Considering that they have altered the way we communicate, shop, listen to music, pay our taxes, read the news and even find a date, it’s no surprise that computers have changed the way we learn. The latest example is a vast change to the GED program — General Educational Development — in Washington and most other states.
As reported in a recent story from The Associated Press, the changes could come as an unwelcome surprise for thousands of people in Washington. For those who have completed portions of the five-pronged test in recent years, they have until Jan. 1 to complete the entire exam or they will be starting from scratch. According to administrators of the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges’ high school equivalency exam program, about 25,000 Washington residents started the GED exam in the past five years but did not complete it, meaning that there are plenty of people out there who are not prepared for the changes in the test procedures.
Those changes, however, were only a matter of time. Washington and most other states are moving to a computer-based testing system that will have four parts rather than the previous five. The exams will provide more timely feedback on whether a participant has passed the test, will allow for more frequent retakes than the paper version of the exam, and will have a fee of $120, down from the total of $150 to take the current phases of the test.
“It’s really kind of a momentous change that many people aren’t aware of,” said Sally Raftery, program coordinator and GED examiner at Bellevue College. Locally, Clark College serves as a testing center for the GED, like many of the state’s two-year colleges. And those who started the exam elsewhere in the state may finish it at any of the testing centers.