For the nearly 39 million U.S. adults who do not have a high school diploma, the General Educational Development (GED) programs and exam have served as the main avenue for improving individuals' skills and helping them earn a high school credential. However, few students who start these programs ever get this credential, and even fewer advance to…

Sokolowski (2000) summarized the phenomenological attitude by saying, "We look at what we normally look through" (p. 50). Through interviews and document analysis, this study looked at the lives of six students and their decision to return to their education to earn a high school diploma. The purpose of this study was to illuminate how…

There are more than 60 million U. S. adults who lack a high school diploma. Their employability is decreasing, due to the upswing in white collar occupations. Also, they are often barred from the skilled and unskilled labor market; on-the-job training is increasingly academic; General Educational Development (GED) examinations are rigorous and the…

Adult secondary education learners approach the goal of college-level postsecondary education through three assessment gateways: (a) measures of adult education program learning gains, (b) a high-school equivalency exam, and (c) college placement tests. On the surface, the assessments in this sequence might appear to work in concert and point…

This manual examines components of a non-traditional adult high school program. It is intended to aid districts interested in establishing similar programs. The first of five parts defines the role of the weekend non-traditional high school as designed to meet the needs of undereducated adults who are unable to participate in evening high school…

This document, prepared as a conference handout, consists of a description of the revised General Educational Development (GED) Tests scheduled for introduction in 1988 and a series of recommendations concerning the content of future GED tests, which were formulated by a committee appointed by the Commission on Educational Credit and Credentials…

The Tests of General Educational Development (GED Tests) are described. Developed in 1942 for military personnel who had not graduated from high school, the GED Tests enabled veterans to qualify for jobs or enter college. More than 10 million persons have earned GED Test diplomas since 1971. There are five parts to the GED Tests: (1) Writing…

In 1989, 682,728 people (7% less than in 1988) took the Tests of General Educational Development (GED Tests). Approximately 68% earned scores sufficient to qualify for the GED diploma awarded by their jurisdictions. Departments and ministries of education in the United States and Canada awarded 376,879 credentials (down 13% from 1988) based on GED…

Nearly 15 percent of the high school diplomas issued in the United States in 1981 were based upon performance on the Tests of General Educational Development (GED). The purpose of this study is to describe: (1) the ways that adults prepare for the test; (2) the test performance of population sub-groups, and (3) the test candidates employment and…

The effectiveness of employment and training (E&T) programs in improving labor market outcomes can be assessed by measuring the impact on the future success of participants. The program with the greatest success in reducing dropout rates among at-risk youth is the Quantum Opportunities Project. Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA)…

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…

This bibliography lists works dealing with the General Educational Development (GED) tests. Citations range from 1944 to 1987. The works cited are grouped according to the following topics: GED students and their attitudes toward GED programs and adult education; instructional programs and materials predicting readiness for GED testing;…

The Florida Department of Corrections Distance Learning Program consists of the Corrections Distance Learning Network; offender programming; staff development; and the Agency Strategic Plan. The Corrections Distance Learning Network offers academic, vocational training, and life management skills programs for offenders and staff development and…

A series of follow-up studies were conducted to examine the employment, education, and training activities of persons who had taken the General Educational Development (GED) Tests in the spring of 1980. The first two studies, conducted in the fall of 1981 and the spring of 1982, were nationwide surveys that analyzed the survey responses of 458 and…