General Educational Development (GED) and Educational Attainment Equivalency for Demographically Adjusted Norms†

Objective To investigate whether the General Educational Development (GED) certificate should be considered equivalent to a standard 12-year high school education when performing demographic corrections on neuropsychological performance levels. If the GED certificate and high school diploma reflect comparable levels of educational achievement, then performance on the Test of Premorbid Function (TOPF) and selected WAIS-IV indices should not differ between groups. Method Archival neuropsychology data were reviewed to identify patients who either (1) did not complete high school and did not subsequently obtain a GED, (2) did not complete high school but subsequently obtained a GED, or (3) completed high school and did not obtain any further formal education. Most patients were programmatic referrals for epilepsy surgery evaluation, although referrals from the general neurology clinic were also included. The primary dependent measures were the TOPF and WAIS-IV Full Scale IQ (FSIQ). Results High school graduates obtained higher scores on the TOPF (p < .01, partial η2 = 0.16) and FSIQ (p < .01, partial η2 = 0.14) as compared to both GED subjects and subjects withdrawing from high school with no GED. The non-GED group and the GED group did not differ from each other. Conclusions These findings demonstrate that the GED is not equivalent to a standard 12-year high school education when characterizing educational background. Although these data do not address what the appropriate year equivalent should be for the GED when adjusting performance for educational background, using 12 years will likely identify more areas of neuropsychological weakness simply by suggesting higher levels of premorbid ability.

Overcoming the Barriers to Successful Completion of GED Programs among Prison and Jail Inmates

This study examines the barriers faced by inmates participating in General Educational Development (GED) courses in prisons and jails, with the goal of proposing strategies for the removal of these barriers. By examining the literature surrounding prison and jail GED programs, the factors are categorized as those unique to each inmate (inmate factors), those experienced within the prison environment (environmental factors), and barriers that arise as a result of social conditions (outside factors). By examining various similar examples in the literature, solutions are discussed that have helped prison inmates overcome similar barriers.

The GED and the Rise of Contextless Accountability

Background/Context Policy discussions in the U.S. and abroad have become increasingly studded with reference to the results of international tests like PISA. Unlike most assessments, PISA is not designed to measure whether students have mastered a particular school curriculum but rather provide a measure of students’ ability to meet future challenges irrespective of where in the world they live. Though growing in influence, the concept of a “contextless” form of accountability has an important antecedent in the history of American education: the Tests of General Educational Development (GED), which were developed in the 1940s to assist the transition of American World War II servicemen and women. Purpose The purpose of the study is to use the history of the development and subsequent spread of the GED examine the general challenge posed by contextless accountability measures. Research Design This study draws on a wide range of primary and secondary sources to present a historical analysis of the development and diffusion of the Tests of General Educational Development. Conclusions/Recommendations Noting the strong parallels between the history of the GED and the current popularity of international measures like PISA, this paper examines the history and development of the GED in order investigate the allure, promise, and pitfalls of contextless assessment and accountability. In so doing, this paper illustrates the importance of quantification as a means of creating useful abstractions but also the inherent danger of the perceived certainty of these kinds of metrics. In the decades following the 1940s, the GED retained its reputation as an objective, readily available, measure of high school achievement that could be used in any context and with any population—a task it was never intended or designed to fulfill. Thus, this paper argues, the American experience with the GED offers important lessons and insights in a world where PISA continues the reign of contextless, test-based accountability systems. Namely, that the level of abstraction required to develop these measures makes them ill-suited to inform the kind of specific policy discussion in which they are frequently invoked.