Nationwide, close to 40 million adults lack a high school diploma or a General Educational Development (GED) credential. About a quarter of high school freshmen do not graduate in four years, and while many high school dropouts eventually do attend GED preparation classes, too few ever pass the GED exam or go on to college. Students with only a…

The purpose of this study was to explore and describe what factors contributed to interrupted persistence among international students, in a General Education Development (GED) preparation course, in an adult continuing education department, in a community college setting, located in an urban area in New York City. The study utilized a qualitative…

Learner retention in adult secondary education has been studied only with respect to the General Educational Development (GED) preparation program. This paper compares the retention of learners enrolled in the GED preparation program to those enrolled in two other adult secondary completion program options. It discusses why significantly higher…

Discusses a study of the readability of the prose passages of the General Educational Development (GED) Test in comparison with high school texts, adult reading materials, and commercial GED tests. (JOW)

To serve adults with disabilities without a high school diploma, the federal government and states have funded adult education and literacy programs that provide services to accommodate the needs of those adults. In addition, the Tests of General Educational Development (GED Tests) provide adults with disabilities with testing accommodations to…

The effect of receipt of a General Educational Development (GED) certificate during incarceration on former inmates' rates of recidivism was examined by studying a group of 110 individuals who had been incarcerated in the Eastern Ohio Correction Center (EOCC) and were released during fiscal year 1995. Of the 110 individuals, 21 had obtained a GED…

Key characteristics of adults who took the General Educational Development (GED) Tests in 1989 were compared with those of their 1980 counterparts. Findings indicated that the percentage taking the tests primarily to fulfill postsecondary educational admissions requirements increased from 29.1 to 32.8 percent. The percentage who took the tests for…

A multidimensional follow-up study of three categories of Florida high school graduates focused on early exit General Educational Development (GED), second chance GED, and conventional graduates. The research provided the first comprehensive overview of the demography, educational experiences, aspirations and post-graduation activities of both GED…

Differences in self-descriptive patterns of adults who dropped out of high school completion courses and those who completed their courses were examined using the Adjective Check List (ACL) to measure adult personality attributes. Subjects (N=142) were asked to endorse those adjectives which best described themselves and to skip those which did…

This study sought to discover the relationship between Adult Performance Level (APL) Survey scores and General Educational Development test scores. In Cook County, Illinois, 269 students were examined on both tests; scores were found to be correlated. Author discusses the need for both approaches. (Author/CSS)

This Policy Brief takes a first look at a newly identified national population of GED holders, who are compared with their counterparts who received a high school diploma as well as with their counterparts who have no high school credential. The focus of these comparisons is on long-term postsecondary education outcomes. Because these…

The General Educational Development (GED) Tests date from 1942, when the United States Armed Forces Institute designed a battery of tests to provide military personnel and veterans the opportunity to obtain a credential that demonstrated proficiency on par with high school graduates. Since World War II, the GED Tests have also been beneficial to…

A study examined the reasons for the relatively low level of participation in adult, community, and further education (ACFE) in Victoria, Australia. Of the 1,229 randomly selected individuals surveyed via telephone, 942 (77%) had never participated in ACFE, 184 (15%) had not participated since 1994, and only 103 (8%) were currently enrolled in an…

These two presentations discuss the National External Diploma Program (EDP) sponsored by the American Council on Education and its relationship to the Department of Labor's Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) report and to the Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment System (CASAS). The first presentation focuses on the…

The National External Degree Program (EDP) of the American Council on Education is an alternative way for adults to earn a high school diploma. EDP is a competency-based, high school level assessment system that credentials mature adults who have acquired their high school level skills through their life experience. It uses materials adults have…