Sweeping changes to the national General Education Development program have sent Heidi Cunningham on a mission.

Thursday, February 08, 2001

Sweeping changes to the national General Education Development program have sent Heidi Cunningham on a mission. She’s trying to notify all area GED students that the year 2001 is their last chance to finish the program or face the prospect of starting all over.

Cunningham, the director of community education in Albert Lea, has been speaking to service clubs, organizations and employers to get the word out. She’s been hanging informational posters in entryways and on bulletin boards.

&uot;This must be what it’s like to campaign for office,&uot; Cunningham said. &uot;I’m doing what I can to get the word out.&uot;

Cunningham has compiled a list of GED students who haven’t quite finished the battery of five tests. Many have just one or two tests left to finish the program.

In 1999, for example, Cunningham and her staff tested 94 students, 54 of whom actually completed their diplomas. The remaining 48 students are still in the process of passing one or more of the tests in writing, social studies, science, literature and the arts, and mathematics.

&uot;I would hate to see students who have worked hard to pass some of those tests lose ground. It’s a compelling reason to finish the program,&uot; she said.

Cunningham told the school board Monday that the national GED testing service is preparing to overhaul the GED battery of tests by updating content and revising standards. A new centralized test scoring system will be instituted. The current series of tests hasn’t been significantly changed since 1988.

&uot;I think the new tests are meant to catch the program up with trends in education,&uot; said Cunningham.

Community Education offers free morning classes at Brookside Education Center to prepare for the battery of GED tests. Cunningham hopes a new evening session will give students every opportunity to finish the program by the end of the year. Classes start Feb. 13.

According to Cunningham, Albert Lea is one of 62 GED testing sites in Minnesota. Test-takers range in age from 16 to 80.