Daisey Gainey is nervous about failing the GED.
The UF Rawlings Hall custodial worker and mother of seven said she hasn’t been in school in years, and the recent change in difficulty is not fair.
With the job market’s changing standards, the GED, an exam equivalent to a high school degree, has been made more difficult.
Michael Sanders, a teacher specialist for the Adult Education and GED Program at Alachua County Public Schools, said there is more advanced language in the reading section and more difficult math questions.
“These days, everything is more difficult,” Sanders said. “There are higher expectations in things such as high school, college and jobs than there was in the past, so the test needed to be made more difficult as well. The people taking the test will just have to work harder.”
Sanders said the change in question difficulty are to ensure people are qualified to handle the increased use of technology in modern careers.
“We need to make sure these people are capable of and have the capacity for learning how to operate these systems successfully,” he said.
Sanders said there is about a 50 percent pass rate for first-time test takers, and GED specialist teachers are aware of its increased difficulty.
“The teachers have been retrained to teach the new material at a workshop and have been given the proper tools that they need to teach effectively,” he said.
However, this could impact employment rates because fewer people are earning their GED diploma.
“A lot of jobs require at least a high school diploma, so this could mean there will be less qualified people to take the job,” Sanders said.
Gainey said the testing center should make it easier for older adults taking the exam because, like her, they may not have been in school for years.
She said she thinks the changes are unnecessary for someone like her who is trying to broaden her opportunities.
“I regret not finishing, but I had to raise seven children and work two jobs to support my family,” she said.
Gainey said she wants to earn her GED diploma soon and is trying her best. She studies in her spare time and attends tutoring sessions when she can.
“I am not giving up on getting my GED certificate,” she said. “I will do whatever it takes, and eventually, I will succeed.”
[A version of this story ran on page 5 on 1/26/2015 under the headline “GED test more difficult for modern tech-driven job market"]
