The North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has developed two methods of working with low-literacy students. One is testing for accommodations for GED testing. The other is integrating the STAR literacy program for adult readers.

Over the past 50 years, an increasing proportion of student graduating high school attend college, but literacy levels in the United States have remained largely unchanged. We present preliminary results that suggest the literacy levels of assessed first year college freshmen are above 5th grade but below 12th grade, that only 32% of these…

The differential treatment of youth of color in schools perpetuates disparities in academic outcomes. Alternative education programs may represent a constructive approach to preventing or mitigating these disparities. This study examines the outcomes of an urban alternative education program in the United States. Secondary analysis of demographic,…

Alternative education programs can prevent disparities in academic outcomes among marginalized youth. This descriptive study examines the results of an alternative education program with nondiscrimination policies and staff training related to supporting the inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth. Secondary analysis of…

This technical assistance paper provides policy and guidance to individuals with test administration responsibilities in adult education programs. The Florida assessment policies and guidelines presented herein are appropriate for state and federal reporting. Therefore, guidance and procedures regarding the selection and use of appropriate student…

In this study, we evaluate the feasibility of increasing the number of graduates from the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program (ChalleNGe) who could be employable in one of the four military services. Because of the Department of Defense's (DOD's) and the services' quality goals, this requires that a significant portion of ChalleNGe graduates…

This technical assistance paper provides guidance to individuals with test administration responsibilities in adult education programs. These policies apply to the approved assessments that programs may use to report educational gains in compliance with the National Reporting System (NRS) requirements. The NRS is the accountability system for the…

This applied dissertation was designed to identify the characteristics of students enrolled in a GED® preparation program who transitioned to postsecondary programs at the same institution after passing the GED® test. The characteristics studied included age; gender; ethnicity; prematriculation scores in reading, language, and math in the Test of…

Today, 6.7 million youth in the United States between the ages of 16 and 24 are neither enrolled in school nor employed. This crisis continues to grow as, each year, over one million additional youth become disconnected from the schools and systems intended to prepare them for their future. Educators and youth advocates have dubbed this…

Adult Basic Education (ABE) and the General Equivalency Diploma (GED) programs serve those students who, for whatever reason, have left the educational system without attaining a regular high school diploma. Because of the manner in which they may have left the school system, many have negative emotions and personal agency beliefs hindering their…

When discussing issues relating to students in General Educational Development (GED) Option and pre-GED programs with educators, the contention exists that it is possible to make reasonably accurate predictions on the success or failure of a student by observing a number of items. Looking at their cumulative records shows their academic and…

Describes a study designed to evaluate the relationship between performance on the TABE (Test of Adult Basic Education) Test and the GED (General Educational Development) Test. Analysis of the data shows that there was a significant correlation between all the subscores on the TABE and all the subscores on the GED. (CT)

Adult secondary education learners approach the goal of college-level postsecondary education through three assessment gateways: (a) measures of adult education program learning gains, (b) a high-school equivalency exam, and (c) college placement tests. On the surface, the assessments in this sequence might appear to work in concert and point…

A study evaluated different approaches to placing students in adult literacy classes using 168 adult basic education (ABE) and General Educational Development (GED) students. Students in classes at Rochambeau School in White Plains, New York, were given the Tests of Adult Basic Education (TABE), the Tests of Adult Literacy Skills (TALS), an oral…

This study explored the cognitive style of field dependence-independence (FDI) and its relation to student attrition and performance on the General Educational Development Test and the Test of Adult Basic Education. Resultant correlations are discussed in terms of the usefulness of FDI in assessing the needs of adult learners. (Author/SK)