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Current News GED Instructions
March 15, 2006
Joan Myers, Ohio State GED Administrator
For brief instructions on how to enter an application for a student (with a credit card only) and how to order a transcript or diploma: Click here to download the instructions: How do I enter an application for a student?
Click here to download the instructions: How do I order a TRANSCRIPT or DIPLOMA for a student? If a student does not have a valid credit card, he/she will need to complete the paper transcript request and send in a money order (only) with the request. Please be patient with the system. As with any new system, there will be some things that need correcting -- use this form: (Click here to download) to report any problems you have with the application system. You can email or fax this report back to the GED office. Use this report form in the event you have an error when trying to do any of the above. Please make sure to copy the screens you see on your computer, so it is easier for us to understand how you got to the error. It is best to fax or e-mail the report, since our phones are busy with GED student calls. Sandra Phipps will put these instructions on our website under the password-protected link. You can download them from there. FYI: Since the testing centers will need to have time to manually enter their testing schedules, this option will only include information they entered. This is a manual process, so you should see more and more schedules as the week proceeds. We will send out instruction pages as the test centers get their testing sessions online. Congratulations to all those who worked long hours to implement these updates.
Guest Column-Jay Burton, Learning Express Library Desktop Practice Tests-Part 2: Just In Time, Just In Case Jay Burton from Learning Express Library, a project of the State Library of Ohio, talks about free online GED, adult learning, vocational and other practice tests and tutorials. Picture this: You’ve shown a group how to access the Learning Express Library resource of practice tests. What now? What exactly happens after they take the test? Can they see their score? Check their answers? Can the results be printed? The answer is: Yes…Yes…and Yes. Once a user creates a user account, they select the test they want to take and follow the instructions to do so. Options include: - If the user doesn’t finish, they can save the test and take it later.
- When a test is completed, it’s scored and the results can be printed. It’s an easy file to print process.
- You’ll get a printout of the test results that include the questions answered correctly plus those answered incorrectly.
- You’re also able to retrieve and print your “Score Report”
- There are timed tests as well. For example, the “AP History Test” has a time limit of 70 minutes to complete the test. If you don’t finish in time the computer bursts into flame. No, just kidding. You can always try again later.
So, depending on what your student's needs are, you can help them use the test to not only practice, but identify areas for improvement as well. The Learning Express Library resource works on an individual account basis, so there isn’t any way to verify who’s taking what practice test or tutorial, unless of course the person agrees to it. You can always ask a student to bring in a printed copy which, as you can see, is very easy to do. The State Library is very pleased to make this resource available. If you have any questions or comments, don't hesitate to contact Jay Burton at the State Library by phone (614-466-5511) or email: jburton@sloma.state.oh.us
Featured Topic: Test Anxiety: Myths and Facts
by Lynn Cook, Delaware Area Career Center/ABLE Myth: Fear is about the unknown. As Martin Heidegger said …"all fear finds its ground in dread." Dread means a familiarity with the object of the fear. And so it is with tests. Previous experiences of performance evaluation, whether in the classroom or a nonacademic setting, are the basis of a belief system about competency that solidifies as the evidence accumulates.
Myth: Telling a test-taker not to worry is a good idea. This works about as well as saying, “Don’t think about a pink elephant.” The Oxford English Dictionary defines the essential meaning of worry as “to strangle, throttle, kill by violence, to seize by the throat and tear or lacerate.”
What works is to identify the nature of the self-dialogue broadcasting incessantly. Journaling in the midst of studying or testing can bring to awareness the mechanism that generates erroneous beliefs. Then the irrational thoughts can be replaced with a more balanced self-appraisal. Cognitive behavioral research is he most documented approach to tackling this front. Myth: My brain is taking the test. Actually we are, as Adler says, indivisible selves, one big feedback loop. The thoughts cause chemicals to be released that are mood congruent. Then more thoughts match the mood, and chemicals deliver the “flight, flight, or play dead” response. (The last is the freeze up part on tests). Round and round it goes until the individual detaches from the circus and breaks the cycle by using practiced "tools." Unless this happens, the abstract concepts that are managed in the higher brain (such as finding the hypotenuse of a triangle) are disengaged so that the lower brain can efficiently deliver survival.
The threat of scantron sheets cannot be distinguished from a bear. Sweaty palms, increased heart rate, more acute hearing (bad when sitting near the pencil-tapper), and many other physiologic responses appropriate for physical threat can be mediated with such things as relaxation responses, visualizations, deep breathing, and Brain Gym exercises. Even a favorite aroma sniffed from a tissue can send the person immediately back to the memory of Grandma’s cookies so that the cascade of chemicals sends out new messages that all is well, and we just might get out of his thing alive.
There are hundreds of books on test anxiety. Sports psychology is all about optimal performance. While self-help books abound, professional help may be necessary. Most importantly, deal with it; testing won’t be over when the GED is passed. The work environment today requires ongoing training and assessment to maintain jobs and advance.
Marketing We will be featuring sites who have implemented successful marketing plans/strategies. If you have a successful plan or marketing strategy, contact Sharon Reynolds at literacy@ohio.edu.
GED Resources/Book List GED Practice 1120
CD-ROM
New Readers Press-2005 This new GED practice software program offers hours of practice for the high-intermediate student preparing to take the GED test. It offers interactive practice in all of the GED content areas including 20 essay prompts. Offers instant feedback and support for all questions and an on-screen claculator for the math portion. |
