GED tests are scheduled to be updated in January 2014 to be administered using computers and covering more material.
The GED, a high school equivalency test, will be administered in a new form beginning January 2014 following the implementation of Common Core Standards.
The American Council on Education indicates in a recent report that the new GED test is designed to better prepare GED recipients to successfully enter jobs, training programs or post-high school educational opportunities.
Testing data from the GED Testing Service administered by the Council for Education illustrates that the test will be more centered on the fundamental academic skills necessary for these types of post-GED activities.
The current test is paper-based, but the new test is administered via computer.
According to Guy Purdy, Northwest Community College’s director of adult education, this new computerized test presents both drawbacks and advantages.
“The young students are not going to have trouble with it because they have the computer skills to take the test,” Purdy said. “The flip side of that is that students that are at least early 40s, most of those folks don’t have computers skills so that’s going to hinder them.”
“The conclusion of that is these youngsters are computer savvy and they can go in as soon as they finish one part move right on into the next part so they’re completing it in 6 hours,” Purdy said.
According to Purdy, most test takers, when faced with the pencil and paper version, take between 7 and 8 hours to complete the exam.
In the state of Mississippi, about 16-17,000 people take the GED every year.
Eloise Richardson, Mississippi’s director of Adult Basic Education and GED programs, said the new test will be beneficial for Mississippi residents and learners.
“I think the new test will be a good thing,” Richardson said.
“It’s going to have many more critical thinking skills and the math is going to have trigonometry and a few things on it that people will probably need to come to classes to refresh themselves over.”
Richardson does not foresee logistical or financial problems associated with people trying to obtain their GEDs in coming months.
“There are over 450 classes all over the state to help you prepare either for the GED or to teach you how to read, whatever you need, and they’re all free,” Richardson said.
The new format and design has the potential to negatively effect individuals who will have already taken portions of the exam, however.
“Anybody that has taken parts of the test needs to get back and retest on those parts because as of Dec. 31, 2013, those scores die,” Richardson said.
The price of the five-section test will also increase from $15 per section to $24 per section.
