Getting students "college ready" has been an issue for years,
particularly not knowing exactly what college ready means from state to
state or from college to college. In Ohio, we are crosswalking college
readiness standards with our ABLE standards to identify the gaps and
make needed revisions. I'd be interested to hear from states or programs
that are currently involved in or have completed this process. 

Donna Albanese, Consultant
Ohio Department of Education
Adult Basic and Literacy Education
25 South Front Street, Stop 614
Columbus, Ohio  43215-4183
Phone:  614-466-5015
Fax:  614-728-8470
e-mail:  donna.albanese at ode.state.oh.us
 
-----Original Message-----
From: assessment-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:assessment-bounces at nifl.gov]
On Behalf Of Crawford, June
Sent: Wednesday, September 06, 2006 11:45 AM
To: Assessment at nifl.gov
Subject: [Assessment 482] GED and College Admissions

For many years prior to my employment with the federal government, I
directed a university learning center that offered developmental
classes,
ran the university's placement testing program, and offered tutoring,
ESL
classes, and services for those with learning disabilities and other
physical disabilities.  Over a 20 year period I saw the test results for
at
least 15,000 students and I can say without any doubt that having a GED
was
NOT a guarantee that an entering student had the reading, writing, or
math
skills that were required as the basic skills before attempting
college-level classes.  We saw many adults enter college with a GED who
had
large gaps between what we anticipated would be the skill level of high
school graduates and those who just passed high school with minimum
skill
levels.  And, unfortunately, we saw many of them leave college in
academic
difficulty - and with debts for tuition. (I was the person, in the end,
who
interviewed all these people and had to send the final letters of
dismissal.)

Adults who wish to go on for more education need to be advised that
having a
piece of paper that says you have a high school diploma is not
sufficient.
There are basic skills and then there are more advanced skills and the
person who will be successful at the college level has to be able to
perform
competently from the beginning.  Just as about 1/3 of high school
graduates
are not ready for the level of work required at a college, the GED does
not
adequately prepare most students.  If we could connect jobs to skill
levels
and make this clear to students and parents and employers and employees,
this would be a real boon to the American economy and school system.

Perhaps it is time to consider levels of readiness and make it clear to
high
school students and to adults in adult education that there are varying
levels depending on the end goal.  People need to know how they need to
be
able to perform for the goals they set for themselves.  Paper just
doesn't
do it; performance is the key to success. 
June Crawford
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