Why do students take the GED?

When I interviewed for my job at PSKS, one of the questions I had to answer was, "What does a GED mean to you?"

My answer was that while a GED was equivalent to a high school diploma for resume or college application purposes, to me it said more than that.  It said that the recipient chose an alternative path for their education than the conveyor belt that they started on.  When option one didn't work, they found a different way and earned it.  I tutored a high school graduate once who had special needs.  She told me that she felt pushed through classes because teachers didn't want to deal with her, and handed a diploma to get rid of her.  She felt jealous of GED students, because they had to work for their 450 passing grade.

I recently read an opinion piece by three guys from Department of Economics at the University of Chicago who very much disagree with me.

Their piece is about how the new GED is more difficult to better test the "scholastic ability" (Heckman, et al.) of students, but that both the old and new GED miss the picture by ignoring "a completely different set of skills that matter in high school and life."  As an educator who values authentic assessments, I actually agree with their main point, that the GED doesn't accurately measure a student's intelligence.  But as someone who is not in the field of Economics and actually works with GED students, I find their tactics for making their point heartless and short-sighted.

At one point they ask:

But why do GED recipients drop out of high school? The GED test — and achievement tests in general — miss skills like motivation, persistence, self-esteem, time management and self-control.

This is why they think GED students drop out?  Because they have low self-esteem?  Poor time management?  Because they are lazy?

Students who's families experience homelessness face many barriers when it comes to education.  The McKinney-Vento Act notes that homeless students are susceptible to enrollment delays (due to lack of records), likely to be segregated from non-homeless students, and struggle to find transportation to their "school of origin."  Therefore, homeless students often end up changing schools many times while their families move from shelter to shelter.  Each time a child changes schools, they fall behind as they struggle to adapt to new cultural norms combined with the stresses of living in poverty.

Other students drop out because they're running away from an abusive home life.  Some students come out to conservative parents, who then kick them out.  In these situations, the youth is usually not thinking about staying in high school at the moment, they are focused on survival.  I wouldn't say that they lack "motivation and persistence" though.

I've met a teenage mother who got kicked out when she had one credit left, the school didn't want to find a way to deal with her situation.  Another student got kicked out for the assumption that he was involved in gang activities.

And don't get me started on the amount of students I've met who dropped out because they were in Special Education classes, struggling more and more to confine themselves in a system that just doesn't fit with their learning style, until they finally get so frustrated (or break enough behavior contracts) that they leave.

Acknowledging the real reasons why students leave high school is imperative to creating a safe alternative for them.

My student Josh (student names are always changed for confidentiality purposes) has been a street youth for years.

Since the GED changed, I haven't gotten the new study guides and haven't been able to tell the students what the new test looks like, what passing grade you need, what materials you will need, etc.

Josh comes into my classroom last Friday, "Hey Teach," he says.  "I made a bet with someone that I could get my GED this week, so I've been taking the tests all week, and I should get my scores in the next 24 hours."

I didn't understand how he had even began to go about this.  The Testing Center closest to where Josh hangs out hasn't even started testing the new GED yet, so Josh had ridden the buses to three different community colleges in two opposite directions.  Once he signed up for the test online, he had to show up and take it or lose the money he had paid for that testing slot.

As a student under 19, Josh needs a form granting him permission to test from his home school district.  I start this with students the day I meet them, because it's a long, bureaucratic process.  Josh got the form filled out himself, but there was still trouble at the center with the administrators thinking it wasn't legitimate.  He asked to speak to a supervisor and advocated for himself to be able to test that day.

Then, Josh spent $120 and 7 hours labeling parts of an atom, writing an essay comparing historical articles, and doing algebra.  His scores came in that Friday, and he got his GED and passed two of his tests with honors.  Don't try to tell me this student dropped out because he lacked motivation, persistence, self-esteem, time management, or self-control.

I do still agree with the authors that students like Josh are missing out on some crucial parts of high school by getting a GED, but the experiences I value are different from the skills they advocate for.

When a student gets a GED, they might never have a chance to practice public speaking.  They might not get the holistic experience of trying out different electives: art, music, sports, and other clubs.  And they definitely miss out on the chance to maintain a few years in a more sheltered adolescence with a chance to just be a socializing teenager.

The opinion article started with:

In a 2011 study, the GED Testing Service found that within six years of earning a GED, about 40 percent of GED recipients enroll in college -- but most drop out within a year.  Only about 1 percent earns a bachelor's degree.

These numbers are interesting to me, compared to the fact that over 90% of the hundreds of College Success students with SEA (many who are GED recipients) are enrolled in higher education in good academic standing.  To me these numbers say that the GED test, like any test, can only measure a snapshot of a student.  There needs to be as much support for GED students as there are for middle class high school seniors pursuing higher education to expect both groups to be able to reach the same results.

Eventually the authors of the article finally conclude with the point that the GED needs to be supplemented.

Many GED recipients come from disadvantaged backgrounds and receive less support at early ages, but various interventions could help compensate for early disadvantage and improve life outcomes. Many have high rates of return and work primarily by building skills not captured by tests. Dropouts deserve a real second chance, something not assured by passing the GED test or any achievement test.

With this I agree, but they miss the part where this is happening.  This is exactly what my work with PSKS and SEA is about.  Which makes me sad to think that unless these Economic academics didn't do their homework, there might not be supportive programs for GED students in other cities.  That is a real problem that I'm glad the authors are aware of.  I just hope as they continue their work, they take the time to actually get to know some GED students.

Department of Education.  "McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youths Program."  Federal Register.  Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, 8 March 2002.  Web notice.  3 Feb 2014.

Heckman, James J., John Eric Humpries, and Tim Kautz.  "New GED test fails to measure skills that matter most."  Seattle Times: Education Lab Blog.  Caitlin Moran, 23 Jan 2014.  Web.  2 Feb 2014.

Art Day

I have to admit that when Teacher Appreciation Week rolled around, the ugly green-eyed monster took over me.  I kept seeing posts from my (extremely hard-working and deserving) teacher friends detailing all the wonderful presents their students and parents got for them.

Over at the RISK Learning Center, the weather was spectacular, which means attendance sunk through the floor, and I practically taught to an open house.  For Teacher Appreciation Week, my students played hooky.

So I got grumpy during Teacher Appreciation Week.  Grumpy and jealous of the flowers and gift certificates presented to public and private school teachers.

I came in the next week and sat down next to Tracy.  Tracy is also an intern, so he'll come in before class and work on math in the morning if we don't have enough tasks for him that day.  Tracy is one of the most creative, socially aware students I have ever worked with, four out of five of his test scores are the highest I've ever seen, and he hates math.  Not only that, but he has a heightened sense of oppression over your average young person.  If a math problem asks him to calculate the percentage of sale for a clothing item bought at a department sale, Tracy will argue that he doesn't need to do this problem because he'll always buy his clothes secondhand anyway, and isn't that a ridiculous amount for the retailer to charge the consumer for a piece of clothing, and why is the consumer putting their money towards that instead of something better, like local GMO-free food to support a grassroots farming group?

Tracy tugs at my heartstrings since these are all values I parrot, so I really can't just ask him to be quiet and figure out what 60% of 200 is like a good drone.

Division, fractions, and word problems have all gone very slowly, and usually include some whining and creative distracting and head banging on tables, by both student and teacher.

So when I sat down next to Tracy I was not expecting this.

"I think I figured out math..."  He moves his finger along the multiplication chart he's been creating.

Tracy would panic anytime we did Multiplication Madness.  He's been spending a lot of time studying his multiplication chart, so it doesn't catch him off guard when it comes up.  Flashcards disgust him, it feels too similar to brainwashing.  So he used his detailed artistic abilities to create the biggest handwritten multiplication chart since the invention of computers.

"There are patterns to the numbers," he says.  "The ones place for the 4s goes 4,8,2,6,0, and then it repeats.  The ones place for the 8s goes 8,6,4,2,0, and then it repeats."  He looks at me.  "Why didn't you tell me there were patterns?"

This is my favorite reaction.  The way a student assumes you held this knowledge the whole time and just wouldn't give it to them.  They never seem to get that I learn from them the best ways to teach.  It's about listening to the student to figure out their needs.  Tracy needs to create something himself, he can't do someone else's problems with an answer key.  Even if I had given him a blank multiplication chart, he would not have done as well.  He needed to actually draw his own, and as his teacher, I needed to understand that.

And that's when I let go of my Teacher Appreciation Week jealousy and started appreciating being a teacher.  I absolutely love my job.  I love watching students help one another.  Joe turns to Valerie and Sandra who are also working on reading packets.  "Are you guys reading the questions first and then doing the reading?  I just started doing that, and it really helps me focus while I'm reading."

"Oh, that's a good idea," says Sandra.  "Thanks, I'll start doing that too."  Until that interaction, I hadn't heard Sandra string together more than two words.

I've seen Tomas grow up before my eyes as he cuts the hardcore drugs out of his routine, gets a job, and comes out to the world as the beautiful person he is.  Even his peers turn to me and say, "I'm so glad Tomas is getting his life together, he was really scaring me for a while."

Pangaea, traveling would be so easy!

I've read some beautiful journal entries about hopes and dreams for the future, about the desire for bullying to end, about favorite memories.  I've also read some hilarious entries about being a transient and run ins with local sheriffs.  My favorite journal entry ever was when I questioned the students what they would change about the world if they could.  Fay writes, "I would put all the continents back together like it was Pangaea again.  That way traveling would be easy."  Yep, I can learn to humbly be inspired and appreciate being a teacher, and getting stood up when the weather is nice.

RISK Learning Center

After a month of job searching, trying to cook, learning a few yoga poses, journaling, walking around Fremont, and going out to eat grilled cheese for lunch, Polly (my mentor from SEA) helped me learn about a job opening at Peace for the Streets by Kids from the Streets (PSKS).

PSKS is a partner site of SEA, and they share similar values.  PSKS has been around Seattle for 18 years, working with homeless and at risk youth and young adults.  There are lots of different programs, community building activities, outreach, case management, the list goes on for a while.  The idea for almost every program at PSKS came from the Core, a self-governing group of active and involved PSKS members who meet once a month to discuss the fulfillment of the mission and vision of PSKS.

My program, the RISK Learning Center, is a GED program for 16-25 year olds.  RISK stands for Re-Inventing Steps to Knowledge.  It's a low barrier program, students are expected to meet a minimum 2 day a week (6 hours) attendance requirements.  The school day is planned in a student centered way, and is intentionally left flexible to meet diverse student needs.

I love all the students I've been blessed to work with already.  They are all incredible, intelligent young people who have some story of being told "no" by society in one way or another.  One of the first questions I get when people hear about my job is, what are the students like when they walk in your door?  Do they carry anger, agression, behavior problems because of the way they have been treated?  While the students definitely carry baggage, they come to RISK dedicated to learning.  I am impressed by the hard work and commitment I have seen.  So many students come to me at the end of the day and ask for homework.  One of my volunteer tutors describes homework as a chance for the student to see how much they can do without the teacher present.  The students are eager to prove their progress and accomplishments are their own.

One of my favorite times of the week is the days when Cadence shows up early so we can listen to the lastest song he's created.  He uses some free software online to mix different beats and lines.  I ask one day what the difference between electronica and techno are.  After Cadence explains, I respond, "Ok, so electronica is more melodic, and techno is all about the rhythm and tempo."  Cadence raises his eyebrows a bit, "I guess."  His reaction cracks me up.  I explain that I'm classically trained in music, but I'm intrigued by Cadence's musical creations.  This is a classic example of my relationship with these students.  I don't try to pretend I'm anyone else but who I am, but I hope I make it clear that I'm open and supportive of whoever they are or what they're interested in.

The balance of my program is perfect for someone with my teaching style.  When Olivia, the previous teacher, trained me, she set me up for success.  She left me with a structured school day full of meaningful activities.  I also get a lot of flexibility in my teaching.  One of my tutors called me a hummingbird, flying around the room and hovering with each student for as long as needed, only to be called somewhere else at a moment's notice.  She sees how helpful this can be for the students, to be able to adapt to each of their individual needs, which is important in a GED program where someone is writing essays, someone is working on fractions, and three more students are learning algebra.

I can switch up the schedule when needed or desired.  We have art on Fridays with a volunteer, and on December 21 my co-worker David told myths about the end of the world, then taught some students how to make their own planets with spray paint art.

I enjoy being open to all the different student needs, but I can also tell I'm still treading water.  I need a little more time to get my feet under me and be the most creative teacher I know I can be.  When I have more planning time (next summer?), I hope to create a few lessons that highlight the key concepts of the 5 GED tests.  One of my tutors is wearing a "Punctuation kills: Let's eat Grandma" T-shirt on Tuesday, so I'm going to use this opportunity to try structure the day with a group grammar lesson!  Let me know if any teachers reading this have some good punctuation games or activities.