High school equivalency offers more options

Changes to the program mean test takers have three choices

Test takers hoping to receive a secondary completion certificate have three options: the General Education Development (GED), the High School Equivalency Test (HiSET) or the Test Assessing Secondary Completion (TASC).

It is up to individual states to choose which tests to administer and Nevada chose to offer all three to provide the most flexibility to test takers, according to JOIN Education Coordinator Wendy Raynor. JOIN is the only adult education center in Humboldt County and also offers adult diplomas.

The changes to the program stem from a decision made by the GED Testing Service several years ago. At that time, the service decided to update and become a computer-based test rather than a pencil-and-paper exam. The service didn't have the resources to to do that on its own, however, so it went to bid. Pearson Publishing stepped up to partner with the service and took over the testing.

"The GED went from quasi-governmental/public to for-profit private," Raynor said.

When Pearson Publishing took over testing, the market was opened up to other companies to produce the test and McGraw Hill and Educational Testing Services joined the game, according to Raynor. The main difference between the two news tests and the GED test is that the new options offer test takers a cheaper option.

"All of the exams test the same thing," Raynor said. All tests feature the same subjects and lead to a high school equivalency certificate. With the news tests, paper and pencil test-taking is still an option, which Raynor said was something JOIN wanted to retain.

Unfortunately, students who took the GED test prior to Jan. 1 and only partially passed will have to start from scratch. Those scores are "wiped clean," according to Raynor. She said that happens every time the GED is updated or changed and the last time that occurred was 2002. Test takers who took and passed the entire GED exam prior to Jan. 1 are in the clear. Any student who falls in the group who only partially passed should contact JOIN to discuss options for moving forward, Raynor said.

JOIN, as the county's only adult education center, offers free adult education including a pre-test, one-on-one sessions with a teacher and study plans.

One thing Raynor wanted to warn people about is the potential for online scams.

"GED education is free in the state of Nevada," Raynor said. "Do not pay for it; you need to go to the adult education centers to receive it."

Raynor said she wants to make sure people get state-approved certifications, not something falsely accredited from an online source.

According to the GED Testing Service, 63 percent of jobs will require a college degree or professional certification by 2018. In order to get into college, a high school equivalency certificate is necessary. Raynor said statistics also show that wages and salaries for people who have a high school diploma or equivalency certificate are much higher than those who don't.

Anyone in the community who is interested in preparing for and taking one of the three equivalency exams can get started by contacting the JOIN office at (775) 623-6218. The process is entirely free except for the actual exam. The GED is the most expensive at $95 and the HiSET and TASC offer test-takers a lower cost option at $65.

Contact Jessica Powell at j.powell@winnemuccapublishing.net.[[In-content Ad]]