The future for GED in Corrections

Greetings! I'm wondering what is happening in other states concerning the administration of the new test, with it's computer-only status, in our corrections environments. I work in a rural program which serves several county jails and a small state prison, and we don't know yet what is going to happen with testing in 2014.If anyone in Georgia knows what to expect here, I'd love to hear it, as well as what other states are expecting.

Comments

My understanding of this is that correctional facilities could have applied for a waiver to delay implementation of the computerized GED® 2014 test.  At the facility in Texas that my program has classes, they did not apply for the waiver and will go live with the scheduled test transition date of January 2, 2014. 

We have been conducting computer based GED testing since October 2012 and it is so much easier and better than the paper tests. In most facilities we utilized the existing computers and when they are not used for GED testing, they continue to be used by inmates for other academic programs. You will love it when you get the CBT!! 

Hi Betty, 

What curriculum are you using to prepare students for CBT? I am interested in how you are preparing offenders with limited technology skills to be successful. 

Our project (i-Pathways.org) has a robust curriculum that is being launched in Illinois for DOC. I am very interested in your experiences and lessons learned. 
 

Our ABE staff provide keyboarding skills in their ABE classes and one of our computer instructors is developing a short training for the skills needed for CBT. We did not do a lot to prepare the first testers and they did very well going through the directions on CBT before the test. We remind them they have to read and remember the directions and usually the ABE instructors have reviewed what they need to know prior to the actual test.  The keyboarding will be very helpful for the written exam and the short answers. Our inmates are doing very well. Our education dept works on a shoestring budget so we combine a lot and develop our own.