The GED test program is growing internationally—helping students around the world earn their GED credential.

In fact, students in more than 85 countries sat for the test in 2018.

Members of GED Testing Service recently traveled to two Asian countries to meet with current and prospective students to learn more about their experiences and motivations for earning a GED credential. We’ll use this additional information to better understand how to help students understand and better assist those students.

Internationally students utilize the GED credential almost entirely for entry into local and international universities, so we’ve also spent time talking with some universities and government officials.

Beyond our recent student research, we’ve been working with teachers and preparation programs in countries like Bangladesh, South Africa and Thailand. We’ve held professional development workshops to help teachers understand the program and prepare students for the test.

In 2019 we plan to share launch an updated international section on the GED.com website with an enhanced experience for students and preparation partners abroad. We also plan to share more international GED graduate stories there and in our U.S. communications as we welcome learners from across the globe into the GED alumni network.

In a survey of GED College Ready graduates, we found that a majority of students say the GED test program prepared them well for their current college program.

In 2018 GED Testing Service received over 4,300 responses to an email survey sent to GED graduates that scored in the College Ready or College Ready + Credit levels in one or more test subjects. From the survey results we were able to get better insight on the motivation behind getting the GED credential, what their education and professional goals are post graduation, their current employment or education status and their thoughts on the College Ready (CR) score levels.

Here are some highlights from the survey:

Postsecondary Education

• 56% of CR GED graduates are currently enrolled in a college degree or certificate program
• 57% of CR GED graduates listed “earning a four-year degree” as their current educational goal; 29% listed “earning a certificate/certification or associate degree” as their current educational goal

Employment

• 71% of CR GED graduates are currently employed

GED Test Program/ College Ready Score Levels

• 63% of CR GED graduates said the GED test program prepared them well for their current college degree program
• 38% of CR GED graduates said they were aware of the GED College Ready score levels prior to taking the GED exam
• 18% of CR GED graduates said they were able to use their CR scores to bypass college placement testing or remedial college courses

We are always looking to share success stories about College Ready GED graduates and we encourage adult educators to share the benefits of the CR score levels with your students as they prepare for the GED test.

Since the introduction of the score levels in 2016, more students are earning their GED credentials with the opportunity to earn credit for college courses, saving time and money as they work toward a degree or certificate.

To date we are aware of more than 200 colleges across 15 different states that have implemented policies to allow students at the CR level (165 or higher) to bypass all or part of their placement exams and be placed in credit-bearing courses–skipping remedial education. Some colleges are also awarding college credit for CR+ scores (175 or higher).

More information about the College Ready score levels is available here.

Heather Gay, shares how her experience as a corrections educator and administrator will shape her new leadership role.

Could you tell me more about your organization and your role?

I am President of the Association of State and Federal Directors of Correctional Education, an affiliate of the Correctional Education Association (CEA). I oversee educators in their respective states. In 2017 I was elected Vice President and I started my new role as President January 1st (2019). I am also the State Assistant Administrator for Prisoner Education within the Reentry Administration for the Michigan Department of Corrections.

In my role as President I want to see this organization grow. I am focused on recruiting more state education directors, and encouraging them to bring their administrators to valuable CEA trainings and conferences.

How do you work with corrections education programs and educators?

My primary focus has been on my work in Michigan, but now I’ll be looking at the environment nationally. In many states corrections is the largest provider of adult education programs. Because of this I want to find ways to bring visibility to our work, so that state leadership and others can better understand the need and importance of corrections education programs.

We also need to work on breaking down silos, and increasing the resources coming into corrections education programs.

We hold CEA meetings two to three times a year. These are very important. It gives us an opportunity to talk in-depth about important topics of interest, such as Pell grants, vocational training, GED preparation, and how to better communicate the value of our work to others.

Could you tell me more about your background in corrections education and education in general?

I went to school to become a certified teacher and after graduating I didn’t find any positions immediately available. My parents worked for the State, so I looked into working as a corrections teacher. I began teaching in a corrections education program in 1999 and stayed for six years until I became a principal. I was then promoted to my current position (State Assistant Administrator for Prisoner Education within the Reentry Administration for Michigan) in 2012.

I started as an academic teacher, and I didn’t know much more beyond the subjects I was teaching. But, I was lucky to have wardens that helped me grow and learn a lot about reentry and evidence-based programming.

I also have had the benefit of working with men, women and youth before taking on this position. Working with different populations provided me with a good understanding of their education needs. And of course, I’ve been a long-time member and advocate of CEA—attending trainings two times a year.

What do you think are the biggest challenges facing corrections educators and corrections education programs?

I am really blessed to have a great administrator and director. We had a really good relationship with the former Michigan governor Rick Snyder, and I’m assuming the new governor will be the same. Governor Snyder was very supportive of everything we were doing in correctional education. In Michigan I don’t know if we have any significant barriers, but we can continue to push the needle on showing policymakers and people in our state that our students have the credentials and ability to productively contribute to society. We should continue to educate employers and the community about what’s going on in corrections, and how it benefits them.

Why is corrections education so important? What are the benefits?

In Michigan we made policy and structural changes. We were previously siloed, but we then moved education under reentry. With this approach, we started putting offenders on the path to success as soon as they’re in intake. It’s not just about getting them released anymore, it’s about setting them up for success after release.

We have vocational villages where offenders have a several opportunities for training. We parole about 15 to 20 guys a month, and almost 97 percent of them have a job before they leave. We help students earn certification, we set up job interviews over Skype or telephone, and we’re holding job fairs where students take resumes and workforce development packets.

For many offenders it’s the first time they experience success. Once they have one success, they accelerate from there. As someone who started as an educator in 1999, the way we approach education has come so far.

What do you enjoy most about working in corrections education?

I love that I can be creative and my leadership supports education 100 percent. It used to be that education took a backseat in prison, but now it’s a priority throughout the entire corrections department.

Are there any changes you would like to see happen in corrections education?

I would like to see more open mindedness. Instead of saying no we can’t do that, we should be saying how can we do that. Let’s think about things that weren’t thought about before and how to make it happen in corrections.

What is your advice to corrections educators?

Keep the students in mind, with every decision and every program you want to start.

Understand and think about what their first priorities are, what are their first concerns are, what we can do to drive their success. We should keep them involved in these conversations.

One thing I’ve challenged my principals to do is to teach like they would in a high school, if you can, but I know that some schools may have only one or two teachers. You can look at your teachers’ certifications and strengths, then figure out each student as an individual. Not all of our students need to start at the very beginning—meet them where they are. Thinking outside the box and being creative has certainly increased our GED student numbers, and student success.

This month’s GED Flash promo is a “sweet deal” for students!

Starting February 18th and through March 1st, students can get 60 days of access to GED Flash for Students for the price of one month (30 days).

For $15 students can purchase access to any GED Flash subject including Math, RLA, Science and Social Studies.

No promo code is necessary and access must be purchased through GED.com

*The GED Flash for Organizations product is not included in this promotion.

*This promotion starts 12:01 am CST February 18th and ends 11:59 pm CST March 1st

In our latest Tuesdays for Teachers webinar our PD team shared teaching strategies to help students gain core math skills.

We identify mathematically proficient students as being able to:

• Explain to themselves the meaning of a problem and look for entry points to its solution.
• Make sense of quantities and their relationships in problem situations.
• Use assumptions, definitions, and previously established results to construct arguments.
• Apply the mathematics they know to solve problems arising in everyday life, society, and the workplace.

In the webinar “Moving UP! Mathematical Reasoning,” we explore resources and instructional methods that can help students become proficient in the skills they need to pass the GED Mathematical Reasoning test. We share how the GED Ready performance level descriptors can be used to identify a student’s challenges in math and create an individual study plan. We also review strategies and activities that can help students build their math vocabulary, develop problem solving abilities and strengthen their math fluency.

The webinar also shares common math misconceptions, how using brainteasers can alleviate student stress levels when solving math problems and help them gain the confidence they need to explore more challenging math equations.

GEDWorks is a national program created for employers sponsoring their employees earning GED credentials.

Late in 2018 we made it easier for students to purchase a GED Ready directly on GED.com.

This change makes buying a GED Ready easier for students, however the change also impacts the way educators and students should now redeem vouchers.

See below for important information about how to redeem GED Ready vouchers, and to better understand what students will see when they purchase GED Ready tests:

If You Already Have a GED Ready Voucher:

• Students should log into their GED.com account and go to “Study” then select “Practice”
• It is important to not click on the buttons “Buy 1-Subject” or “Buy All 4-Subjects” if you are redeeming a voucher.
• Instead, look below the “buy” buttons for the highlighted link that reads “Have a voucher code? Redeem now”

January 16th through January 25th, when a student buys a GED test, they get a free GED Ready. If they purchase the 4-pack bundle, they will get 5 GED Ready test vouchers.

Students must purchase through the GEDMarketplace and no promo code is needed. The GED Ready test vouchers will be automatically added to the cart when you purchase/add a test to the cart.

*If a student buys 4 individual test vouchers they will only receive 4 GED Ready practice tests. They need to purchase the 4-pack bundle to take advantage of the promotion.

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The GEDPrep Connect tool can help your adult education program recruit, track and retain adult learners taking classes and the GED test.

Every day students are sharing their scores and selecting adult education programs they would like to connect with and start taking classes. In previous research we found that 34% of GED students are studying in a class, while 28% of students are unaware of GED prep programs and don’t know how to find them. We also found that 63% of students believe GED prep programs can help them pass the test and earn their credential.

The GEDPrep Connect tool is helping students across the country locate programs near them, while encouraging them to start or finish their GED testing process. Educators and administrators with access to GED Manager will be able to view email addresses and phone numbers of interested students that have selected their programs.

GEDPrep Connect is also useful for working with students that have already enrolled in your program and those actively taking the GED test at your location. 76% of students said they are likely or very likely to share their scores with their GED preparation program. With GED Manager access, educators can print batches of student score reports and passers reports with students who have shared their scores with your program. Educators can then create personalized learning plans for their students based on the scores.

More information about how you can use GEDPrep Connect and GED Manager to help meet your program and student success goals is available here.

Here at GED Testing Service we do understand that educators want to provide instruction for their students that accurately prepares them for the GED test.

We are also aware that many instructors and tutors create accounts and access student tools to get a better understanding of the preparation process and the student experience. But there is one avenue instructors can not explore—signing up for and taking the GED test.

When an educator signs up for and sits for the GED exam they are violating candidate rules and potentially harming the integrity of the test. Only students that have not credentialed are allowed to take the GED test. Educators that sign up for the test are violating the candidate rule agreement that they agree to when scheduling a test. These actions are also prohibited by GED testing policy and state rules.

Educators are also not allowed to utilize actual information or items that they or students report about after the test. For example—a student comes back and tells the teacher what they remember about a couple of test questions, then the teacher types up the questions and answers and uses them in instruction. Debriefing with a tester about test questions is a violation of the testing agreement with GED Testing Service, it’s important to be a role model of good behavior. Don’t encourage testers to talk about exact test items, it is okay for them to discuss general topics on the test.

Educators are allowed to create a mock GED testing account (you can not schedule an actual test) and see what students experience when signing up for GED test subjects. You can do this by creating an account with your First Name and use “Candidate” as your Last Name. By doing this the account will be flagged at GED Testing Service as a mock account and will not interfere with any data collection that we do related to testers.

These rules are in place to keep the testing process fair for all students who sit for the exam. We do encourage you to use item samplers, sample questions, study guides and tutorials for additional insight on what is included on the test.

Please visit our GED.com webpage dedicated to Educators and Administrators for resources to guide your instruction, free classroom materials, an archive of professional development webinars and much more.

—CT Turner, Senior Director of State Accounts & Government Relations for GED Testing Service