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June 15th, 2009 12:40:02 pm GED History of the GED
The GED ,developed by the American Council on Education (also known as ACE),is a set of five tests that represent the subject matter taught in traditional high school. Also known as General Equivalency Diploma and General Educational development, the GED is meant as a substitute for a high school diploma. Individuals may seek a GED for many different reasons. They may have dropped out of traditional high school because of lack of motivation, illness, family or personal problems, or they may have moved to the United States from another country where the educational system is different
The GED has been around since 1942. The original GED was created because of soldiers coming back from World War II. Many of these soldiers had left to fight without high school experience. During this time there was a large industrial boom and all that most jobs required was a high school degree and the sufficient on the job training. Almost half of the individuals taking the test took it for job related reasons. They either wanted a job that required a high school diploma or their employer requested that they seek a GED. At this time few people sought a GED in order to pursue higher education.
In 1978, the GED changed to accommodate an evolving work force. More and more people were seeking higher degrees. The GED added a separate reading test instead of just having grammar and language correctness. They also shifted the focus of the GED from the recollection of facts to the actual application of knowledge to situations. Also, the GED started to include texts that applied to work and real life instead of just literature and historical texts.
In 1988, our society was decidedly becoming an information based society. Technology and global issue were becoming increasingly important to the average employer. This shift in our society brought some important changes to the GED. First, the Educational Testing Center added an essay portion to the test. They also started to include more critical thinking and problem solving questions to the GED as well as making the text even more relevant to adults in the real world. In addition to the changes in the GED itself, in 1988 there was also a change in the people who were taking the GED. In the past people mainly took the test for employment reasons. However, now more than half the people taking the GED were taking it in order to seek some sort of postsecondary education.
Although there have not been any major changes to the GED since 1988, the federal government, as well as state governments are making standards for the test including making the subject matter on the test more consistent from place to place. Also they test is now available in several different languages including French and Spanish. It is also available in Braille and in audio formats for people with hearing and visual disabilities. This has made the GED more accessible to thousands of people who otherwise would struggle to achieve their goals of higher education.
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“People and nations are forged in the fires of adversity”
- John Adams
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