Federal accountability policies requiring rapid, measurable outcomes have increasingly shaped the nature and type of public literacy services available to adults. However, little empirical research has explored the impact of accountability policies on program practice in adult basic education, and almost no research has focused on the effect on…

Throughout the field of corrections in the United States, the prevalent question regarding reentry preparation of offenders is, "What works?" The RAND Corporation in 2014 published a comprehensive review of correctional education programs and reported that offenders involved in education programs were significantly more likely to realize…

The manual is presented in the form of a policy grid. The grid includes a consolidated list of General Educational Development (GED) Testing Service policies regarding the GED® test and overall GED® program. The grid combines all of the policies into one unified table and supersedes any prior policy manual.

Most of the authors in this issue of "Future of Children" focus on a single strategy for helping both adults and children that could become a component of two-generation programs. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, on the other hand, look at actual programs with an explicit two-generation focus that have been tried in the…

Prisons are intended to rehabilitate criminal offenders, as well as to punish and incapacitate them. The education and training systems operating within most prisons are a key component of the rehabilitation mission of prisons. Previous studies have shown a relationship between participation in educational programs and recidivism rates, with…

The "National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program" is a residential education and training program designed for youth ages 16 to 18 who have dropped out of or been expelled from high school. During the 22-week residential period, participants are offered GED preparation classes and other program services intended to promote positive youth…

Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth show that acquisition of the General Educational Development (GED) credential results in wage increases for dropouts who left school with weak skills, but not for those who left with strong skills. Postsecondary education and training are associated with higher wages for male dropouts. (SLD)

The study examined whether participating in the "National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program", a quasi-military residential/mentoring program for dropouts, improved the educational and other outcomes of at-risk youth. The study analyzed data on about 1,000 16- to 18-year-old high school dropouts enrolled in 10 ChalleNGe programs throughout…

Three judges rated General Educational Development (GED) student essays that had been written by nine incarcerated youths. If judge's ratings were not consistent, students would receive a biased average rating. Traditional classical measurement theory computes an intraclass reliability coefficient to determine if judges' ratings are reliable. In…

"YouthBuild" offers low-income youth both education and job training services. "YouthBuild's" education component emphasizes attaining a GED or high school diploma, typically in alternative schools with small class sizes and an emphasis on individualized instruction. In "YouthBuild's" job-training program,…

This student workbook is intended for use in helping teenage and adult basic education (ABE) students reduce their anxiety over tests in general and over the General Educational Development (GED) test in particular. Exercises are provided to help students analyze and understand their feelings about and while taking tests, recall the childhood…

This handbook is intended to illustrate to students that they are not alone in their fear of tests and to help students reduce their own test anxiety. The handbook is a compilation of writings contributed by students who attended an adult basic education (ABE) program to prepare teenage and adult students to take the General Educational…

This document is a 596-item list of books, papers, journal articles, dissertations, and other materials concerning the General Educational Development (GED) tests. Topics covered include postsecondary educational outcomes for GED completers, military aspects of the GED program, scoring GED tests, test norms, benefits of participation in the GED…

This paper presents strategies and methods for students to obtain the essential adult basic education (ABE), General Educational Development (GED), English as a Second Language (ESL), and career/vocational instruction, at the same time. A description is offered first of what was done in the Joliet Junior College ABLE Program and future plans for…

An existing 353 project that used professional staff as distance education contact persons for students in General Educational Development (GED) programs in rural areas was modified so that volunteer instructional aides (IAs) could serve as contact persons for GED students choosing the program's home study option. A home study packet to be used in…