From the Dec. 9, 1996 Daily Report Card:
-> *1   MASS.'S GED REQUIREMENT:  JUST FORGET IT
->    The Massachusetts Board of Education and its chairman, John
-> Silber, are in a "thicket of unintended consequences," pens an
-> editorial in The BOSTON GLOBE (12/5).  After the board voted to give
-> the GED test to all high school seniors, Silber added that the
-> students who cannot pass the test should not graduate from
-> high school -- a proposal which caused a ruckus around the state.
-> (See DRC 12/4/96)
->    A compromise, offered by Silber and Gov William Weld (R),
-> quickly followed, in which students who failed would graduate but
-> with "Failed GED" stamped on their diplomas.  But that compromise
-> contains far too many problems, contends the paper.  For example, the
-> test, typically administered to adults who have not finished high
-> school, is graded on a curve, "with 30 percent failing every year."
-> The paper queries:  "If given to seniors with
-> consequences attached, the results should surely be graded
-> against a standards of performance that is judged acceptable,
-> whether 90 percent meet that standards or only 50.  But who would set
-> the standard?"
->    Another question:  Does the board have the authority to
-> order the test without legislative approval, asks the paper.  The
-> response from the lawmakers is conflicting, at best.  Senate
-> President Thomas Birmingham and House Speaker Thomas Finneran
-> claim the board has the funds and discretion to spend them on GED
-> testing.  But Rep Harold Lane, a former high school principal,
-> drafted legislation that would bar the GED requirement, writes
-> the paper.
->    According to the GLOBE, only two "sensible actions face the
-> board" when it meets this week:  "Either affirm the original plan of
-> giving the test once, without consequences, as an interim
-> measuring device or scrap the GED requirement altogether."  The GLOBE
-> suggests that Silber and his board would do better to
-> concentrate on developing standards for the assessment process
-> scheduled to begin this spring under the state's education reform
-> bill.
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Remark: I find it interesting, and a bit disturbing as well, that the
passing of the GED is not based on some objective standard, but is
rather a relative percentage of the number attempting the exam. This
means that the quality "guaranteed" by passing the exam is not
consistent, and that someone who might've passed one year may be unable
to the following year if a larger pool of better qualified candidates
attempt the exam that year.
Sheila
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