Job Discussion Forums

[bj80]

Hi Everyone,

Just curious, have any of you done GED (General Education Development) prep?

Although a lot of answers with international education have "it depends" I genuinely think every world citizen could benefit from the GED, in English.

It is the basic, minimum standard of competency in English literacy, mathematics, science, and social studies.

I write to the GED testing center to open more places, such as in China.

I think it would be a great international standard to go on, because there seems to be not enough standardization in the educational world.

Has anyone taught GED prep, etc.?

I know many of you say to find my passions; this is definitely one.

[scot47]

Every "world citizen" would benefit from a wide liberal education. That would include a foreign language. Is that going to happen ? Nope !

[nomad soul]

Like some of your other recent discussions, it seems you've posed this GED idea before in http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=112900, under your previous username. It would be better to add to your established threads rather than start new ones with the same topics/questions.

Anyway, take a look at New GED® test for students testing outside the U.S. and Canada. As for teaching high school equivalency courses, instructors in the US generally need to be state certified/licensed in Adult Basic Education (ABE). Classes are mostly held in public schools and community colleges. Keep in mind that teaching the language arts requirements isn't the same as teaching ESL.

[bj80]

Thanks. I know I have been meandering too much. I just want to find something I really like. There are parts I seriously like about teaching, other parts I find wasteful, boring, etc. Perhaps it is the way for many other people; but, it is also the same way for me.

[suphanburi]

The GED (general education diploma) is pretty ethnocentric and low end.

Even at home the GED is what drop-outs do to get something that pretends to be a G12 completion certificate so they can say that they have graduated from high school.

Perhaps a focus on the IGCSEs ? There is certainly a broader market for it especially for entry into post secondary programs (anywhere).

I certainly don't see any great need for the GED or GED prep in the Asian context. Anybody here who would be going to school in North America would certainly be able to do much better than the GED.

The IB and IGCSE certificates certainly hold more weight for post secondary entrance and are broadly popular in Asia.

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[scot47]

And in Europe there is zero demand for this

[bj80]

I see. In truth, as a practitioner, I am pretty mediocre.

But, I was published in some university research articles I did in education.

The hard part is to find universal constants that would hold true everywhere, and be accepted everywhere. I like the GED because it is good for that, at least with US schools.

Hypothetically, if there was a brilliant person born in a small village in a place like India, they could learn material themselves or over the internet (if they even had access to it). Then, go to a test center and take the test.

There would be less of this "score high SAT score, SAT II, AP, etc." b.s. It would be a great universal, basic standard.

Of course, many people could do much better. But, for people who need basics, ESL + GED would be a great basic, standard of knowledge. Does anyone have a better standard of test?

[spiral78]

[suphanburi]

" Hypothetically, if there was a brilliant person born in a small village in a place like India, they could learn material themselves or over the internet (if they even had access to it). Then, go to a test center and take the test. "

This is also true of the IGCSEs which are much more broadly accepted for university entrance in the North American context (and globally) than a GED (that won't get you into anything but a junior college in the States and won't get you into a university in Canada).

It won't matter how brilliant you are, a GED won't get you into a decent university anywhere and in the Asian context anyone who is studying to go abroad has no use for the GED and if not going to North American it, as an exam, has no value at all.

The GED was originally and largely still remains a means for high school drop outs to get an equivalent to a high school diploma.

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[bj80]

You make some good points that IGCSE's are broader and may be valuable. I'll look into that and see if it can be a wide-blanket standard that the world should be prepping for.

As far as the GED's reciprocity/acceptance, I think you may be wrong:

https://www.gedtestingservice.com/testers/intl-acceptance

Almost all universities in the US will take it. So, even at Harvard, if Harvard valued the schools in the other ways, they could do it.

I have helped a few students in China get into college a year early, simply because US universities know how much unnecessary lying, junk, etc. is there. Them getting accepted, and simply taking the GED in lieu of graduating a messed up high school is accepted.

[spiral78]

[HLJHLJ]

In England and Wales, GCSEs are usually taken at 16 and they don't carry much weight for universities. They are usually a signpost of basic literacy. (The usual phrase is '3 GCSEs at C or above including maths and English').

A-levels, or various equivalents, are usually taken at 18. It's those grades that are used for university entrance. GCSEs might be used to differentiate students with identical A-level grades, but they have no value for UCAS points.

iGCSEs are an even lower level than regular GCSEs. Surely they aren't being used for university entrance requirements?

[AGoodStory]

In the US, many states are moving away from using the GED. Around 26 states and territories have replaced it with the HiSET. The number of states may actually be larger now, since it's been a while since I heard that, and they seem to be increasing.

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