Research and Evaluation | Noteworthy Practices | Additional Links

Adult Secondary Education programs are designed for students who did not complete high school and are age 16 and older. An alternative to the GED is the National External Diploma Program and the Adult High School Credit Diploma Program.

Research and Evaluation

• The Literacy of U.S. Adults with GED® Credentials: 2003 NAAL and 1992 NALS(PDF) study provides evidence of the validity of the GED credential as an indication of achieving the literacy skills and knowledge equivalent to those skills and knowledge demonstrated by adults with high school diplomas and aids many adult education programs in evaluating their effectiveness through adult learners' performance on the GED Tests.

• Beyond the GED: Making Conscious Choices About the GED and Your Future(PDF) contains research and materials that provide learners with practice in graph and chart reading, calculation, information analysis, and writing, while they examine the labor market, the role of higher education, and the economic impact of the GED.

• How Race to GED Was Established discusses the formation of Virginia's Race to GED Initiative.

• Ninety Days to a GED: Student Qualitative Analyses Report discusses the student qualitative analyses of Virginia's Race to GED Initiative.

• NCSALL Research Brief: The GED and Beyond—Is the GED Valuable to Those Who Pass it?(PDF)—discusses post credential outcomes for high school dropouts.

• National Commission on Adult Literacy Policy Brief: Adult Education and Post Secondary Success(PDF) examines GED Holders and their counterparts who received a high school diploma, as well as with their counterparts who have no high school credential, and the long-term postsecondary education outcomes of each group.

• What is the Value of the GED to Dropouts who Pursue the Credential?(PDF) discusses use of data set constructed from Florida GED and Unemployment Insurance (UI) administrative records to estimate the impact of the GED on the UI quarterly earnings of male high school dropouts who seek the credential.

• National data on long-term trends of the educational attainment of youth as a predictor of well-being.

• National data on dropout trends of 16 to 24 year olds and their ability to function in today's increasingly complex society and technology-dependent workplace. Includes data on GED attainment.

• Tassels on the Cheap is an article written by Duncan Chaplin, a senior methodologist at the Urban Institute, published in Education Next, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, in the fall of 2002.

Noteworthy Practices

• GED OnLine is Missouri's Internet-based preparation class for the GED. The online classroom is an anywhere-anytime learning environment for Missouri residents who cannot attend traditional GED classes.

• GED 2002 Teachers' Lesson Bank provides lesson plans developed through an Adult Education State Leadership Grant from the Florida Department of Education, Division of Workforce Development.

• Florida GED PLUS College Preparation Program Curriculum and Resource Guide(PDF) is designed to help students gain the knowledge and skills they need to move from a high school graduate to college student. This curriculum resource guide was developed to provide adult education programs the resources they need in order to implement Florida GED PLUS.

• GED 2002 Lesson Plans were created by Utah Adult Education Instructors, in partnership of Utah State Office of Education, Utah Education Network, and the Utah System of Higher Education.

• GED as Project emphasizes new strategies that focus on higher order thinking skills, problem solving, and application. Developed by Virginia's Workforce Improvement Network, a partnership between James Madison University and the Virginia Literacy Foundation, and completed by the Virginia Literacy Institute at Virginia Commonwealth University.

• NCSALL Lesson Plans and Materials for the GED Classroom (2005)(PDF) is a set of classroom materials designed for use by GED teachers in GED classrooms. The materials provide learners with practice in graph and chart reading, calculation, information analysis, and writing, while they examine the labor market, the role of higher education, and the economic impact of the GED.

Additional Links

• American Council on Education (ACE) statement (and answers to national queries) regarding the announcement of altered plans for a 5th Edition GED Test release, use of the current 2002 test series continue beyond January 1, 2012.

• America's Literacy Directory is a service provided by the National Institute for Literacy and its partners to assist adults and young adult learners to find local literacy programs that provide adult basic education.

• GED Testing Service develops and distributes the GED test in the United States and Canada. Hotline: 1-800-62-MY-GED.

• The National External Diploma Program is an adult applied-performance, competency-based assessment program that awards a high school diploma to skilled adults who have acquired many of their high school level abilities through their life experience.

• GED 2002 - Online Professional Development provides information on the GED 2002 Series Tests, as well as strategies that can be implemented in the classroom

• National Institute for Literacy webcast Research on the Economic Impact of the GED Diploma provides an expert panel discussion focused on the economic benefits that accrue to holders of the General Educational Development (GED) credential.

• American Council on Education (ACE) program highlights the DeKalb Technical College, GED to College Transition Program.