U.S. College and Career Readiness Standards
When we designed this course, we surveyed subject matter experts in adult education about where we should focus our instructional design service efforts to support the need for adult basic education. They recommended focusing on designing and developing instructional materials for adult basic education that align with the U.S. College and Career Readiness Standards (CCRS).
The CCRS standards were released in 2013 by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Vocational and Adult Education. (now the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education) as a guide for adult education programs that prepare learners for post-secondary college and career training. The CCRS focus on English Language Arts and Math subjects, and are the standards that underlie the primary high school equivalency exams and other adult education programs in the U.S.
We recognize that by focusing on the CCRS, this project has a U.S. focus. However, the resources we create are released under Creative Commons licenses to ensure the instructional materials can be adapted and reused for other purposes.
General Educational Development (GED) Test
During the past 70 years, millions of adults in the U.S. and other countries have taken the General Educational Development (GED) test to achieve high school equivalency. The GED test is administered by the GED Testing Service, a partnership between Pearson and theAmerican Council on Education. According the GED Testing Service, 18 million adults have passed the GED since 1942 in what they term a “second-chance opportunity” for advancement to college or a better career.
In 2014, the GED test was revised to conform with the College and Career Readiness Standards. In addition to the inclusion of knowledge and skills that were not part of prior test versions, the revised test is now only delivered online, which requires several technology skills not previously needed by test takers. While previous versions of the test were based on multiple-choice items, the new test items include drag-and-drop, fill-in the blank, as well as short and long essays.
Alternatives to the GED
While the GED is a popular path to achieve high school equivalency, it is not an adult learner’s only option. At the same time the GED test was changed in 2014, two alternative tests were developed by other organizations. Like the GED, the following high school equivalency test alternatives focus on competency in Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies:
- The HiSET exam is administered by the Educational Testing Service and Iowa Testing Programs. The HiSet website maintains a list of the U.S. states (currently 15) and territories that have approved the test since its inception in 2014.
- The Test Assessing Secondary Completion (TASC) exam is administered by Data Recognition Corporation | CTB (formerly of McGraw Hill). With far less reach than the GED test, the TASC Test was passed by 22,334 students in 5 states, as reported in the TASC 2014 Annual Statistical Report
In addition to these exams, other paths to high school equivalency may be available to adult learners in the states where they reside. For example, the National External Diploma Program (NEDP) is an alternative option for adults to earn a high school diploma, as is the State of Washington’s High School 21+ competency-based high school program offered in the state’s community and technical colleges.