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Policy Framework
About two-thirds of high school dropouts continue their education and obtain a high school credential within eight years of their scheduled graduation date. The vast majority obtain a General Educational Development (GED) certificate rather than a high school diploma. Unfortunately, labor market outcomes for GED holders are much worse than for high school graduates, in part because few of those who pass the GED obtain even one year of postsecondary education or training.
When dropouts do continue their education, it is generally through adult education or GED preparation programs that operate in schools, community-based organizations, or community colleges. However, since few of these programs (even those that operate on community college campuses) are well linked to postsecondary programs, the GED often becomes a “terminal degree,” with recipients facing long odds of success in a labor market that offers few good opportunities to young people with no postsecondary education or training.
In order to strengthen the linkage between the GED and success in the labor market and postsecondary education, MDRC is working with the Division of Adult and Continuing Education in the Pre-College Academic Programming Department at the City University of New York (CUNY) LaGuardia Community College on a small-scale, random assignment evaluation of its GED Bridge to Business and Health Careers program.
Agenda, Scope, and Goals
The GED Bridge program aims to connect GED students to careers and postsecondary education through critical enhancements to the traditional GED curriculum. Rather than simply “teaching to the test,” as is standard for GED preparation classes, the program includes a specially designed curriculum that integrates material from the fields of health care and business, as well as transitional support to help students identify the career or course of study that is right for them. Students also attend class for more hours over the course of a semester and receive extensive outreach and retention supports from Bridge staff. Ultimately, the program hopes to demonstrate that teaching the GED within the context of career-based themes and transitional support, with a strong focus on developing general academic skills, will lead to higher GED pass rates and higher rates of postsecondary success among graduates.
Design, Sites, and Data Sources
The GED Bridge program is targeting students who are at least 18 years old, have at least a seventh-grade reading level as determined by the Test for Adult Basic Education (TABE), and have incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty limit. In fall 2010, the program began serving students as part of a small-scale randomized controlled trial. In its first two semesters, about 190 students enrolled in Bridge classes. Approximately 90 more enrolled in fall 2011, bringing the total to just under 300 students. MDRC and LaGuardia Community College will enroll a fourth cohort of 100 students in spring 2012, for a total sample of approximately 400 students.
In the study, key outcomes for the Bridge students are measured against the same outcomes for students who go through a more traditional preparatory course. The study is designed to yield suggestive results on the following questions:
- What are the characteristics of students who participate?
- Does the program operate as intended? For example, does the Bridge curriculum differ in significant ways from the curriculum used by non-Bridge GED instructors? Did Bridge students receive more hours of instruction and counseling?
- Do GED Bridge students appear to be staying enrolled in classes at higher rates than non-Bridge GED students?
- Is the program leading to higher rates of success on the GED exam itself? Is it leading to higher rates of enrollment in postsecondary education?
What's Next
Although it is too early to say with certainty how the Bridge students are faring compared with those in the regular GED classes, some preliminary analysis on the first two cohorts in the project have shown promising differences emerging. Implementation research has also found differences in the reported experience of those in the Bridge classes compared with those in traditional GED prep classes, with Bridge students reporting more engagement in classes, greater attention from instructors, and more of sense of direction than those in the prep courses. MDRC is continuing to collect data on all the study cohorts and will produce a short report with findings from the full sample in 2012.
MDRC and LaGuardia Community College have recently secured additional funding from the Robin Hood Foundation to enroll a fourth study cohort in spring 2012, expand the program in fall 2012, and collect follow-up data on postsecondary enrollment and retention. Depending on the final results of this small-scale study, MDRC may be interested in developing a large-scale, national random assignment evaluation to measure the value-added of the GED Bridge model over the standard model of GED preparation.
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