News and updates for January 2022:

• New webinar: Join us on January 25th for this month’s Tuesdays for Teachers webinar, Taking the Angst Out of Scoring the GED® RLA Extended Response at 3:30 pm ET. This session will focus on using the Extended Response Scoring Tool and other strategies to help students improve their writing skills. Register today!
• Reminder: GED test vouchers need to be purchased specifically for in-person or OP testing and don’t work for both testing delivery methods. Test vouchers for in-person and OP testing are available for purchase on GED Marketplace.

News and updates for January 2022:

• New webinar: Join us on January 25th for this month’s Tuesdays for Teachers webinar, Taking the Angst Out of Scoring the GED® RLA Extended Response at 3:30 pm ET. This session will focus on using the Extended Response Scoring Tool and other strategies to help students improve their writing skills. Register today!
• Reminder: GED test vouchers need to be purchased specifically for in-person or OP testing and don’t work for both testing delivery methods. Test vouchers for in-person and OP testing are available for purchase on GED Marketplace.

News and updates for January 2022:

• New webinar: Join us on January 25th for this month’s Tuesdays for Teachers webinar, Taking the Angst Out of Scoring the GED® RLA Extended Response at 3:30 pm ET. This session will focus on using the Extended Response Scoring Tool and other strategies to help students improve their writing skills. Register today!
• Reminder: GED test vouchers need to be purchased specifically for in-person or OP testing and don’t work for both testing delivery methods. Test vouchers for in-person and OP testing are available for purchase on GED Marketplace.

GED Testing Service is partnering with When We All Vote to encourage voter registration and emphasize the importance of participating in local elections. We believe that it is important to ensure students have the opportunity to register and have their voices heard in every election.

When We All Vote is a non-profit, nonpartisan organization that is on a mission to increase participation in every election and close the race and age voting gap. Their goal is to change the culture around voting, harness grassroots energy, and create strategic partnerships to reach every American. When We All Vote helps people register to vote, check their current registration status, find resources on voting rights, and provides links to ways you can get involved with advocacy efforts and contact elected officials.

You can join us by sharing these resources with your learners, on social media, and in your classrooms. In addition, you and your learners can register to vote or check your voter registration status by visiting vote.civicnation.org/register/ged/.

The GED test program has returned to New York and will now be the only test for earning a high school equivalency diploma in the state.

Beginning this month, students can start testing in New York at a testing center. This is the first time the GED test has been available to New York residents since 2013. All passing subtest scores from the TASC Test™, 2014-2021, and prior passing GED scores, from 2002-2013, can be used toward meeting the requirements for an HSE diploma.

There is no cost for students to take the GED test in New York. More information about the state policies related to the GED test and student eligibility is available here.

As an educator, you can also apply to become a test center in the state of New York. You can view the requirements and how to get your test center up and running by navigating here.

To learn more about the GED in New York and access professional development resources, visit our webpage dedicated to educators in New York.

You can read the full announcement from New York State’s Education Department on their website.

Staying motivated can be difficult when learners have busy lives and other priorities. However, there are many ways to help learners stay on track and motivated to earn their GED credential.

Make learning easily accessible

One of the ways that learning can be accessible, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, is by hosting online classes or learning sessions. This allows your learners to be engaged wherever they are. In addition, online classes are a way that students can fit studying and working towards their GED credential into their busy schedules. Learning can also be made accessible by providing your students with our free classroom materials. These materials are at no cost to students and include tutorials and practice questions.

Help learners work towards their short-term goals

Accomplishing short-term goals keeps learners motivated to finish their GED journey. Earning a GED credential can be tough, and it comes with many challenges, but breaking down barriers one by one helps learners feel confident. A way to help students accomplish their short-term goals is by mastering each GED test subject one at a time. Taking each subject and topic one by one allows learners to manage and master the content that they are learning easily.

Determine their need to earn their GED

Learners go on their journey to earn their GED credential for a variety of reasons. Helping your students figure out and remember why they want to earn their GED is helpful so that they start the year strong and are motivated to finish through their GED journey. In addition, it is important to remind your learners that earning their GED is an investment for their future. Sit with your learners and talk about what benefits will come if they earn their GED credential. Earning a GED credential will open doors to new jobs and educational opportunities, allow graduates to earn more money than they previously did, and grow as an individual.

Build a relationship with your learners

Building a relationship with your learners is crucial to guiding them through their GED journey. Support your learners and push them to persevere when they feel doubtful about their education. Being supportive to your learners and letting them know you are a helpful resource allows them to feel confident and will keep them motivated.

Many helpful resources are available to guide your GED instruction for learners of all levels.

You can view detailed information on the skills students need to demonstrate to pass, what is being assessed in each content area, and more. Free classroom resources include professional development webinars, tutorials, and scoring tools.

You can download free classroom materials such as tutorials, practice questions, and reference sheets. Our free tutorials are for students to become familiar with different types of test questions and how the test and calculator work. Students can view the Computer-Based Test Tutorial and Calculator Tutorial in both English and Spanish.

Some other free resources are provided to you to give your students are our free online sample tests and study guides. Your students can try a free sample test in each GED subject. These sample tests will give your students an idea of what to expect when taking the actual GED test. The study guides explain all the skills covered in the GED test and include sample questions. The study guides are available in both English and Spanish.

GED also holds a bi-monthly Tuesdays for Teachers webinar series, a free professional webinar series designed for educators. The webinar will also help you have a deeper understanding of classroom strategies and techniques for the GED test. Our past webinars have covered mathematical reasoning, GED testing accommodations, and more.

Teaching resources are available that allow you to effectively instruct and guide your students to develop the skills they need to pass the GED test successfully. Our teaching resources include an educator handbook, an overview of the GED test content, and how to teach the content to students. You can also view Performance Level Descriptors and see what skills your students need to have to earn each score level. Lastly, we also provide How-to-Guides for supporting your students. These guides are step-by-step instructions on applying for accommodations, scheduling a test, and more.

If you have not already, sign up for the InSession Educator Newsletter to get the latest news and resources at the bottom of the Professional Development page.