GED would have competition under new state proposal

The GED exam would no longer be the only test allowing off-track students and dropouts to earn a high school diploma, under a proposal announced today by Gov. John Kasich.

Ohio would allow students to choose from two other tests to earn a high school equivalency diploma, if Kasich’s plan passes the state legislature, breaking the monopoly the increasingly costly GED has on those exams.

“Approving at least two equivalency exams creates a competitive market with the potential of driving down testing costs while also providing testing options to our adult learners,” Ryan Burgess, director of Kasich’s Office of Workforce Transformation, told an Ohio House committee Tuesday.

The proposal is expected to have strong support. It drew cheers Tuesday even from Policy Matters, a left-leaning advocacy and research group that is often critical of the Republican governor.

“I’m really pleased,” said Hannah Halbert, who wrote a report for Policy Matters in February that outlined how changes to the GED since 2014 have tripled the costs of tests and led to 70 percent fewer people passing them. “I think it’s a real clear move in the right direction to expand these options.”

Passing the General Educational Development certificate test is a long-established way for high school dropouts to earn a diploma and qualify for jobs, college or technical training.

For most of its 74-year history, the test was run by a non-profit association of colleges. But in 2012 the association partnered with Pearson, the international education services company that also provides the PARCC Common Core exams, to update the tests.

The tests now must be taken on computers, not paper. Passage rates have fallen. And costs for the tests in Ohio have risen from $40 to $120 — $80 for the test itself and $40 for test center fees.

The changes have led 22 other states to start offering alternative tests to students.

The exact details of Kasich’s proposal, which he hopes to add to House Bill 474, are not ready yet. But Burgess outlined the basics Tuesday morning.

• Ohio would stop using the term GED, for which Pearson now holds a copyright, and use “high school equivalency” instead.
• The Ohio Department of Education will select two additional tests that students can choose instead of the GED.
• The department would offer students who pass any of the three tests a state high school equivalency diploma, to avoid any confusion from employers or schools over what the new and unfamiliar tests mean.
• The state will continue subsidizing the costs of the exams by paying up to $80 for each first-time test-taker.

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