Youth in Adult Education

The Road to a GED: Goodwill Style

by Jane Comer

D

How do schools fail? The success of any adult basic education program for youth depends on its answering that important question. The structure of the program must avoid the pitfalls identified in the school experience. The GED tutorial program at Austin Goodwill is funded primarily by a Workforce Investment Act grant. It addresses four areas where schools have failed with the youth who seek a GED at Goodwill. Those are choice, feedback, strategies, and connection.

Choices we provide our participants empower them. Choices make them feel responsible and respected. Responsible and respected youth are more likely to complete the task of getting a GED. Our students complete a diagram like the one that begins this article each day. They are reminded graphically of the choice they made to attend class. We are made aware of the many obstacles they face to make a commitment to our program. The goal of a GED is ever before them. Youth choose the time they will attend class. They choose the work they will complete each day. They select the order they will test to complete their GED. The instructor gives the students information for making choices, but ultimately when the student is ready to test is determined by the student. Assignments directed toward each of the five GED tests are posted each day, but the student chooses which he/she will complete and in which order. Whenever possible the students are given choices and their decisions are respected. With the power of choosing comes the responsibility of the choice. This is a life lesson that applies to other aspects of the students’ lives.

Immediate feedback demonstrates to the youth that their work is valued. Students’ work is marked and ready for their review the next day at class time. Often specific assignments are scored and discussed at the time of their completion. Any mistakes they make can be immediately corrected. A self-adhesive colored dot is attached to the individual work. These dots are turned in on Thursdays for gift certificates to stores near our classroom. Progress toward the GED is depicted in the classroom. The students design a paper car that is placed on our “Road to a GED” that lines one wall of the classroom. As the students test, their car is moved to the designated spot on the road (i.e. passed first test, passed second test, etc.) Once the GED is attained students receive a monetary incentive and a star with their name on it is attached to a bulletin board in the classroom. Testing appointments are marked on a classroom calendar. Feedback is timely and often displayed for visitors, peers, and the students themselves to enjoy.

Successful learning strategies guide our program. Learners excel using a wide range of learning strategies. Study for the tests can be done with pencil and paper, on the computer, at field trip experiences, in service learning projects. The class has a garden plot just outside the classroom. The students select several plants, erect a stake with their name on it near the plant(s), fertilize and nurture the plant. When the harvest comes, the students take home their flowers, vegetables, herbs as well as the produce from other students’ plants. Learning through the “backdoor” on visitis or during projects puts the learning “in the The Road to a GED, world” and makes it more relevant. Lots of history is absorbed at the Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) Library or the Bob Bullock Museum. Government processes are viewed first hand during elections and alive on tours at the Texas Capitol. Washing windows at the new location of a local charity or wrapping donated gifts for children enable students to participate in a helping community environment. By design, learning permeates all the experiences in our program.

William Glasser (1998) says that we all envision quality worlds comprised of people we want to be with, things we want to own, and beliefs that govern our behaviors. In order to influence the behavior of a student, the teacher must become a part of that quality world. The choices, the strategies, and the feedback aid the teacher in becoming a part of the student’s quality world. In addition, the teacher is open, listens, and questions the student in building a trusting relationship. Once inside the quality world, the teacher can influence the student to persevere despite the many obstacles that prevent an easy road to the GED. Among those the students face are criminal records, pregnancy, family obligations, and financial needs; yet having someone to encourage them and to listen to their frustrations is the key to their continued commitment.

Schools may have failed the students who come to our GED program. A GED and the additional educational options available with that GED provide assurance that they will not fail their community in the future. With their GED in hand and their increased awareness of educational, vocational, and working opportunities waiting for them, they leave our program ready to achieve many other life goals.

Jane Comer, M.Ed., is a retired public school teacher who created and directs a GED tutorial program under a WIA grant at Goodwill Industries in Austin. She also tutors Goodwill employees who are studying to earn their GEDs. Throughout her career she has worked with at-risk students while teaching English, government, and economics in Waco and Beaumont, Texas. Currently she is preparing to train the workforce development staff at Goodwill using Bridges out of Poverty model developed by Ruby Payne.