[Reading-hall-of-fame] Comments on The Myths of Achievement Tests

[tsticht at znet.com]

2/17/2014


As a Group, Adult Educators Are On the Right Track With the GED


Tom Sticht, International Consultant in Adult Education


In “The Myth of Achievement Tests: The GED and the Role of Character in
American Life”, the authors argue that adults who obtain the General
Education Development (GED) high school equivalency certificate are
actually not equivalent to high school graduates. The 450+ page book
presents a large amount of data in support of the author’s argument. But it
was the early pages that first struck me as worrisome. In the very first
chapter I was struck by the number of references to negative aspects of GED
certificate recipients that were preceded by the phrase “as a group.” Here
are some of those references:


“On outcomes that matter, AS A GROUP GED recipients are NOT equivalent to
high school graduates (emphasis in original). (p.4)”


“After accounting for their greater cognitive ability, AS A GROUP, (emphasis
added by me), GED recipients are equivalent to other dropouts on almost all
outcomes.(p.5)”


“AS A GROUP (emphasis added by me), GED recipients lack character skills
compared to high school graduates. (p. 6)”


“This book shows that, AS A GROUP (emphasis added by me), GED recipients
lack character skills in part owing to their relatively disadvantaged
family backgrounds. (p.7)”


“AS A GROUP (emphasis added by me), GED recipients are as smart as high
school graduates who do not attend college, but they lack character.
(p.25)”


The problem for me was the constant use of the qualifier “as a group” to
refer to millions of adults who have obtained their GED. This was
particularly annoying when I studied data figures and tables in chapters 4,
5, and 6 showing large overlaps in distributions of cognitive and character
“bell” curves among high school dropouts, GED holders and high school
diploma holders.  Yet despite these very large overlaps, based on
differences between group mean scores, it was asserted that “as a group”
GED holders lack character.


In Chapter 6, The Military Experience of GED Holders by Janice Laurence,
data are presented (Table 6.1) on attrition from the military services for
high school graduates and for GED holders. The data show that across the
military services “the 36-month attrition rates for GED holders is 45%,
compared to 28% for traditional diploma graduates.”(p. 271) End quote


When I saw this I noted that over half (55%) of the GED holders did not
attrite. This suggests that AS A GROUP, and contrary to what Heckman et al
stated above on p. 25, it is more accurate to say that GED holders possess
the character skills of perseverance, persistence, “stick-to-it-ism”, or
similar labels. Rather than characterizing the GED holder group as lacking
character because of their 45% attrition rate, they should be characterized
as showing persistence because most (55%) did not attrite.


Given the plethora of arguments against the GED, I was somewhat surprised
when I read at the end of the book “The GED program should be retained as a
second –chance option for those who want to turn their lives around.” The
authors go on to place qualifications on the manner in which the GED is
advertised, they argue that it should include new assessments of character,
 and there should be limits placed on who is permitted to take the GED.


But all in all, Some 433 pages into The Myth of Achievement Tests, using the
GED as the whipping boy of achievement tests, the authors end up  suggesting
the use not only of the GED but also the development of new achievement
tests which include measures of character for both K-12 and young adult
(adolescent) education.


At the end of the book the authors recommend that educational policymakers
“Recognize that effective adolescent remediation programs should focus on
promoting character skills. Encourage workplace-based adolescent
remediation programs that foster character and that recognize the greater
malleability of character skills than cognitive skills at later stages of
childhood.”


>From the foregoing, it seems that adult literacy educators should keep on
working with adults to help them get their GED. Numerous studies show that
adult basic education helps adults of all ages develop both cognitive and
character skills. At least it shows this when adults are considered as a
group!


 Reference: James J. Heckman, John Eric Humphries, and Tim Kautz (Eds.).
(2014). The Myth of Achievement Tests: The GED and the Roll of Character in
American Life.  University of Chicago Press.


tsticht at aznet.net