Examiner/Program Manager Conferences and Technological Developments
Between October 4-6, Virginia's Adult Education program managers and GED examiners held annual conferences to talk about upcoming changes in the GED test and trends in classroom instruction. Although most of the details are still developing, it was revealed that the Office of Adult Education and Learning (OAEL) will be mandating content standards for Virginia's GED instruction, and on a national scale, changes are on the horizon for the GED test itself. A few anecdotal items are worth noting.
First off, according to the GED Testing Service, most GED test-takers are more computer savvy than adult educators may realize. By 2011, we can expect to see computer-based testing, and initial field testing shows that adult learners are performing just as well on a computer as on a paper and pencil test. It would be reasonable to infer from this that the GED test will eventually present questions that relate directly to the online experience that has become so common in today's workforce and the traditional high school setting. So, be sure to check out VALRC's online professional development and Polilogue discussions about eLearning, so you can keep pace with the technological needs of today's adult learners. Another harbinger of the GED's shift toward technology are Virginia's new systems of online test registration and nearly instant online retrieval of GED scores. Clearly, Virginia's field of Adult Education is committed to staying ahead of the curve.
This year's program managers meeting saw the unveiling of a draft form of the new GED Content Standards. If you are unfamiliar with the concept of content standards, check out the Content Standards Warehousehttp://www.adultedcontentstandards.org/. According to the draft's preface, "These standards have been written and disseminated to provide a framework for instruction and program design in adult GED programs in Virginia. They are not prescriptive but, rather comprise a guide for what is expected of each learner to know and be able to do in order to pass the GED tests." The OAEL's steering committee that has been busy for the past two years writing these guidelines will be accepting feedback during periodic Polilogue Jams, where drafts of both the GED and ESOL standards can be found. For more information, or if you aren't registered with Polilogue, please contact Debbie Bergtholdt.