Summary of Changes to the GED® Exam
Change of Ownership
Until recently, the GED® test was developed by the staff of the General Educational Development Testing
Services (GEDTS), a division of the American Council of Education (ACE), located in Washington, D.C. The
GED® Testing Service was a nonprofit organization.
In 2011, the GED® Testing service merged with Pearson, a for-profit corporation. Pearson produces educational
materials and services, such as textbooks and tests, and can be found in more than 70 countries worldwide.
Every so often, the GED ® Testing Service updates the GED® exam. The first GED® exam was in 1942. Since
then the exam has been updated three times – in 1978, 1988 and 2002. A new update was scheduled for 2012, but
then it was postponed because of some big changes in the field of education. Policymakers across the country say we need to raise educational standards. A set of standards for the K-12 system was released in 2010 called the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The makers of the Common Core Standards say that the CCCS will help students be "career and college ready" when they graduate from high school. The Common Core standards are higher than the standards that existed before.
According to the GED Testing Service, they wanted to change more than just the content of the GED ® test.
They say they were developing new standards for the GED® exam when the Common Core State Standards came
out. The GED® Testing Service decided that they could not make the changes they wanted on their own. So, the
GED ® Testing Service, which was formerly a nonprofit agency, joined with Pearson in order to have the funding
they needed to create the new GED ® test. There is still a lot that we don’t know about how the decision was
made to make the GED® Testing Service a for-profit entity.
This article explores some of the implications of the GED test being owned by a private, for-profit entity - The GED: Public Good or Private Sector Trove? by Lazar Treschan (City Lights, March 19, 2012)
Change in Cost
Corporations exist to make a profit. One result of the merger between GED® Testing Service and Pearson is that
the new test which will be more expensive.
NY state has a law that says that students cannot be charged to take the G.E.D. exam. New York is one of the only states to legislate a state subsidy of the G.E.D. test. For the current test, the state pays about $60 a pop, which comes from the state Education Department GED testing budget, which is about $3 million, resulting in roughly 50,000 G.E.D. test takers tested in New York every year. The GEDTS/Pearson has announced that the new test will cost $120 a pop, double what NY State Ed. pays for the current exam. To cover the gap, the state would need to either double the amount it spends on testing or cut the number of people who take it in half.
Change in Scope
Another result of the merger with Pearson will be that the GED® test won’t just be a test anymore. The GED® Testing Service, merged with Pearson, will create ―a national test preparation program called the GED® 21st Century Initiative. This will possibly include on-line instruction, workbooks, and tests that tell you whether you are ready for the GED® test or not. It is likely that many of these services will not be free. The GED Testing Service has already started charging test-takers to see practice GED questions. The GED® test has historically been a gateway to college and better employment opportunities for countless out of school youth and adults. The keys to that gateway are now controlled by a for-profit organization.
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