SK> -> *1   MASS.'S GED REQUIREMENT:  JUST FORGET IT
SK> ->    A compromise, offered by Silber and Gov William Weld (R),
SK> -> quickly followed, in which students who failed would graduate but
SK> -> with "Failed GED" stamped on their diplomas.  But that compromise
SK> -> contains far too many problems, contends the paper.  For example, 
SK> the
SK> -> test, typically administered to adults who have not finished high
SK> -> school, is graded on a curve, "with 30 percent failing every 
SK> year."
SK> 
SK> Remark: I find it interesting, and a bit disturbing as well, that the
SK> passing of the GED is not based on some objective standard, but is
SK> rather a relative percentage of the number attempting the exam. This
SK> means that the quality "guaranteed" by passing the exam is not
SK> consistent, and that someone who might've passed one year may be 
SK> unable
SK> to the following year if a larger pool of better qualified candidates
SK> attempt the exam that year.
    Similar lack of any objective standards governing the outcome of an 
individual's involvement exists throughout government, notably in the 
criminal-justice system where being sentenced when prisons are overcrowded 
has resulted in a criminal getting out almost instantly while another person 
given the same sentence in the same courtroom three months earlier or later 
spends much more time in jail.  That is wrong, and so is the GED's "grading".
--- Simplex BBS (v1.07.00Beta [DOS])
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