Supporting GED Students at community colleges

1. Supporting GED Students at community colleges A Berkshire Community College perspective Liz Recko-Morrison, M.Ed.

2. Why this population? • For the past fourteen years, I have served as the Coordinator of Assessment and Testing and the GED Examiner at Berkshire Community College. • As the college as a whole has looked at issues of placement, retention, and interacted more closely with our K-12 counterparts, I’ve wondered what about the students who earned their GED.

3. At Berkshire CC • Eight to ten percent of the students who enroll are GED Graduates, on average. • We administer the GED to between 350 and 380 students per year. • We have a strong collegial relationships with the Adult Basic Education/GED Preparation programs.

4. Why do these students leave school? • The reasons are quite individuated. • Some students are bored while others are overwhelmed in a high school environment. • Some students have personal and family issues. • Others have not fit into their particular secondary school culture. • Some left school many, many years ago while others have been out only a few months.

5. Students decide to earn their GED for many reasons • To enter higher education • To obtain a job or a promotion • To encourage their children to persist in earning their education • To enter the military

6. How does one earn the GED? • To earn a GED, a person must pass five tests: • Language Arts: Writing • Social Studies • Science • Language Arts: Reading • Mathematics

7. To receive a GED • One must earn at least 2,250 points out of a possible 4,000. • Your score on each subtest (regardless of point total) is at least 410. Each subtest is scored on a 200-800 point scale,.

8. On to college • The cohort for my study consists of 90 students who were GED graduates and also took the placement test (Accuplacer) in preparation for enrollment during the fall 2010 semester. • At Berkshire CC, we administer the Reading Comprehension, WritePlacer, and Elementary Algebra to everyone.

9. Accuplacer Mathematics • Based upon their Algebra score, students may see an additional math subtest. • Students see the College Level Math subtest, if their Algebra score is 90 or higher. • Students with an Algebra score of 35 or lower also take the Arithmetic test.

10. College Placement Scores • Reading: 73 • Non-remedial (Study Skills) 70-72 • Writing: WritePlacer score of 6 or higher and Reading score of 70 or higher, or WritePlacer score of 5, if Reading score is 80 or higher. • Math: El. Algebra score of 90 or higher. There are departmental exceptions to this range, but this is the cut score most students must meet.

11. Reading • Total cohort: 743 students 73.7% • GED cohort: 90 students 86% • These percentages represent both college level and the non-remedial group. • Surprising …not really, for the GED is in many ways a reading test. You can’t do well without having developed at least basic reading comprehension skills.

12. Writing • Total incoming cohort: 654 students 52.3% • GED incoming cohort: 90 students 56.6% • GED students have some experience in writing a timed essay for the Language Arts: Writing test, although the complexity of the topics presented on that test is not at the same level of sophistication.

13. Math Placements

14. Math Disparity • GED graduates are at a marked disadvantage in math when compared to their peers entering high schools with a high school diploma! • This disadvantage is of particular concern because it results in requiring students who have demonstrated a propensity to leave school to do more remedial work.

15. Why is the disparity so pronounced in mathematics? • In general, mathematics skills are more quickly lost if not used. • More pointedly, however, the issue is with the current level of math tested on the G.E.D.

16. Accuplacer Math Content: Elementary Algebra • Polynomials • Equations in two variables • Factoring • Graphing

17. But what do GED preparation programs stress? • Arithmetic • Geometry • Applied math • Algebra in one variable

18. Why? • The focus to date has been to teach students the skills they need to pass the GED math test. • It’s been accepted practice that if you give students solid Arithmetic skills, they’ll do fine both on the GED and at community college.

19. The problem • This approach immediately creates an underclass of incoming students because it absolutely and unequivocally assumes that all GED students are going to be remedial math students. • If you aren’t teaching more than what amounts to pre-algebra, how can the result be otherwise?

20. Perseverance • Of the original GED cohort of ninety students, eighty-four actually enrolled for the fall 2010 semester for at least one course.

21. Semester to semester persistence

22. Placement scores for the twenty-four students still enrolled • Reading: • College level: 18 • Study Skills: 3 • 21 (87.5% met Reading pre-req. for coursework)

23. Writing • 1 student placed into Advanced Composition (ENG 103) • 12 placed at the ENG 101 level • 13 students (54.2% met Writing pre-requisite for college work.

24. Mathematics • One student (4.2%) placed at the college level. • What’s interesting is that fourteen students who persisted placed at the developmental algebra level, not the arithmetic level. (58.3%)

25. Math Placement and persistence • I find it no coincidence that the students who persisted to the fourth semester have higher math placements than did the GED cohort as a whole. • This lends some support initial support to the notion that GED students need exposure to more math than is on the current GED test.

26. Credits • GED students vary as widely as do their total incoming cohort when it comes to credits earned. • The mean number of college credits earned by those cohort members still enrolled was twenty-four credits. The totals varied form a low of three to a high of thirty-eight.

27. Supports • Students in Adult Basic Education programs will benefit from early exposure to college placement testing. • In Berkshire County, the ABE programs work very closely with the Transition to College program (Project Link) on our campus. • Students take the mathematics portion of the Accuplacer as a part of their GED curriculum. Directed instruction in mathematics is then presented as a part of their studies.

28. Project Link • This transitional program provides an introduction to college in general and Berkshire Community College specifically for students who meet its entry criteria, which include being a GED or Adult Diploma recipient, a Massachusetts resident, as well as having been a student at one of the county ABE programs. • Students must place into at least one remedial course.

29. Transitional programs • During the Link semester, students begin course work in developmental writing and mathematics and participate in seminars designed to acquaint them with the college’s offerings. • The program coordinator/advisor meets with each student and engages in relatively intrusive advising to potentiate success.

30. Link successes • Project Link has seen its students graduate with certificates and Associate’s degrees. Many have transferred to four year schools. • In this study’s cohort, three of the twenty-four students who have persisted into the fourth semester were link participants. (75% of Link students in the study are enrolled this semester.)

31. Beyond the benefits of transitional programs • GED students are a slightly different type of community college student. • Much like non-traditional students, they often arrive on campus with “impostor syndrome”; they often still can’t believe they’ve actually earned a high school credential, much less are sitting in a college classroom.

32. Common Mistakes GED graduates make • More so than students who enter from high school, GED graduates are often all too willing to take on more work than anyone could do. • Over ten percent of the cohort who started in fall 2010 registered for more than twelve credits their first semester, often starting with what any of us would consider a heavy load.

33. If I just try to blend into the crowd • In my experience, GED students are more reticent to ask for help or initially seek out tutoring. • I remember one student in a psychology section I teach asking to meet with me. She began telling me about being , “only a GED graduate” and apologizing for needing me to explain an assignment to her! • With a bit of help along the way, this student passed Intro. Psychology with an A- (and I’m not an easy grader.)

34. GED students don’t necessarily speak the language of the academy • Terms like credits, GPA, semesters, major/program, FAFSA, core subjects, not to mention the name of the newest distance learning platform are our jargon, not theirs initially. • I asked a student who happened to be a GED graduate why he was attempting fifteen credits the first semester. His response was that he “didn’t know what a credit was so he’d just nodded when the advisor said fifteen.”

35. What can we do to help our GED students be more successful? • Students need to learn the basics of college-speak. I’ve often thought that a GED student only orientation would be exceedingly helpful. • In an ideal world, GED transitional programs would be funded at a much higher level so that more students could avail themselves of their services. Every community college ought to have just such a program.

36. Programmatic Suggestions • GED students would have an advisor, at least for the first year, who would understand both the GED itself as well as college offerings. • This advisor would meet more frequently with the student than when courses are chosen. • The GED advisor would host workshops for all his/her advisees throughout the semester to aid in skill development.

37. In my perfect world • First semester GED students at the community college would be part of a learning community. • Two courses would be team taught to assist students to make connections between related content areas. • In my wildest dreams, the GED advisor would be one of the faculty members for this learning community. • A service learning component could be included to help the students see themselves as contributing members of the community; being of service may

38. GED students • Many come to our institutions with a bruised vision of themselves as learners. • While I can’t speak about anywhere than my own area, it’s my observation that ABE programs are relatively small and student centered. Even a school like Berkshire CC with an enrollment of 2400 can seem overwhelming. • Linking GED graduates to existing services and developing new ones to meet their needs are the responsibility of those of us at community colleges.

39. Small Groups • I’ve given one of you in each group the description of a GED graduate. • Please come up with a list of services that you think your particular student will need. Do those services exist on your campuses? How will the student find out about them. • Take five-ten minutes to talk about this in your group. Choose a spokesperson. Each group will describe their student and what may be necessary for them to succeed.

40. Questions/Comments Thank you very much for the opportunity to present to you today. It’s been an honor for me to do so. Liz Recko-Morrison Coordinator of Assessment and Testing Berkshire Community College 1350 West Street Pittsfield, Massachusetts 01201 lrecko@berkshirecc.edu