Community Education program brochures Metro North ABE - Consortium newsletter, Jan. 2015 | Page 5

expectations, allowing test takers to use
a handheld calculator, reducing the need
for an additional application to be open
on the screen during testing.
The new exam also attempts to create a
standard more similar to that of today’s
graduating high school senior by comingling the topic areas across the individual exam topics. Similar to a high
school class, the exam questions may
ask learners to look at a bar graph in the
social studies section of the exam and
compute change over time, or to interpret data from a science experiment. An
essay, or extended response, has been
introduced into the social studies exam,

classes offered by the Workforce Center.

Finally, BLL continues to have staff actively
learning the most up-to-date information on
the new GED® tests by participating in
statewide GED®, MNI, and CCRS (College
and Career Readiness Standards) Committees. They share their work at the state, local
and national levels, providing professional
development for ABE educators on the new
tests. A couple of BLL staff have even presented about the new Jump Start program at
a state conference in Georgia and now help
support curriculum pilots in that state.

Congratulations on all of your hard work,
Blaine Learning Lab staff and learners!

asking test takers to be able to make
connections and inferences from two related events and to use prior knowledge
to support their argument. The reading
level of the exam has also increased, as
has the content knowledge required.
ABE instructors have responded to these
changes by brushing up on their knowledge base through professional development and changing their instructional
delivery methods. Pearson Vue has developed the GED Ready to allow test
takers the opportunity to take a practice
exam that is intended to predict success
on the official exam.
In addition to co-mingling the content

areas of the exam, the types of questions
which learners need to be able to reason
has grown. Besides just multiple choice
options, today’s test takers are asked to
type in short answers, “click and drag”
content to the correct location within a
chart and fill in the blank. Testing learners with these sorts of higher-level
thinking aligns with the current high
school model, and is also a significant
change from the previous exam. Learners are now asked to not just provide a
writing sample, but also to demonstrate
how they can connect one event to another using prior knowledge. Metro
North ABE has responded to the
changes in the GED by ensuring that instructors, support staff, and volunteers
understand the changes to the exam,
providing professional development to
adapt instructional techniques and communicating with the community about
how they can meet their educational
goals.

To become a volunteer in a GED classroom, or to refer someone to our program, please call Metro North ABE at
762-783-4920.

WHAT STUDENTS ARE SAYING...
“All the teachers and volunteers make learning fun, even for a guy
who hasn’t been in school for 34 years. After I get my GED, I will
come and volunteer to help others like I’ve been helped.”—Bob
“Getting a GED is important to me because I will have a better
education AND feel better about myself.”—Kim
“I decided to get my GED so my kid would be proud of his mom
and think she’s smart.”—Wynetta
“If there was any advice I could give to anyone doing the GED
class, it’d be to persevere.”—Becca

JANUARY 2015

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