NIFL-ASSESSMENT 2005: [NIFL-ASSESSMENT:1039] Re: What would hel

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From: Marie Cora (marie.cora@hotspurpartners.com)
Date: Wed Apr 06 2005 - 11:22:34 EDT 

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From: "Marie Cora" <marie.cora@hotspurpartners.com>
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Subject: [NIFL-ASSESSMENT:1039] Re: What would help more students achieve their GED?
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>===== Original Message From nifl-fobasics@nifl.gov =====
Michele,

I like all your ideas, and I would like to add one more:

Change the expectation of students, funders, and employers that a GED
program 
should be short-term, under a year, and often under 50 hours of
instruction. 
If the only meaningful earnings gains which result from the GED come
when 
students:

1) enter at a low basic skills level, then we should expect those
students to 
be enrolled for several years; or

2) enter at a higher skills level but then are prepared to do
college=level 
work, those students should be expected to be in a program more than a
year, 
and more than 3- 4 hours a week. They need an education that will
prepare them 
to succeed in (not just enter) college. This includes algebra, academic 
reading and writing, good basic science, good study skills, and some
other 
things.

This is a policy issue, as well as a research and practice issue. The
U.S. 
Department of Education has for many years allowed programs to count
students 
as enrolled in federally-funded adult education programs who get at
least 12 
hours of instruction. This standard is very low, and far from a
reasonable 
expectation of what the these two groups of students need. This policy
should 
be examined in light of the research by John Tyler that I mentioned in
my 
earlier message. Then, of course, if the policy were to change, let us
say, to 
allow programs to count students enrolled for a minimum of 100 hours,
Congress 
and state legislatures would need to pay for the increased hours of
classes 
and related services. Now here's where the research rubber hits the
road. What 
if solid research shows what needs to be done, and policy-making is
heading 
the other direction? But that's a topic for another list.

David J. Rosen
djrosen@comcast.net

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