyers, brochures, classroom posters and GED swag!

Here’s a rundown of the sessions we’re offering each day:

Monday, March 26th

Evidence-Based Writing Should Begin with ABE Students

This session will focus on strategies to use with ABE students to introduce them to evidence-based writing.

Presenter: Susan Pittman

When/Where: Monday, March 26th 8:00 am-9:15 am, Room: Deer Valley

What Instructors and Their Students Need to Know about GED® Extended Response

The session is designed to round out your tool chest—how best to focus your time with students in order to teach them the “how-to” of writing responses that earn points

Presenter: Daphne Atkinson

When/Where: Monday, March 26th 8:00 am-9:15 am, Room: Laveen A

Did You Know? An Introduction to the GED® Test for New Teachers

This session will highlight key instructional areas that are challenging for students and how teachers can focus instruction.

Presenters: Susan Pittman, Debi Faucette

When/Where: Monday, March 26th 11:30 am-12:45 pm, Room: Deer Valley

What’s New in Accommodations

This session will discuss the types of accommodations that are available and how to assist test takers to secure the proper documentation to request them.

Presenter: Debbie Bergtholdt

When/Where: Monday, March 26th 2:00 pm-3:15 pm, Room: CC 105B

Improve Your GED Exam Pass Rates with New Tools from GEDTS

New teacher tools from GED® Testing Service are helping teachers identify exactly where their class needs more focus to be successful on the GED® Test. New products for students will be introduced to help students practice skills and supplement classroom learning.

Presenter: CT Turner

When/Where: Monday, March 26th 2:00 pm-3:15 pm, Room: Paradise Valley

Step by Step: From the Headlines to the GED® Science Classroom

Whether it is a flyby by an asteroid, the collapse of a polar ice shelf, or sea level changes, using these headlines, instructors can create a learning environment where students can develop their scientific inquiry skills.

Presenter: Daphne Atkinson

When/Where: Monday, March 26th 3:45 pm-5:00 pm, Room: Paradise Valley

Tuesday, March 27th

GED® Program Overview: How to Thrive in This New WIOA World

From outcomes research to educator tools, this session will take a comprehensive look at the GED® program and provide insights to adult educators on how to best serve their students.

Presenter: Brian Smith

When/Where: Tuesday, March 27th 8:00 am-9:15 am, Room: CC 101A

Wednesday, March 28th

What Instructors and Their Students Need to Know about GED® Extended Response

The session is designed to round out your tool chest—how best to focus your time with students in order to teach them the “how-to” of writing responses that earn points

Presenters: Susan Pittman/ Daphne Atkinson

When/Where: Wednesday, March 28th 8:00 am-9:15 am, Room: Alhambra

Content Matters—Focus on Social Studies

This part of the workshop will focus on content in social studies that students need, as well as strategies for improving their inference skills.

Presenters: Susan Pittman/ Debi Faucette

When/Where: Wednesday, March 28th 11:00 am-12:15 pm, Room: Deer Valley

Another Angle: Developing GED® Exam Geometric Reasoning Skills

We’ll review how developing thinking skills associated with problem solving and geometric reasoning can boost overall performance—and not just in math.

Presenter: Susan Pittman

When/Where: Wednesday, March 28th 1:45 pm-3:00 pm, Room: Alhambra

According to a recent survey of GED students, 75% report that they want access to more practice questions to help them prepare for the test. GED Testing Service partnered with Aztec Software to create GED Flash™ a new online, interactive tool that functions similar to traditional flashcards, giving users the option to test their knowledge of GED test subjects with instant feedback.

Available in two versions—GED Flash, developed by GED Testing Service, for individuals studying on their own and GED Flash for Organizations™, developed by Aztec Software for adult ed programs and institutions, give users access to a database of thousands of practice questions based on the GED test subjects.

The new tool provides instant feedback on which questions students got right or wrong, giving the information they need to develop study plans and hone in on skills they need to improve to pass the test.

Having access to questions similar to those on the GED test, with the correct answers explained in a way students can understand, helps students commit to the testing process and keep their momentum.

Students studying on their own can purchase monthly access to unlimited questions through their GED.com account and each time a student logs into GED Flash they will receive additional quiz questions with the option to answer a random selection of questions or choose a specific category to focus their practice.

Aztec Software has also created the companion product–GED Flash for Organizations™–for adult education programs and instructors to use with their students. This version of the GED Flash tool allows programs and teachers to access the same questions and answers available to students with the addition of tracking and interpretive tools. These features include reports that show students’ time on task, data related to student and classroom progress and the ability to assign content areas based upon individual or class needs.

GED Flash is a study resource students and teachers can use at any point during their preparation journey, and can be accessed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from their mobile phone, tablet, or computer.

Independent learners can now purchase GED Flash for Math through GED.com. It will be available on March 20 through www.aztecsoftware.com/GEDFlash for organizations and educators. The other subjects (Science, Social Studies, Reasoning Through Language Arts) will follow in the coming months. This video has more information about GED Flash for Math for independent learners.

Later this month GED Testing Service will be attending the National Association of Workforce Boards 2018 Forum. This event is a convening of leaders from the business, government, labor and education fields to discuss key issues related to U.S. workforce development.

During the event we will have the opportunity to showcase the positive connection between the GED program and career readiness, while exploring additional ways to help bridge adult learners from adult ed to employment and further education. It will also provide an opportunity to showcase some of the changes to adult education and the GED program, and share some of the latest outcomes. It is important for us to educate this audience about the power of adult education and how essential it is in helping move adults from high school dropout into the local workforce.

Some of the information we’ll be sharing, and you can share with local policymakers and business leaders, include:

Changes to the GED program

The GED test itself is aligned with national college and career readiness standards for adult education, and the GED program as a whole was updated to help adult learners be more successful in their journey from high school dropout to the workforce. The program allows adult learners to enter the workforce immediately, and also prepared them for higher-level career and college training programs that help them compete with high school grads for jobs that pay family-sustaining wages. The program helps students take the first step of walking into a local prep program to career pathway planning after earning a GED credential.

Positive postsecondary outcomes

Since the launch of the test we have continued to track how GED graduates are performing once they earn their credential. We recently released new statistics about GED graduates and postsecondary education and the positive correlation to the GED College Ready score levels.

GED graduates are enrolling in college programs at a higher rate than ever and remaining enrolled from semester-to-semester. In addition, more colleges around the country are implementing policies related to the College Ready score levels.

WIOA and career readiness

WIOA places a strong focus on preparing learners for in-demand jobs by equipping them with academic, technical, and employability skills necessary for employment.

The GED credential prepares test takers for career and technical training that helps accelerate entering the workforce.

Middle skill jobs

The demand to fill middle skill jobs—those that require more than a high school diploma but less than a four-year degree—continues to grow. GED graduates are excellent candidates for meeting this need that accounts for 40 percent of all job growth.

The Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce states that there are 30 million “good jobs” in the United States that pay without a bachelor’s degree—with median earnings of $55,000 annually.

GED Testing Service has also continued to explore ways to help adult learners in the workforce earn their GED credential with the financial support of their current employer.

GEDWorks

The GEDWorks program recently celebrated 2,000 graduates earning their GED credential. The program was designed to be flexible around busy work schedules and gives participants the resources they need to earn their GED credential with no financial commitment.

As more employers join the GEDWorks family it creates additional opportunities to upskill adult learners while giving them the credential they need to pursue further education and career advancement.

If you’re looking for additional resources, COABE’s Educate and Elevate campaign toolkit has talking points for you to use with local media and policymakers. The kit has downloadable fact sheets, templates to send letters and emails to your state legislators, webinars and more.

Digital literacy is an essential skill for adult learners in today’s technology-driven society.According to Digital Promise an estimated 36 million adults in the U.S. lack the basic math, language, and digital literacy skills necessary to find well-paying jobs and navigate public and social systems.

Digital literacy is defined as the ability to find, evaluate, utilize, share, and create content using information technologies (including but not limited to smartphones, tablets, laptops and traditional desktop PCs) and the Internet.

Adult learners without digital literacy skills are more likely to have difficulty looking for employment, taking classes, performing job-related duties and completing daily personal tasks.

In 2014, the GED test program introduced a new computer format to replace paper and pencil. This change has helped streamline the registration process for testers with the ability to schedule a test 24/7, test at their own pace, type their essays and receive unofficial results instantly. While all of these enhancements have created an improved testing experience, what’s most important is how the GED test is leveraging skills testers are already using or will be expected to use moving forward in postsecondary education and the workforce.

Adult education programs are increasingly adding computer classes to their curriculums, and many others are emphasizing the use of computers, smartphones and other mobile devices in the classroom as a study aid.

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) specifically names digital literacy among the list of programs, activities or services that comprise workforce preparation. This connection relates strongly to the vast amount of employment resources available online. A survey done by the Pew Research Center found that 54% of U.S. adults have gone online to look for job information and 45% have applied for a job online. This same survey found that roughly one-in-five adults with a high school diploma or less indicated that it would not be easy to contact a potential employer via email, find programs online that help job seekers, fill out an online job application, or find lists online of available jobs in their local area.

We do understand the challenge acquiring computer skills may present for adult learners with little to no background knowledge or experience. When we launched the new GED test program we made a commitment to offer mobile-friendly and technology-based study tools to help students become familiar with the computer skills they need for the official GED test. The test preparation journey is fully-integrated with technology from start to finish. Students begin with the creation of a GED.com account and often reach the final steps in their journey with the GED Ready practice test which mimics the official test experience.

The importance of digital literacy expands beyond an adult learner’s ability to successfully navigate the GED test. It is our goal and that of adult education programs to equip GED graduates with the skills they need to thrive and a pathway to pursue postsecondary education, their career goals and beyond.

If you’re looking for more information about integrating technology in the classroom and digital literacy, this professional development archive from LINCS offers resources for students, instructors and programs.

This month we’re highlighting GED® State Relationship Manager Thomas Ross in our Q&A feature.