New York, embroiled in Common Core and high stakes testing protests, is making plans to dump the GED (General Education Development) test in favor of a Common Core aligned one.  The powers that be are trying to force keeping Common Core using the testing. In essence, forcing students depending on tests like the GED to comply with Common Core and creating a funnel-like monopoly.  One has to realize the impact on Homeschoolers or online learners with this move. 

UticaOD.com:

Just as the state has upped the ante for grade school students with the new Common Core standards, the General Education Development test has gotten the same treatment.

In fact, there no longer will be a GED available in New York state for those who don’t acquire a high school diploma through the normal route.

Instead, the state has hired a new vendor for its high school equivalency exam – the Test Assessing Secondary Completion or TASC. The new test is aligned with the rigor associated with Common Core and, according to the state Education Department, is “better at preparing students to succeed in their careers and in college.”

The TASC replaces the GED, which, along with the National External Diploma program, finished its run this spring. Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES graduated its last group of students who received the GED accreditation this May.

Mary Kline, director of adult, early childhood and outreach education at Herkimer BOCES, called the group the “end of an era.”

Kline said the new tests are intended to get harder every year. Unlike in public schools, where most of the changes were seen upfront, Kline said the high school equivalency tests will “gradually increase in rigor.”

“To ease the transition … the TASC will increasingly measure these new learning standards between 2014 and 2017,” according to the state education website. “The TASC is also based on new science and social studies learning standards also more rigorous than those previously used in New York state.”

 

Crossposted at StopCommonCoreNC.org