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Much is unknown about those who do not finish high school and there is a need to understand who enters and completes alternative high school completion programs, such as the HiSet (High School Equivalency Test), GED (General Education Development Test), or growing number of state sponsored high school equivalency programs. The purpose for conducting the study was to describe the perceptions of adult education program coordinators about how to best categorize potential high school credential alternative completers. Using a phenomenological framework and semi-structured interviews, 12 adult education program administrators were interviewed about who enrolls in and completes their programs. A thematic analysis of these responses indicated distinct categories of individuals including opportunists (those looking for better opportunities), exceptionals (those with exceptionalities such as a disability that prevented the individual from completing a traditional high school diploma), immigrants (those validating learning in another country or language learners), and those who have been reformed in some way (e.g., those with a history of difficulty with legal situations). By identifying these initial categories of adult learners taking part in high school equivalency programs, recruitment efforts as well as the programs themselves might be better structured to correspond to learner needs.

Introduction: Despite the necessity for adults with lower literacy skills to undergo and succeed in high-stakes computer-administered assessments (e.g., GED, HiSET), there remains a gap in understanding their engagement with digital literacy assessments. Methods: This study analyzed process data, specifically time allocation data, from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), to investigate adult respondents' patterns of engagement across all proficiency levels on nine digital literacy items. We used cluster analysis to identify distinct groups with similar time allocation patterns among adults scoring lower on the digital literacy assessment. Finally, we employed logistic regression to examine whether the groups varied by demographic factors, in particular individual (e.g., race/ethnicity, age) and contextual factors (e.g., skills-use at home). Results: Adults with lower literacy skills spent significantly less time on many of the items than adults with higher literacy skills. Among adults with lower literacy skills, two groups of time allocation patterns emerged: one group (Cluster 1) exhibited significantly longer engagement times, whereas the other group (Cluster 2) demonstrated comparatively shorter durations. Finally, we found that adults who had a higher probability of Cluster 1 membership (spending more time) exhibited relatively higher literacy scores, higher self-reported engagement in writing skills at home, were older, unemployed, and self-identified as Black. Discussion: These findings emphasize differences in digital literacy engagement among adults with varying proficiency levels. Additionally, this study provides insights for the development of targeted interventions aimed at improving digital literacy assessment outcomes for adults with lower literacy skills.

Results from two studies provided strong evidence for the validity of the HiSET® tests, thereby demonstrating that HiSET is a well-developed battery of tests with passing and college and career readiness (CCR) standards that, when met, provide a pathway to postsecondary education, better employment opportunities and wages, and a better quality of life to those who are unable to experience a traditional high school education. Positive relationships exist between HiSET scores and both high school grades and ACT scores, including high levels of agreement between HiSET CCR indicators and ACT CCR indicators. Therefore, evidence supports the claim that HiSET scores are measures of high school equivalency, preparedness for middle skills jobs, and college readiness. Furthermore, there is evidence that passing the HiSET provides value to stakeholders. Passing the HiSET battery is associated with gaining academic and personal skills, college enrollment, employment gains (e.g., obtaining employment, obtaining more full-time employment, wage increases, and improvement in a job or position), and quality-of-life improvements.

Phraseology has been flourishing in the field of English writing studies in recent years. However, the focus has primarily been on items with less variability, such as ngrams or lexical bundles. To address this gap, this study investigates concgrams (Cheng et al., 2006), which encompass both constituency and positional variations, in advanced General English Proficiency Test (GEPT) writings. One hundred compositions from the GEPT were divided into two proficiency groups based on their scores and analyzed using the corpus tool ConcGram 1.0. The phraseological characteristics of concgrams are explored from four perspectives: frequency, type-token ratios (TTRs), word associations, and configuration. The goal is to determine the relevance of the use of concgrams to writing evaluation. The results indicate that TTRs and configuration play minor roles, while frequency and word associations appear to be more relevant to excellent writing. This study highlights the importance of including more variable phraseological units and provides a new approach to investigating the presence of phraseological units in greater depth.

African American men have among the worst high school completion rates of any population in the United States. The consequences of dropping out of school are serious and include high levels of unemployment and incarceration. Attempts at recruiting these men to return to complete a high school credential have not been broadly successful, and the current study was designed to identify the best ideas and practices of recruiting African American men into high-school equivalency completion programs. Using a snowball-generated sample of eight adult education program directors, interviews were conducted to identify strategies and approaches for recruiting African American men. Ultimately, program directors comments resulted in three broad categories of successful recruitment: using personal relationships that connect with men where they are, strategically using social media and online resources that are directly targeted toward these men, and utilizing the relationships and support networks of African American church communities. Responding program directors also stressed the need to meet these men at the physical and psychological places where they are, recognizing that these points of contact can and will change as the men age and face different personal circumstances. The findings provide key information for high-school equivalency program directors as they construct purposeful recruitment plans that also include measures for assessing the effectiveness of their recruitment campaigns.

This article describes strategies used by the author in intermediate level reading, writing and social studies-history GED classes in Harlem and the Bronx. Since four out of five of the New York State TASC exams are based on reading, I assign extensive reading and discussion, as well as strategies for answering multiple-choice questions. In addition to a textbook, I make copies of readings that emphasize the students' history--beginning with Columbus to African slavery--and current issues in their communities.

Since the General Educational Development (GED) Program was established in 1943, more than 17 million people have received a GED Credential. According to the American Council on Education (ACOE), the GED test is considered an alternative option to the US High school diploma, HiSET and TASC tests; the GED test verifies whether the test taker has the United States or Canadian high school-level academic skills (Larson et al., 2016; Rice, 2016). The GED tests entail five subject contents such as writing skills, reading skills, social studies, science, and mathematics--and although the standards required for passing the tests vary across states, these standards are generally similar (Larson et al., 2016; Rice, 2016). This chapter will examine the words Dr. Eric Thomas uses during an interview on the day that he obtained his Ph.D. (Philosophy in Education) from Michigan State University. During this interview with Glenn Twiddle, Dr. Thomas discusses the various factors that motivated him to pursue and earn a Ph.D. In particular, this content analysis will determine the themes Dr. Thomas believes are essential catalysts for educational success. Qualitative analysis of Dr. Thomas's interview reveals four themes related to: (1) The Habit of Avoiding Challenges; (2) The Value of Facing Challenges; (3) The Importance of Receiving Encouragement and Accepting Help; and (4) The Fragility of Work-Life Balance. Essentially, these themes highlight Dr. Thomas's initial habit of running from academic challenges, the reasons why he faced educational challenges in his life, what he learned about himself after facing academic challenges, the importance of receiving encouragement and accepting help from others, as well as how he manages work-life balance.

Studies have found that educational credential attainment could reduce recidivism-- committing a criminal offense after being released from incarceration--by a significant amount (Davis et al., 2013; Lee College, 2019; Northwestern, 2020). Therefore, the philosophy department needed to create a program that would increase high-school-equivalency certification (GED, HiSet, etc.) attainment. The study of philosophy has shown high correlation with improved test scores and higher averages for writing and quantitative/ verbal reasoning (Topping & Trickery, 2007 and Education Testing Service, 2020.). A university held an event that focused on local community activism. One dialogue covered assistance programs for juveniles who are incarcerated or paroled. A local juvenile detention center leader approached a philosophy graduate student at the university, and plans for a philosophy-focused learning support pilot for juveniles began. As members of the philosophy department and in conjunction with the juvenile detention center, developed and led the pilot with a goal of (a) reducing recidivism and (b) increasing program completion and college interest.

This article aims to convey to the reader the experience of teaching in prison. Standard teaching methods within the correctional environment and methods of integrating support for executive function issues such as ADD/ADHD are examined.

It is no secret that many adult learners who enter GED® preparatory programs across the country experienced hardship and difficulty in K-12 schools. Often, many of these same students had to battle with learning disabilities such as ADD/ADHD, making school and learning an even more challenging task. Learning and concentration difficulties are conditions commonly associated with the attention deficit disorders of ADD and ADHD. Listening to long lectures or reading voluminous amounts of information at one time while trying to make sense of and comprehend material can be a momentous task for students impacted by attention deficit disorders. This article examines the impact of ADD and ADHD on learners and explores an alternative learning strategy of mind mapping to combat the challenges these students often face when returning to school to obtain their GED® credential.

The goals of placement reform and the elimination of developmental education at community colleges were to decrease the misplacement of students and to provide students with quicker access to college-level courses to improve retention and student success rates. However, the new placement reforms may be preventing some nontraditional students from attending community colleges.

This study explores preliminary results from a pedagogical intervention designed to improve instruction for all students, particularly emergent bilinguals in the United States (or English language learners). The study is part of a larger efficacy randomized controlled trial (RCT) of the Instructional Conversation (IC) pedagogy for improving the school achievement of upper elementary grade students. Standardized achievement student data were gathered from (N = 74) randomized teachers' classrooms. Preliminary ordinary least squares analyses of the intervention appear promising for English language arts in general. Limitations in baseline equivalency for students after teacher randomization are discussed along with strategies to overcome them and implications concerned with the education of all students, notably those whose parents speak languages other than English at home.

This study examined the equivalence and reliability of the two versions of the Vocabulary Levels Test in an Iranian context. This study was motivated by the fact that the Vocabulary Levels test is increasingly being used in Iran for both research and pedagogical purposes without having been checked for validity and reliability in this context. The equivalence and reliability of the two versions of the test were examined through the parallel-form approach to reliability in Classical True Score theory. Seventy-five intermediate learners of English as a foreign language at the Iran Language Institute took the two versions of the test with one week interval between the two administrations in a counterbalanced fashion. To examine the equivalence of the two versions, the means and variances of the scores obtained for the two tests were compared using paired-sample t-test and one-way ANOVA, respectively. The results of the analyses indicated that the difference between the means of the two versions was significant, and the two versions cannot be considered as parallel forms. To assess the reliability of the two versions, the correlation between the scores obtained from them was estimated using Pearson Product Moment correlation. The results of the analyses showed that the two versions are highly correlated and are reliable tests. It is concluded that the two versions should not be treated as equivalent in longitudinal and gain score studies.

To guide designers developing open education resources for adults preparing for a high school equivalency exam, we developed six authentic personas that represented adults without high school diplomas. Our goal was to assist open education resources designers to develop empathy toward their learners and place themselves in their learners' shoes. The purpose of this design case is to share our journey in designing, constructing, and integrating authentic personas for the open education resources designers.

Federal accountability policies requiring rapid, measurable outcomes have increasingly shaped the nature and type of public literacy services available to adults. However, little empirical research has explored the impact of accountability policies on program practice in adult basic education, and almost no research has focused on the effect on services for adults who have difficulty reading. This ethnographically grounded research article explores one publicly funded adult basic education program's efforts to comply with federal accountability policy and the impact these efforts had on services for adults with difficulty reading. Findings suggest that efforts to comply with accountability policies resulted in instructional practices that limited students' opportunities for substantive engagement with reading and in program policies that excluded students who did not produce outcomes from participation. The findings also suggest that in the context of accountability pressures, student marginalization became normalized as an ordinary part of practice.

Adult education centres provide a final opportunity for adult learners who have transitioned out of mainstream schools to earn a high school degree. These centers overwhelmingly serve low-income, African-American and Latinx students whose needs were not met by traditional schools. Adult Education Centers are underfunded, under-resourced and challenged with high attrition rates. Little is known about factors that promote adult education persistence in the adult education context. To address this, the authors conducted a cross-sectional study examining the relationship between social support, coping through emotional processing and expression, stigma consciousness and attitudes towards participation in adult education. Results indicate that higher levels of self-reported coping (via emotional processing) and social support improve attitudes towards adult education and higher levels of self-reported stigma consciousness increase negative attitudes towards adult education. Study findings have significant policy implications for constructing student centred supports for adult education students who experience multiple levels of social inequality.

Throughout the field of corrections in the United States, the prevalent question regarding reentry preparation of offenders is, "What works?" The RAND Corporation in 2014 published a comprehensive review of correctional education programs and reported that offenders involved in education programs were significantly more likely to realize success after release from prison than those who were not involved in these programs. One of the recommendations from Davis et al. (2014) is to determine what types of instruction and curriculum delivery are most effective in a correctional education setting. This mixed-methods, experimentally designed study, in part, examined the potential benefit of using trained peer tutors to supplement the instruction in adult basic education classes and GED classes in a correctional environment. Theoretical applications were grounded in social learning theory and adult learning theories. Statistical significance (p = 0.03) was found in terms of academic performance with the aid of the tutors in the adult basic education classes but not with the GED class. Possible explanations for the difference were explored in interviews, and students reported that the individually designed computer-aided program offered only to GED students provided academic assistance. Expressions of tutor support and help were repeatedly presented as beneficial by both sets of treatment classes during interviews.

This article highlights the College Level Examination Program -- or CLEP -- from the College Board, as another pathway for students to earn college credits toward degree completion. The renewal of interest in alternative pathways to degree attainment has come about in response to yet another round of national studies reporting declining rates of college degree completion in U.S. institutions of higher education. Degree attainment is important because of the growing demand within our nation's economy for a trained workforce that requires students to gain skills from completing postsecondary education programs. Meanwhile, degree completion rates continue to define institutional performance, state funding formulas, and local economies. The CLEP may provide high school students the opportunity to significantly reduce the time and costs of college resulting in higher completion rates for community colleges.

Evidence-based research is becoming increasingly important in educational research. Calculation and test methods available in statistical software packages such as SPSS and STATA are widely used. To evaluate teaching innovations such as blended learning against classical classroom settings, for example, previous studies have mainly applied inference methods such as the t-test or variance analyses. The problem with these methods is that they test for the difference. A non-significant result does not automatically mean equivalence of the treatments examined, which is why we propose the use of equivalence testing. This paper introduces the equivalence test as complementary to the classical t-test and briefly discusses other approaches based on confidence intervals and Bayesian methods. As an example, the introduction of a blended learning format to a Bachelor's degree programme is used to demonstrate the procedure and discuss the results of conducting an equivalence test. By combining tests for difference and equivalence successfully, it was possible to arrive at more informative statistical statements: Whereas a t-test alone only produced results for three out of 22 courses, a t-test and an equivalence test in combination yielded statistically confirmed statements for 12 out of 22 courses.

The present study is an experimental one in nature, to find out the effectiveness of CAI package on in Physics of IX std. students. For this purpose a CAI package was developed and validated. The validated CAI package formed an independent variable of this study. The dependent variable is students' achievements in physics content. In order to find out the achievements in Physics among IX standard students, the investigator developed and standardized an achievement test on Physics unit entitled "Work, Power and Energy" prescribed for IX std. by Tamilnadu Textbook Society. It is a pre-test-post-test equivalent group design. In order to have randomization in the sample the investigator selected two schools in Madurai city. The Experimental and Control groups were identified in both these schools. Before the treatment both experimental and control groups were equated based on their performances in entry level test. The selected experimental and control groups were administered Pre test, developed and validated by the investigator. The treatment was conducted in four equal sessions. After all the treatments both the groups were administered Post test. Data were collected from the students. They were tabulated and statistical treatments were applied. The analysis results are discussed in this paper.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of discrete anchor items versus passage-based anchor items on observed score equating using empirical data.This study compares an "SAT"® critical reading anchor that contains more discrete items proportionally, compared to the total tests to be equated, to another anchor that contains fewer discrete items and more passage-based items proportionally. Both of these anchors were administered in an SAT administration. The impact of anchor type on equating was evaluated with respect to equating bias. The results clearly reveal that the anchor with more discrete items almost always leads to more accurate equating functions than does the anchor with more passage-based items.

The question of equivalence between two or more groups is frequently of interest to many applied researchers. Equivalence testing is a statistical method designed to provide evidence that groups are comparable by demonstrating that the mean differences found between groups are small enough that they are considered practically unimportant. Few recommendations exist regarding the appropriate use of these tests under varying data conditions. A simulation study was conducted to examine the power and Type I error rates of the confidence interval approach to equivalence testing under conditions of equal and non-equal sample sizes and variability when comparing two and three groups. It was found that equivalence testing performs best when sample sizes are equal. The overall power of the test is strongly influenced by the size of the sample, the amount of variability in the sample, and the size of the difference in the population. Guidelines are provided regarding the use of equivalence tests when analyzing non-optimal data.