GED Issues Brief #1

In March 1998 the Center for Impact Research (formerly Taylor Institute), along with Women Employed Institute, published a research report, (A Second Chance: Improving Chicago's GED Performance), detailing the low number of Chicagoans each year who either try for or pass the GED examination. GED, which stands for Tests of General Educational Development, is a 7.5 hour- test that enables adults who have not succeeded the first time around in school to obtain a high school equivalency certificate. The GED was developed in 1942 as a response to an emergency -- the return of World War II veterans who had not earned a high school diploma before they left to serve their country, and who faced economic hardship as a result.The report found that only 2.15% of those needing the GED took the test in Chicago in 1996. Chicago's percentage equals the national average, although higher percentages tried for the credential in three cities -- Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Miami. However, only 64% of those who took the GED test passed in Illinois in 1996, ranking the state 42nd worst. Chicago's 46% pass rate considerably lagged behind the state rate and puts Chicago near the bottom when compared with ten major U. S. cities.In focus group discussions, Chicago adult literacy and job training groups were asked why more adults don't take and pass the GED in Chicago. The groups consistently sited four factors: length and inflexibility of most GED prep classes in Cook County; lack of up-front diagnostic information to help adults decide whether they are ready to take the test; long waits to take the GED test; and low number of accessible GED testing sites in Chicago, with no downtown Chicago site. A January 13, 1998 telephone call to the Cook County automated GED information system revealed that the next open test date at any of the Cook County GED test locations was more than a month away. Of these sites, only three were in the city itself. These were Daley College (75th and Pulaski), Olive-Harvey College (103rd and Woodlawn), and Wright College (Montrose and Narragansett), all sites in far-flung locations difficult to reach for many test-takers. At the closest site, Daley College, the wait was almost four months long

Enhancing GED Instruction to Prepare Students for College and Careers

To better understand how adult education programs might strengthen pathways to college and careers, MDRC, with financial support from the Robin Hood Foundation and MetLife Foundation, partnered with LaGuardia Community College of the City University of New York (CUNY) to launch a small but rigorous study of the GED Bridge to Health and Business program. The GED Bridge program represents a promising new approach to GED instruction, as it aims to better prepare students not only to pass the GED exam, but also to continue on to college and training programs. MDRC has conducted several evaluations of programs that include GED preparation as one among many program components, but this evaluation is one of only a few to focus specifically on GED curriculum, program design, and efforts to forge a stronger link to college and career training

Prison-Based Education and Re-Entry into the Mainstream Labor Market

We estimate the post-release economic effects of participation in prison-based General Educational Development (GED) programs using a panel of earnings records and a rich set of individual information from administrative data in the state of Florida. Fixed effects estimates of the impact of participating in the GED education program show post-release quarterly earnings gains of about 15 percent for program participants relative to observationally similar non-participants. We also show, however, that these earnings gains accrue only to racial/ethnic minority offenders and any GED-related earnings gains for this group seem to fade in the third year after release from prison. Estimates comparing offenders who obtained a GED to those who participated in GED-related prison education programs but left prison without a GED show no systematic evidence of an independent impact of the credential itself on post-release quarterly earnings.

The GED

The General Educational Development (GED) credential is issued on the basis of an eight hour subject-based test. The test claims to establish equivalence between dropouts and traditional high school graduates, opening the door to college and positions in the labor market. In 2008 alone, almost 500,000 dropouts passed the test, amounting to 12% of all high school credentials issued in that year. This chapter reviews the academic literature on the GED, which finds minimal value of the certificate in terms of labor market outcomes and that only a few individuals successfully use it as a path to obtain post-secondary credentials. Although the GED establishes cognitive equivalence on one measure of scholastic aptitude, recipients still face limited opportunity due to deficits in noncognitive skills such as persistence, motivation and reliability. The literature finds that the GED testing program distorts social statistics on high school completion rates, minority graduation gaps, and sources of wage growth. Recent work demonstrates that, through its availability and low cost, the GED also induces some students to drop out of school. The GED program is unique to the United States and Canada, but provides policy insight relevant to any nation's educational context.returns to education, GED, dropouts, graduation rate, noncognitive skills

Bias Corrected Estimates of GED Returns

Using three sources of data, this paper examines the direct economic return to GED certification for both native and immigrant high school dropouts. One data source %u2013 the CPS %u2013 is plagued by non-response and allocation bias from the hot-deck procedure that biases upward the estimated return to the GED. Correcting for allocation bias and ability bias, there is no direct economic return to GED certification. An apparent return to GED certification with age found in the raw CPS data is due to dropouts becoming more skilled over time. These results apply to native born as well as immigrant populations.