Cracks in the GED crown

In a little over seven months, on Dec. 31, 2013, the primacy of the GED test series will be no more. The GED itself will not end, mind you, but will morph into a new test form given on computers, rather than by test packets and computer-graded answer sheets. This update is not unusual. The test series has been periodically revamped over the years: the last time in 2002.

What is unusual is the amount of discontent that has accompanied this change.

In the past, when the GED was a non-profit business that worked with education publishers to produce supplemental materials for students, the updates caused some discomfort, but was still THE substitute for a high school credential. It had been that way since 1942 when the test was created. Everyone -- colleges, employers, the military, friends and relatives -- recognized the GED standard.

The non-profit status of the credential changed when the GED Test Service was purchased by one of its former partner publishers, Pearson/VUE. At first, according to old hands in the business, the 2014 update seemed no more difficult than past years. The GED brand remained strong.

But cracks in the single national credential seem to be forming. I am not concerned here about what caused the problems or who's to blame. I have read plenty of opinions on that written by others far above my pay grade. What I am concerned about is the loss of a uniform standardized national high school credential. That, it seems to this basic education instructor, is tragic. Wisconsin, including the GED team at NWTC, is planning for the new 2014 GED test series from Pearson/VUE, but other states, it seems, are planning to split off with separate publishers, competencies, assessment methods, and credentials. 

However, if we dethrone the GED brand, the country not only loses an educational standard that has been around since 1942, but we also lose the clear pathway for success for hundreds of thousands of students. Will a test that is accepted in Wisconsin be accepted in Illinois, Missouri, or Texas? Will one test emphasize algebra over geometry, and another literacy over science? Will students have to complete multiple credentials to get the same benefit as they do from the one GED today? How much will that cost in test-taking and time? Will students dreams be the fodder in a gotcha game between competing publishers and states? Facing a fractured standard, will students even try? And if they don't try, what is the cost of that to the rest of us?

Right now a student can complete the GED series knowing that the credential will accepted across the country. What will happen after Jan. 1, 2014, when there are two, three, four, or more high school credential assessments? As I said, I don't really care about the arguments between the feuding interests. What I care about most are my students. I wish I could be convinced that others did as well.