FOCUS DC News Wire 11/6/13

 

 

WASHINGTON — Americans who passed part, but not all, of the GED test are rushing to finish the high school equivalency exam before a new version rolls out in January and their previous scores are wiped out. About 1 million people could be affected.

 

With the new version, test takers must use a computer instead of paper and pencil. The test itself will be more rigorous and cost more — at $120, the price in some states will be significantly higher than previous versions. Some places may subsidize all or part of the cost.

 

“This is the thing that’s sort of putting the spur in the saddle,” said Lecester Johnson, executive director of Academy of Hope, an adult charter school in Washington. “People just don’t want to start over.”

 

Test takers have been warned for more than a year about the approaching Dec. 31 deadline to complete the test. States and localities are phoning people, and thousands of letters have gone out — including to 32,000 Californians who passed parts but not all the test in the last two years.

 

“We don’t want anyone to be caught off-guard and come in and test in January or February thinking they have their old scores, and they have to start over,” said Pam Blundell, who oversees adult education for the Oklahoma State Department of Education. She said Oklahoma test sites have added additional test days and referred students to other sites.

 

Nicole Chestang, executive vice president at GED Testing Service, said the rush was expected. In 2001, the year before the last upgrade, there was a 30 percent increase in test takers, most toward the end of the year, she said.

 

She advised people to register for the exam now, even if they don’t take it until later in November or December.

 

Some critics have challenged the price increases and the mandate that test takers use a computer — issues that affect many people living in poverty.

 

This is the first upgrade since for-profit Pearson Vue Testing acquired a joint ownership interest in the GED Testing Service. For 70 years, GED Testing Service has been run by the nonprofit American Council on Education.

 

GED exam officials have said the changes will modernize the test and align it with new college and career-ready standards adopted in a majority of states. They say basic computer skills are needed in a modern workplace — even to apply for jobs at places like retail stores and fast-food chains. On a recent test given to adults worldwide of workplace skills including math, reading and problem-solving using technology, American adults scored below the international average.

 

The test also will allow people to receive their scores the same day, rather than having to wait a month or more.

 

Frustrated with the changes, some states have opted instead to begin using other high school equivalency exams. One is Wyoming, which has adopted the additional use of two other tests.

 

Jim Rose, executive director of the Wyoming Community College Commission, said officials are exploring whether students who have passed sections of the GED can apply that toward passing one of the other high school equivalency exams.

 

“Our centers are really committed to trying to make this something that is workable for students instead of a kind of high-stakes, winner-take-all game in which if you don’t complete by December, then you’ve got to begin again, and that’s going to create a hardship for students,” Rose said.

 

In Washington, D.C., Antoinette Mitchell, a deputy assistant superintendent of education, says she feels some urgency. “We are trying in numerous ways to get the word out to get them to come back,” she said.

 

In a low-income neighborhood on the new campus of the Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School in Washington, Principal Jorge Delgado said that instead of a last-minute rush, enrollment is declining as word spreads that the GED exam will soon be offered only by computer. The school, which has students from more than 20 countries speaking 40-plus languages, has added new computer literacy classes. Still, he said, many English language learners are intimidated by computers.

 

Delgado said many of the school’s students work in the hotel and restaurant industries and that passing the GED test will allow them to get a promotion to a supervisory position or enter a training program. Some are taking care of families and barely sleeping as they juggle responsibilities. He said he doesn’t understand why the GED exam isn’t more flexible about allowing English language learners to take the test using a pencil and paper.

 

“Why put more blocks in front of them? Why more obstacles when they are doing their best?” Delgado said. “What I’m seeing is students giving up already.”

 

One student at the school who isn’t giving up is Natnael Gebremariam, 32, from Eritrea in East Africa. He goes to class in the mornings, works about 50 hours a week in the afternoons and evenings at a fast-food restaurant, then spends some nights doing homework past midnight. The former teacher in his home country wants to work in information technology in the U.S. He said the pressure he feels isn’t so much about the test changing, but wanting to pass the GED exam so he can take college classes.

 

“All I know is I have to be ready by the end of this year,” said Gebremariam, in an interview in between classes.

 

 

I obtained a copy of the recently released preliminary report to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia prepared by Josh Kern who has been appointed Receiver for Options Public Charter School. The findings are dated October 21, 2013. Boy do we have a mess on our hands.

 

Mr. Kern discovered that in “February 2013, Options PCS entered into a five-year contract with Exceptional Education Management Corporation (EEMC) to provide management and operational support for the school.” The agreement, signed by board chair J.C. Hayward and CEO Donna Montgomery, includes 16 responsibilities of the for-profit company which in essence assume all administrative functions at the school. Mr. Kern details the extent of the relationship:

 

“Most of the top-level, non-academic administration formerly employed by Options PCS moved to EEMC under this contract. The school’s Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer became EEMC’s President and Chief Executive Officer; its Clinical Director became EEMC’s Chief Operating Officer; and its General Counsel/Provost became EEMC’s General Council. On October 3, this Court enjoined both EEMC and EES from providing any services to Options PCS in light of the alleged actions of the Defendants. Accordingly, there is little non-academic administrative capacity remaining at Options PCS.”

 

I had the opportunity to sit with Mr. Kern for a few minutes at the Center for Education Reform 20th Anniversary Gala on October 9th. He had just been named the Options PCS Receiver and he told me he had not slept for four days. Now I understand why. He is now overseeing a school characterized by "a lack of administrative staff in key areas." He mentions in the report that at least one extremely valuable staff member has left the school due to the negative publicity surrounding the charter. But that is not all.

 

Mr. Kern is also facing a tremendous financial shortfall at the school. The budget passed by the board of directors for the 2013 to 2014 school year predicted an enrollment of 412 students. Currently 388 pupils attend Options PCS. Because the school teaches primarily students with disabilities the average per pupil funding is about $30,000. The lower than anticipated student body reduces income by $720,000. There are additional severe pressures around revenue. The school lost a $600,000 co-location grant by the Office of the State Superintendent (OSSE) because of alleged financial irregularities, has seen a sharp decline in Medicaid reimbursement due to the “impropriety of Medicaid billing,” and made a payment "of $954,000 in fees to EEMC for services that have not been provided and that will need to covered by other providers.” These issues have resulted in an approximately $1.6 million shortfall this fiscal year.

 

Finally, besides the legal matter that brought Mr. Kern to Options, the charter faces six other civil lawsuits, all requiring administrative responses. However, there is no one at the school that has the time or proficiency to work on these matters. Mr. Kern has hired legal assistance to provide expertise in this area.

 

He is also tackling the financial problems. Beginning this week Mr. Kern is right-sizing the staff to match the lower than anticipated student enrollment. He expects to save approximately $800,000 in employee salary reductions.

 

I have to admit that reading through this report frankly makes me ill. Mr. Kern points out that 65 percent of students at Options have disabilities, including 27 students with level 3 disabilities and 188 pupils at Level 4 requiring the highest amount of “specialized support.” This does not include the 7 Level 1 and 29 Level 2 students. Add to this allegations of problems with the way the school handled those requiring special education assistance that may make it in violation with the Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and D.C. law and you cannot believe that anyone could treat these children in this manner. The situation is especially shocking from a school whose mission is to “provide a high-quality, unique educational experience for all students at-risk of dropping out of school because they are underachieving, truant, have experienced behavior problems, or have exceptionalities requiring therapeutic special educational services.”

 

If there is anything positive that comes out of this document it is clearly the tremendous effort Mr. Kern and his team have expended in stabilizing the school. Contained in almost every word of the report is evidence that he is attacking each issue head-on, and is doing all that he can to reduce the tremendous anxiety currently being felt by students, parents, staff, and constituents. Concurrently, he is putting in operating procedures and financial controls to reduce the possibility that anything like this can happen in the future. For his heroic efforts, the local charter school movement owes Mr. Kern a standing ovation.

 

 

The D.C. Council on Tuesday gave tentative approval to a bill intended to end social promotion in the District’s public schools.

 

The measure, which Education Committee Chairman David A. Catania (I-At Large) proposed, would repeal a rule that requires most District elementary and middle school students to be passed from one grade to the next regardless of achievement or performance.

 

If the Focused Student Achievement Amendment Act wins final approval next month, school officials would have latitude to decide whether a child is ready to advance to the next grade. Students who are retained would be required to attend summer school unless specifically excused by school officials.

 

“These decisions are best made by the teacher, the principal and the chancellor, as opposed to the existing regulation,” Catania said. He said the existing rules, which permit schools to fail students only in grades three, five and eight, allow students to advance to the next grade “simply by breathing.”

 

Catania said the policy has led to a systemwide habit of promoting struggling students, who reach high school, find themselves unable to keep up and drop out.

 

Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) raised concerns that the council was overreaching, given that Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) is responsible for city schools. But Gray expressed his support for the bill in a letter this week, and Wells joined the rest of his colleagues in a unanimous vote in its favor.

 

The council also gave tentative approval Tuesday to a second Catania bill, the Parent and Student Empowerment Amendment Act. It would clarify the role of the public education ombudsman as a neutral party responsible for helping mediate disputes involving families and schools, both traditional and charter schools.

 

The bill, if given final approval next month, also would create an office of the student advocate, which would be responsible for helping parents and students choose from and navigate through the city’s public schools.

 

The council voted unanimously for the measure without any debate, except for a brief endorsement from David Grosso (I-At Large). The council has pushed to revive the ombudsman position, which had been empty and unfunded for several years, in the fiscal 2014 budget. The office is slated to open in January, and officials plan to hire an ombudsman in the coming weeks

 

In his letter to the council, Gray expressed support for the concepts of the ombudsman and the student advocate, but he seemed less certain about paying for them.

 

“Though this bill is subject to its inclusion in a future budget and financial plan, the ideas it incorporates are important,” Gray said.

 

The two bills are among at least eight that Catania introduced this year, in what he said was an effort to refine previous efforts to improve city schools and lift student achievement. At 2 p.m. Wednesday, the Education Committee is scheduled to mark up a bill that would indicate how and when vacant school buildings should be leased to charter schools.