ANGOLA — Adult education officials from across northeast Indiana are supposed to learn details of a new general education development test protocol for Indiana today after the new provider of testing services was announced Wednesday.
So far, the reviews are positive because the new testing system will cost about what is being charged now, in the $50 range. Also, paper tests will still be available.
Adult education providers in Indiana had been told that the price of the test was going to rise to about $120 next year. Also, testing would have been online only.
Paper testing will continue to allow testing programs to be offered in jails, where online access is not necessarily available to detainees.
“I’m happy that there’s going to be a paper version because we’ve had such success at the (Steuben County) jail,” said Breann Fink, executive director of the Steuben County Literacy Coalition.
The jail program so far has a 100 percent success rate, 10 for 10 this year. Nine people received their GEDs in jail and the 10th who received training in jail passed the test after leaving incarceration.
On Wednesday Indiana Department of Workforce Development Commissioner Scott B. Sanders announced the state next year will begin using an exam called the Test Assessing Secondary Completion from CTB/McGraw-Hill, the same company that administers ISTEP testing to school children in Indiana.
“Our instructors at IMPACT Institute have been anticipating the changes for quite some time,” said Stephanie Ross, adult education coordinator for IMPACT, a vocational cooperative based in Kendallville that serves northeast Indiana. “We’ve already been looking at strategies to make sure everything’s in place so we have positive outcomes.”
In its announcement, DWD said the new assessment will ensure Indiana offers a high school equivalency test that matches employer demand and is both affordable and accessible.
It had been anticipated for months that the cost of the GED test was going to increase to about $120 and would only be offered online.
“The TASC test will be around $55 for the exam and will retain the paper-based option so all our providers can still proctor, including correctional facilities,” said Joseph Frank, DWD communications director.
Details about TASC will be laid out in a webinar being provided to agencies across the state. Ross said people who will be approved to administer TASC in northeast Indiana will be trained by an IMPACT instructor.
TASC will be aligned to the College and Career Readiness Standards over the next few years and will gradually increase in rigor to better meet industry demand. Hoosier test takers will also pay considerably less for the TASC than the GED exam, which is scheduled to double in price beginning in January.
“A quality workforce is essential to economic growth. It was crucial to select an exam that is on par with Indiana’s College and Career Readiness Standards while ensuring it is accessible to any Hoosier,” Sanders said.
The new exam will continue to be offered in both paper and computer-based formats. It will also be available in English and Spanish, Braille, and audio versions for the visually impaired.
As the state transitions toward TASC, Ross said it would be wise for people currently training in the GED system to complete it if possible by December, when its use will end.