The new year brings new tests for students who seek an alternative to earning a traditional high school diploma. And the six New England states are split on how to proceed.
The old GED (general equivalency diploma) test was originally developed in 1942 and used universally until it expired at the end of the 2013. In its place is the 2014 GED, a new online-only version developed by the GED Testing Service, a joint venture of the American Council on Education and Pearson VUE.
Two other alternative high school equivalency tests also came on the market for 2014: Test Assessing Secondary Completion (TASC) developed by CTB/McGraw Hill LLC and HiSET, the high school equivalency test developed by the nonprofit Educational Testing Service (ETS) and the University of Iowa’s Iowa Testing Program (ITP).
In New England, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Vermont are sticking with the 2014 GED. New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts have switched to HiSET.
In announcing its decision last week, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education said that over the next three years, HiSET will become fully aligned to new college and career readiness standards for adult learners, which will allow adult basic education programs in the state to better prepare adult learners to meet more rigorous academic standards on the new exam. Massachusetts had used the GED as its high school equivalency credential since 1945.
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