High school dropout Deanna Batrez honed her math skills Thursday, preparing for a showdown against retooled GED exams.
Batrez, 19, is counting on earning a General Educational Development certificate this year. She said it would be her passport to higher education and an interesting career.
"I've been pretty motivated," she said after a tutoring session at the Lawrence school district's Adult Learning Center. "When I'm older, I'll need to get a good-paying job."
Batrez and about 100 other people enrolled in the local GED program will be part of the first wave of Americans and Canadians to take updated GED tests in writing, reading, math, science and social studies.
The exams have been revamped for the first time since 1988.
The goal was to create tests that reflect more accurately the equivalence of a modern high school graduate's skills, said Linda McGuire, coordinator of the district's learning center at 1919 Del.
"This is the biggest change they've ever had," McGuire said of the tests. "And it's the first time people who have passed sections have not been grandfathered."
She said any GED candidate who didn't pass all five of the old tests by Jan. 1 must start over with the new series of assessments. The tests are so different there is no valid way of directly linking performance on the old and new exams, McGuire said.
Fifty to 100 local residents were unable to finish by the deadline.
"I've had some people who were very upset," McGuire said.
Locally, most students in the GED program are 25 years to 34 years of age and require at least two months of tutoring to prepare for the exams.
The Lawrence learning center's office hours have been expanded for students who need help getting ready for the GED. Hours are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
The GED is administered by the American Council on Education in Washington, D.C. ACE is just now shipping new practice and final exams to 3,400 testing sites in North America.
McGuire said each of the five new GED tests will still have multiple-choice questions, but there will be new wrinkles.
In math, for example, students who once faced only multiple-choice questions will now see 10 open-ended questions that require data analysis and an ability to evaluate pie charts, bar graphs and tables.
Candidates also will be allowed to use a calculator for the first time on half of the math assessment.
Critical-thinking skills will be given more weight in determining scores on the reading assessment. The science test will place slightly more emphasis on chemistry and physics. U.S. history will gain prominence on the social studies test.
And on the writing portion of the GED, there will be more questions about organizing written material and an emphasis on business-related communication. Spelling no longer will be tested.
Batrez, who began preparations to take the GED tests last week, said she wasn't intimidated by a beefed-up testing program. She quit high school as a junior.
"The hardest part for me will be science or math, but I think I can do well," she said. "I'm counting on it."
The Employment Policy Foundation in Washington has calculated the value of a high school diploma to folks like Batrez.
Americans without a high school diploma earn an average of $852,000 over a 40-year period, about $369,000 less than workers who complete high school and about $1 million less than college graduates.
"I'm just glad I didn't start earlier," Batrez said. "I would have been upset to have to start over."
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