As we recently started the last quarter of the year, we wanted to share the momentum powered by our successful GED® Annual Conference last July with 500 participants. Since then, our entire GED Testing Service team has continued engaging with adult learning communities in diverse settings and through media, and events. We have connected with more than 8,200 educators and administrators since August this year. Our team has also presented at 32 conferences and forums in 23 states. We look forward to the engagement opportunities we have lined up for the rest of the year. We are pleased to share these initiatives with you and recognize your daily work in helping our learners grow, develop, and move forward.

Whether at an in-person engagement opportunity or online, you help us in our mission to always “put the learner in the center” of all we do. We will continue telling their inspiring student success stories! We have found that these success stories can be the impulse a learner needs to start their path toward GED certification. These stories of accomplishments can also be the nudge our inactive learners need to keep motivated and complete their GED.

We partnered with innovative programs like the DisruptED Podcast to further our outreach and communication channels. I shared the support and resources we offer GED learners and all “their untapped dreams” in this podcast. I was also proud to serve on a panel with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation on the very timely topic of skills-based learning. You can learn more about the thought leaders who participated in the Talent Forward series.

We will end the month strong with our first-ever GED Tech Apprenticeship™ Job Expo on October 26th in Los Angeles. Students will have the opportunity to learn about the GED Tech Apprenticeship™ program, meet our network of employers ready to hire GED grads and participate in interviews for jobs.

Let’s share the energy of our mission and end the quarter and the year strong! Let’s continue the momentum to help learners realize their dreams.

Lastly, we are happy to share that four new states will join the GED team. Learn more about them in the November issue of In Session.

This last week we are honored to celebrate Indigenous People’s Day! This day, proclaimed by President Biden in 2022, to be recognized on October 9th, is also called First People’s Day or Native American Day!

Today, we recognize the many accomplishments, achievements, and contributions of Indigenous people in American history, society, and culture. Do you know about the things developed by Indigenous People? Native Americans created the first chewing gum! You have surely come across several inventions in your leisure time – things like canoeing, lacrosse, hammocks, and kayaks. There were also discoveries made that led the way in medicine, such as pain relievers and mouthwash.

We honor all of these contributions that have been adopted in America. We also acknowledge that this community of people have faced extraordinary challenges over the years and into the present day. Throughout history, the Indigenous people have encountered genocide, dislocation, intolerable living conditions, physical, mental, and social abuse in a way that lends itself to incomprehensible trauma.

The White House Proclamation signed on October 7, 2022, appointed Deb Haaland as Secretary of the Interior, the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary, along with more than 50 other Native Americans now in significant roles across the executive branch. With the understanding that there is so much more to do, this action raises the voices of the Native communities in effort to restore dignity, justice, and good faith.

To demonstrate our respect to our Native American communities, at GED events from now on, we will honor our Indigenous communities by starting the meetings with a land acknowledgment similar to this: We would like to honor all the ancestral stewards of this land on which we meet today and their descendants living in over 1,000 Tribes, Nations, Bands, Pueblos, Communities or Native Villages.

To learn more about Indigenous People’s Day and get to know the life and history of Native Americans, check out these resources:

A Proclamation on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, 2022 | The White House

The Native American Government That Helped Inspire the US Constitution: https://www.history.com/news/iroquois-confederacy-influence-us-constitution

10 Native American Inventions Commonly Used Today: https://www.history.com/news/native-american-inventions

Indigenous Peoples’ Day: Things You Wouldn’t Have Without Native Americans: https://newsone.com/4230030/native-americans-contributions-america/

European Colonizers Killed So Many Native Americans That It Changed the Global Climate https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/01/world/european-colonization-climate-change-trnd/index.html

Native American Life Today: https://pages.nativehope.com/native-americans-today

Native American Living Conditions Today: http://www.nativepartnership.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pwna_living_conditions

Earth system impacts of the European arrival and Great Dying in the Americas after 1492 – ScienceDirect

You may recall last April, we interviewed our GED® Testing Service Director of Product Management, Jane Bledsoe, about the official GED mobile application. Here are some updates to our mobile app and how you can help us further the development of this vital tool for GED learners.

While the primary audience for the app is the learners who are preparing for the GED on their own, adult educators can also use the app. The app is like a ‘virtual advisor’ in your pocket, helping the learner organize their path to taking and passing the GED tests. In doing so, learners will meet Virtual Advisor character, Syd. This character celebrates with learners as they make their way through practice questions, scheduling tests, and completing milestones.

Our research found that 18% of candidates who create an account on GED.com make progress by testing within a year. We want to help the learners who feel stuck along their journey. The app will give them confidence and motivation to reach their goals.

If you attended the GED Conference this past summer, you had a chance to try a prototype of the app and provide feedback. We appreciate receiving your thoughts and have made updates to the prototype and the app launch.

We plan to beta-test the app starting this quarter. We invite you to be a beta tester for our GED mobile app to help us improve the experience. Stay tuned for signup details in next month’s issue of In Session.

Please note that the app is not meant to replace the website. There is a wealth of information on GED.com that learners and educators will continue to access. and the same login can be used for the app and GED.com. The two will be linked so that a test scheduled on GED.com will prompt a notification in the app. The app will not include all the content found on GED.com. The app will help guide learners as they navigate the GED journey.

• Save on GED Ready – Be sure to tell your students that from September 15 – 22, they can get 50%off. GED Ready with promo code SAVE50 at checkout, valid for single subject purchases and 4-subject bundles.
• MythBuster – Some people in the education world have speculated there will be a new version of the GED Test in 2024 – NOT true! AT GED Testing we are continuously updating our content and looking at innovations to make the GED better suited to test takers but there will NOT be a new version of the GED in 2024.
• ICYMI – Check out the recap of the GED Annual Conference in July 2023 with the theme “YouInspire” in this video. Also, Save the Date for next year: July 23 – 25, 2024 in Long Beach, CA.

• Save on GED Ready – Be sure to tell your students that from September 15 – 22, they can get 50%off. GED Ready with promo code SAVE50 at checkout, valid for single subject purchases and 4-subject bundles.
• MythBuster – Some people in the education world have speculated there will be a new version of the GED Test in 2024 – NOT true! AT GED Testing we are continuously updating our content and looking at innovations to make the GED better suited to test takers but there will NOT be a new version of the GED in 2024.
• ICYMI – Check out the recap of the GED Annual Conference in July 2023 with the theme “YouInspire” in this video. Also, Save the Date for next year: July 23 – 25, 2024 in Long Beach, CA.

• Save on GED Ready – Be sure to tell your students that from September 15 – 22, they can get 50%off. GED Ready with promo code SAVE50 at checkout, valid for single subject purchases and 4-subject bundles.
• MythBuster – Some people in the education world have speculated there will be a new version of the GED Test in 2024 – NOT true! AT GED Testing we are continuously updating our content and looking at innovations to make the GED better suited to test takers but there will NOT be a new version of the GED in 2024.
• ICYMI – Check out the recap of the GED Annual Conference in July 2023 with the theme “YouInspire” in this video. Also, Save the Date for next year: July 23 – 25, 2024 in Long Beach, CA.

September kicks off Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 – October 15) around the country. This annual celebration of the history and culture of the U.S. Latino and Hispanic communities commemorates how those communities have influenced and contributed to American society at large. The observation started in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week under President Lyndon Johnson and was expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to cover a 30-day period in 1988.

September 15 is significant because it is the anniversary of the independence for Latin American countries Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico and Chile celebrate their independence days on September 16 and September 18, respectively. Also, Indigenous People’s Day and Columbus Day or Día de la Raza, which are October 12, fall within this 30 day period.

For some context on the celebration of Hispanic Heritage month, the Hispanic population makes up 19.1% of the United States, making it the nation’s most significant racial or ethnic minority.

There are 13 states with one million or more Hispanic residents in 2022 — Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington. The nation’s most significant increase in Hispanics was in Harris County, Texas 1.7%. from July 1, 2021-July 1, 2022.

The median age of the Hispanic population in 2022 is 30.7, up from 30.4 in 2021. The vast majority of U.S. Hispanics are U.S. citizens. About 81% of Hispanics living in the country in 2021 were U.S. citizens, up from 74% in 2010. U.S. citizens include people born in the U.S. and its territories (including Puerto Rico), people born abroad to American parents, and immigrants who have become U.S. citizens through naturalization.

Some Hispanic groups aged more than the overall U.S. Hispanic population between 2010 and 2021. The median ages of Puerto Ricans and Venezuelans living in the U.S. rose by more than four years, from 26.8 to 31.0 years and 31.3 to 36.0 years, respectively. In contrast, Hondurans’ and Spaniards’ median ages fell from 27.4 to 26.9 and 34.6 to 34.2, respectively.

The share of U.S. Hispanic adults with a bachelor’s degree is growing. One in five Hispanics aged 25 and older had a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2021. While this share was less than that of the overall U.S. population (38%), it was up from 13% of Hispanic adults in 2010. For additional information visit census.gov.

GED is pleased to celebrate the heritage and diversity of one of its most prominent groups of test takers!

GED Testing Service welcomes Ana Mostaccero as the new Communications Manager. Ana is originally from Peru with professional experience in education and communications in Spain, Belgium and the United States. She has dedicated her career to engaging all community members in transformational public projects with local, state and federal agencies. Ana served as Multicultural Engagement Manager and Spanish-language Spokesperson for the Colorado Attorney General most recently.

She has collaborated with nonprofits that offered the GED as a tool for immigrant integration and social mobility. Ana is delighted to join the GED Testing Service as she firmly believes in the power of education to enrich and transform people’s lives. Ana is bilingual in English and Spanish and speaks conversational French. She holds an MBA from Boston University Brussels and is a Certified Court Interpreter by the Colorado Judicial Branch. During her free time she enjoys traveling, dancing, Zumba fitness, and hiking with her dogs, Kai and Maeve.

September is a great month to begin the GED® journey! As education systems get into full swing, we want to acknowledge our educator community and wish you the best for this school year. We appreciate your hard work, guidance and support of our adult learners.

Educators like you reassure all of us of the great opportunities that education provides. You help us excel in the education ecosystem and allow us to keep inspiring and encouraging adult learners towards lifelong learning for personal and community enrichment!

During my decades of leadership at GED Testing Service®, we’ve worked closely with educators and administrators to develop programs that are best suited to the changing nature of adult learners, the tools we have available and our environment. We have also embraced the many different learning styles that exist. Since 2014 when we revamped the test to a computer-based format and aligned the content to match college and career readiness standards. We have developed numerous study tools and preparation programs. I am so proud of how we continue to assess the needs and realities of our diverse learners so we can better adapt how we can support learners of all ages wherever they are in the US or around the world throughout their GED journey and beyond.

I want to reassure our educators, administrators, and learners of our commitment to fight injustice and promote equity and social mobility. We will continue to invest in partnerships with local and national organizations that align with our mission to provide support and resources to underserved students. We have also recently joined forces with WithYouWithMe (WYWM) to provide digital tech skills and be inclusive of all learners at any point in their career journey. You can learn more about this partnership here.

In closing, in September we also observe Adult Education and Family Literacy Week from September 17 to 23. Adult Education and Family Literacy Week activities will focus on the pivotal role of adult education in enabling equitable access to societal resources, employment opportunities, and full participation in community life.

News and updates for August 2023:

GED Administrator of the Year — Congratulations to Sue Grosdidier, recipient of the GED Administrator of the Year award. This award recognizes administrators that have helped support GED test takers through contributions related to expanded testing opportunities, increased testing volume, innovative outreach and marketing initiatives, and innovative training and monitoring practices. Check out the press release.

GED Graduates of the Year in NY — At this year’s conference, three GED graduates from New York received the 2023 GED Graduate of the Year award: Abir Hossen Apon, Andrea Scioli and Naisha Torres. This award recognizes students who recently earned their GED credentials, displayed exceptional dedication during the preparation and testing process, and demonstrate outstanding stewardship in their community. Read the press release.

GED Graduates of the Year in CT — At this year’s conference, two GED graduates from Connecticut received the 2023 GED Graduate of the Year award: Jessica Nicholas and Raeann Gilbert. This award recognizes students who recently earned their GED credentials, displayed exceptional dedication during the preparation and testing process, and demonstrate outstanding stewardship in their community. Read the press release.

CSU Transfer Success Program — Are you an adult educator in CA? We’re partnering with California State University to introduce the new Transfer Success Program, designed to help recent grads smoothly transition from community college to any CSU university. GED grads from 2022-2023 are encouraged to apply by Sept. 30. Please help spread the word to your recent grads who are interested in their post-secondary education journey. Learn more.

News and updates for August 2023:

GED Administrator of the Year — Congratulations to Sue Grosdidier, recipient of the GED Administrator of the Year award. This award recognizes administrators that have helped support GED test takers through contributions related to expanded testing opportunities, increased testing volume, innovative outreach and marketing initiatives, and innovative training and monitoring practices. Check out the press release.

GED Graduates of the Year in NY — At this year’s conference, three GED graduates from New York received the 2023 GED Graduate of the Year award: Abir Hossen Apon, Andrea Scioli and Naisha Torres. This award recognizes students who recently earned their GED credentials, displayed exceptional dedication during the preparation and testing process, and demonstrate outstanding stewardship in their community. Read the press release.

GED Graduates of the Year in CT — At this year’s conference, two GED graduates from Connecticut received the 2023 GED Graduate of the Year award: Jessica Nicholas and Raeann Gilbert. This award recognizes students who recently earned their GED credentials, displayed exceptional dedication during the preparation and testing process, and demonstrate outstanding stewardship in their community. Read the press release.

CSU Transfer Success Program — Are you an adult educator in CA? We’re partnering with California State University to introduce the new Transfer Success Program, designed to help recent grads smoothly transition from community college to any CSU university. GED grads from 2022-2023 are encouraged to apply by Sept. 30. Please help spread the word to your recent grads who are interested in their post-secondary education journey. Learn more.

News and updates for August 2023:

GED Administrator of the Year — Congratulations to Sue Grosdidier, recipient of the GED Administrator of the Year award. This award recognizes administrators that have helped support GED test takers through contributions related to expanded testing opportunities, increased testing volume, innovative outreach and marketing initiatives, and innovative training and monitoring practices. Check out the press release.

GED Graduates of the Year in NY — At this year’s conference, three GED graduates from New York received the 2023 GED Graduate of the Year award: Abir Hossen Apon, Andrea Scioli and Naisha Torres. This award recognizes students who recently earned their GED credentials, displayed exceptional dedication during the preparation and testing process, and demonstrate outstanding stewardship in their community. Read the press release.

GED Graduates of the Year in CT — At this year’s conference, two GED graduates from Connecticut received the 2023 GED Graduate of the Year award: Jessica Nicholas and Raeann Gilbert. This award recognizes students who recently earned their GED credentials, displayed exceptional dedication during the preparation and testing process, and demonstrate outstanding stewardship in their community. Read the press release.

CSU Transfer Success Program — Are you an adult educator in CA? We’re partnering with California State University to introduce the new Transfer Success Program, designed to help recent grads smoothly transition from community college to any CSU university. GED grads from 2022-2023 are encouraged to apply by Sept. 30. Please help spread the word to your recent grads who are interested in their post-secondary education journey. Learn more.