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What If I Didn't Have a High School Diploma?

The December 31st Providence Journal reported on the steep drop in the number of people who passed the GED in 2014. (WPRI reported this on December 29th.) The test has changed in the last year, and there are now 4 parts to it (Projo was wrong about this, stating there were 5 parts.) I wondered what the test looked like, so I researched what could be found online about earning a GED (GED is a high school equivalency credential that stands for General Educational Development).

Here are some observations about a Google search on "RI GED":

  • The RI Department of Education (RIDE) site comes up at the top, but the page is RIDE-centric, absolutely not geared to a GED aspirant. The page is annoyingly fancy if you move the mouse over the menus: further submenu items suddenly cascade over the text about RI Adult Education. Anyway, that doesn't matter a lot because this page is much more aimed at educators than students. WHY ISN'T THERE A PAGE ON THE RIDE WEBSITE THAT IS WRITTEN WITH THE ADULT GED STUDENT IN MIND? Here are the first two paragraphs, with jargon ("contextualized classes" ... "statewide outcomes") I don't understand (with my college education and two master's degrees):

    • "Programs in Adult Education, GED, Workforce Training and English for Speakers of Other Languages are offered during the day and evening.  [Put a link on the RIDE website to some dependable place that lists all the classes.] Program offerings also include contextualized classes that prepare adults for jobs and career pathways.  Instruction is provided face to face and online."

      "A Successful Multi-Agency Collaboration

      "The Rhode Island Department of Education funds qualified not-for-profit agencies to implement Adult Education and Workforce Training programs that support the achievement of two statewide outcomes...." (HOW DO I FIND OUT ABOUT THESE NOT-FOR-PROFIT AGENCIES?)

  • The bottom of the RIDE Adult Education and GED page seemed to have what I was looking for, but on closer examination, not so much. I found the GED Test Center List, 6 pages of program regulations, the GED Testing Service site (national?) with tabs for Educators, Policymakers, Media, and "Public", but nothing for students specifically. The main things to do on this page are to schedule a test or get your transcript, but how would I find out how to study for the test?  There is a link to RIRAL but tonight (mid-January 2015), clicking it results in "We couldn't find the page you were looking for."

[July 31, 2019: "RI GED" in a Google search puts the first RIDE page hit at #11  on the second page of results. It is still aimed at professionals, but it does mention finding classes on the RI Resource Hub now. It has more information, has been rewritten, but RIDE can't give up jargon - "contextualized" is still there. Some info, especially about NEDP, is for students, but RIDE could be providing more substantial information for Adult Education students.]

Back to the Google search.... [in 2015]

I could go on, but I imagine that if someone wanting a GED did this simple search, assuming they had access to a computer, which is a big assumption, they would be discouraged about finding uable, meaningful information online. Which leads to my last observation:

According to WPRI, "RIDE estimates the number of adults without a high school diploma is actually 74,699." What is the specific plan for reaching people who need GEDs, who may have smart phones, but probably not computers or wifi access at home? The tests must be taken online. Is the GED testing coordinated with the Broadband initiative? "Digital literacy," another bit of jargon, is essential for success on the GED. I can find links to GED on the Broadband RI website (http://broadband.ri.gov/OurPrograms/DigitalLiteracy/tabid/184/Default.aspx), but not vice versa.

Especially note Integrating Digital Literacy: Adult Education, Technology Access, and the GED. This paper mentions the RI Adult Education Professional Development Center, which again is more aimed at educators than students, with this info on GED preparation.  Further poking around turned up some videos on YouTube that should be easier to locate.

Going back to the RIDE website, I searched on the word Broadband. The only substantial reference to digital literacy for adults that I could find is buried in notes by Commissioner Gist on March 7, 2014.

It is my initial impression that educators are talking much too much among themselves about the GED rather than providing substantial information to those who need to earn a GED. The education providers are more interested in getting people to sign up in their programs than in making it easy for people who are beginning to explore how to get a GED, to find out how they can work this study and test taking into their lives. RIDE and all the providers of GED preparation need to review how they communicate with GED candidates through the web, especially making sure that useful info, such as when and where computer training and GED preparation courses are offered, are easy to read on smart phones. With nearly 80 thousand people who could seriously benefit from earning a GED -- actually all of us will benefit if 8% of the population achieves this goal -- Rhode Island's educators could do much better at outreach!

Post date: 
Thu, Jan 01, 2015