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Is anyone familiar with the new GED that could answer a few questions?


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I received a phone call today from a woman whose dd attends the local high school.   They called her today to let her know that her dd would not be eligible to graduate b/c she currently has a 38 in alg 2 and needs a minimum of a 68 to graduate.   (this is not the first person from this school I have heard this scenario from!)  

 

Anyway, the mom wanted to know if I would be willing to tutor her dd to help her pass the GED b/c they are planning on going ahead and pulling out of the school. 

 

I know absolutely nothing about the GED.   I don't know what level math it requires.   (this young lady passed alg and geo with Ds.)   She has better grades in English (As in 9th, and Cs in 12th (I don't remember what she said about 10th and 11th.)

 

Is this something I want to even get involved in?   What level math needs to be mastered?   How difficult is it to prep for the new exam for a struggling student?

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The rules, regarding GED or High School graduation, vary, from state to state, so you need to check with your State Board of Education, or whatever agency is in charge in your state, to get the latest requirements.

 

However, if at all possible, I would strongly encourage the student to try to complete the requirements for High School graduation, and get her diploma. That will benefit her, all of her life. A G.E.D. is *not* the equivalent of a high school diploma. If she is in 12th grade now she is almost there.  :-)

 

GL to her.

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Having had a "bonus student" in the past, one heads-up I'd give you is to expect to have to do a lot more than "just" teach her a certain amount of content.

 

Your dynamic with her may be completely different from your dynamic with your own kids, with whom you've been working since the beginning. What has worked with your kids, your expectations of them, their knowing what they are expected to do and how they are expected to do it, etc. may be the polar opposite of what the bonus student has experienced in the past. You will not only have to teach content, you will also have to develop the bonus student's stamina for active work vs. the passive spoon feeding many public school students are used to, her ability to really focus, her willingness to work to whatever level of mastery you're aiming for, ...

 

Your expectations may also be very, very different than those of the parent of the bonus student. You'll  have to manage the mom's expectations. ("But does she really have to know her math facts to do well?"  "Isn't this more of a college level task than high school?" "When will she ever need to use this?" etc.)

 

I only have three children, but I would never take on the responsibility for getting a student who is this far behind to pass even the GED.  D's in algebra and geometry?  She'll need so much remedial work in math and that is going to take a lot of one-on-one time with you, esp. at the beginning.

 

Does the school provide any additional, individual help at all that she could tap into?

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However, if at all possible, I would strongly encourage the student to try to complete the requirements for High School graduation, and get her diploma.

 

:iagree: I have been tutoring math for GED students for a few years now.  I took a break in January to volunteer preparing income tax returns, so I am not very familiar with the new changes.  Plus, I don't know much about anything but the math portion.

 

The math portion of the old GED section covered through Algebra and Geometry.  We used the Number Power series, and I thought it was terrific.  Clear and concise building incrementally in small steps.  With one of the last student's I tutored, we worked on a problem that involved factoring a polynomial.  I had never seen that before, but it is on the new test.  The teacher's have told me that the publishing companies have not yet developed texts that can be used with the new GED, so they are scrambling trying to figure out what they need to augment.

 

All this to say that, imho, I would encourage the mother/dd to work towards retaking Alg 2 during the summer or fall, perhaps with your tutoring help in Alg/Geo during the summer.  I think it would be much less painful in the long run than trying to pass all sections of the new GED starting from scratch.

 

Also, I volunteer through the school district.  The GED classes used to be free, but now cost something like $30 per session (3 sessions per year) + testing which is not expensive.  So, if she really really wants to go that route, there may be options through her school district she may want to investigate.

 

Good luck!

 

 

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Thing is this girl has told her mother that if the school doesn't graduate her, she is just going to drop out.    She is refusing summer school and there is no way she will go back in the fall.  It is a tough situation.   I am friends with the mother and my 8 yod is friends with her 8 yod.   I do not know the teenage girl at all.   The mom is beside herself.   The school has completely ignored their requests for help until it now looks like she is going to fail and have it impact their graduation rate.    They just offered to let her switch out of the classroom to a computer math course instead, though apparently she told her mom that the math teacher mocked her and told her that their was no way she would pass the computer course.

 

This school sounds like an absolute nightmare. 

 

But based on the descriptions, it sounds like getting her to pass the GED is going to require her to put in more effort than she is likely going to want to do.   I think my response to the mom is going to be along the lines that it sounds like the best thing is to let the natural consequences of life be her guiding force.   When the limits of what she can do w/o a high school diploma start to impact her life, maybe that will be her motivation to seek GED classes on her own. 

 

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Why can't she have some intensive algebra II tutoring for as many weeks until the final exam and come out of the class with a passing grade?   I think that would be the best option if she's willing to do the work required and you, or others, are willing to tutor.  Then she would be eligible to enroll at the community college if she's interested, or at least have a high school diploma so she can get a job without that as a barrier.

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Why can't she have some intensive algebra II tutoring for as many weeks until the final exam and come out of the class with a passing grade? I think that would be the best option if she's willing to do the work required and you, or others, are willing to tutor. Then she would be eligible to enroll at the community college if she's interested, or at least have a high school diploma so she can get a job without that as a barrier.

Right now she is completely lost. The teacher has told the principal that the problem is the student whereas she is saying she keeps asking for help and the teacher refuses to help her. She is making zeros on all the homework bc she can't do it. This school has no textbooks, so the mom says she doesn't even know what they are doing.

 

But, as of tomorrow she is out of the classroom and doing a computer lab math. Her mom thinks she should be able to access the math program from home but doesn't know for sure.

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It still sounds to me like she could make it happen with help, especially since she has been asking for help and not getting it.  I'd ask what her quarter grades were this year and see what it would take to get to an average of 68.  Depending on the weight of the final, it may not be as unreachable as it seems.   I think I'd not worry so much about what program they're using, and just use something basic enough that she can move though the course quickly.  The teacher and/or the administration may be willing to cut her a break on her homework grades to date if she can hand in something decent from here on out.  I'd also ask if there's any policy, or if they'd agree to it, that if the student passes the final with a 68 or above, that the student has passed the class.

 

My guess is that she's miserable in school as obviously she was a decent student back in 9th grade.  She might be one who would really find her way at a good community college.   I would go after whatever is the shortest route to a high school diploma, and it seems that the high school she's in could be it.  Any way that she can be considered homeschooled now and get a diploma that way?  

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Her mom and I talked about the homeschooling option. I don't know the laws well enough in this state to answer the question. She is supposed to contact someone that understands the legal issues.

 

I know at Christmas her avg was a 17 and she pulled it up to a 38, but I think it has dropped again.

 

I think they have decided to see what happens over the course of the next couple of weeks in the computer lab alg 2 class.

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