In this article Karla Walker describes how her division developed new curriculum to help adults earn their High School Equivalency Diplomas (HSEDs). The division's goals were to: (1) shorten the time students took to complete the program; (2) develop transition to college or employment; (3) allow for poverty-informed decisions within the program;…

The guided pathways approach to community and technical college redesign has significant impacts for adult basic education (ABE). The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and Ability to Benefit provide federal support that complements the work being done in Guided Pathways. Washington state's approach to implementing guided pathways…

The tradition of leaving high school and finding full-time employment after grade 8 has put Low German-speaking (LGS) Mennonites in rural Southwestern Ontario in a vulnerable economic position. Consequently, alternative education programs have been developed by Ontario public school boards in areas containing high numbers of LGS Mennonites. The…

North Queens Community High School serves approximately 200 students, 16-20 years old, as they strive to reach their personal and academic goals. All students at North Queens have previously been enrolled in high school elsewhere and are over-age and undercredited. Small class sizes, student-centered support, and an accelerated credit acquisition…

High school students with disabilities who drop out are costly to society. Compared to those who graduate, they are more likely to be unemployed, dependent on public services, and involved in the criminal justice system. Consequently, helping students with disabilities graduate has become a prominent national concern. Students with disabilities…

The author relates how the idea behind the school he founded came from events that transpired in the incarceration of a 16-year-old client, Eddie. Eddie, who was charged with trespassing and stealing, pleaded to the author that he wanted "a program" instead of going to jail. However, the court found him guilty and sent him to jail. Years later,…

The New York State External High School Diploma Program is a competency-based assessment system serving adults who can demonstrate both basic and life skills. It represents an alternative to the General Educational Development (GED) program for busy, working adults--offering flexibility in time, location, and mode of assessment. Developed in the…

Since 1976, the Cumberland Valley School District (Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania) has offered an external high school diploma program for adults that combines academic achievement with life skill competencies. In 1995-1996, the Cumberland Valley School District received funds to recruit three educational agencies/school districts willing to…

One of four products of the 1984-85 National Evaluation Project to compile baseline data on characteristics and impacts of High School Equivalency Programs (HEP) and College Assistance for Migrants Programs (CAMP), this report presents a brief overview of the goals, basic research design, and summary of the evaluation project products and a…

Comprehensive evaluations of two dropout prevention/reentry demonstration programs, sponsored by the Department of Education, one funded under the School Dropout Demonstration Assistance Program (SDDAP) and one funded under the Cooperative Demonstration Program (CDP), are provided in this paper. Both programs were designed to demonstrate effective…

The University of Texas Pilot Program was operated in five sites in Texas (Abilene, Brownsville, El Paso, Houston, and Temple) to demonstrate the utility of competency-based high school diplomas for Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) clients. Included among the program features common to all five sites were the following: (1) the…

A detailed account of the establishment of an educational program at Marin County Jail, along with background information, is provided in the document. A discussion of inmate educational programs throughout the country examines inmate needs, facilities, staffing, and funding. Marin County school system interaction with penal institutions, its law…

The purpose of a project was to develop a comprehensive distance learning system for undereducated adults not being served through traditional adult education classroom instruction. Odessa College (Texas) developed and implemented a televised delivery system for General Educational Development that complemented and supplemented existing adult…

California's Greater Avenues for Independence (GAIN) program requires that large numbers of welfare recipients receive job training and preparation for employment. A survey of the program analyzed early operations in 8 of the first 10 counties to implement it; data were gathered from program staff, case records, and field research of the first…

A project to develop grass roots alternative diploma study (Project GRADS) was undertaken for the purpose of formulating and implementing a multimodal, systems approach to preparing rural adults to pass the General Educational Development (GED) Tests. During the year-long, countywide program, GED programming was developed and delivered via the…