ALL ABOUT GED EXAMS

(Article published in HWW Oct 2007)

Here’s a good place to go for your GED:

LEARNING AT THE LIBRARY

by Brigid Cahalan, Outreach Librarian, The New York Public Library

Did you know that you can take courses and practice tests using the computers at the public library? And it’s perfectly free. All the library systems in New York City — The New York Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library, and Queens Library — subscribe to Learning Express Library, a database which provides these courses and tests, via the Internet, to any library user.

Here are just a few of the practice exams you can take: GED; SAT; U.S. Citizenship; ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery); NYC Police Officer; Postal Worker; Corrections Officer; Civil Service; Cosmetology; College Entrance Exams; TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language).

Your children can also use Learning Express Library to take Reading and Math Diagnostic Tests. You can take courses to enhance your knowledge and skills in many areas including math, reading, vocabulary, and science.

To use it, go to Learning Express Library home page (learningexpresslibrary.com). Ask library staff for help getting into the database if it’s your first time. If you use a computer outside a library you can also use the site via your public library website but you will need a public library card.

If you don’t have a library card, it’s easy to get one. Just go into any public library with proof of address.

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GED LEADS TO HIGHER EARNINGS

Glenda Self, Director of Project H.I.R.E., urges women without high school degrees to take the GED exam. “There’s no excuse for anyone not to have a GED. New York is one of the few states that give the GED exam without charge. There is no penalty for taking and failing the exam. You can take it again, free.”

A report by the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies describes women stuck in a “gender wage gap.” In 2006, women with only a high school degree or GED earn 65.1% of men’s earnings. While women without a high school degree or GED earned only 59.8% of men’s earnings. (But in certain trades such as construction women can earn as much as 95.1% of men’s earnings. But to succeed in most programs that train you for construction trades, and lead to those higher earnings, you need a GED or high school diploma.)

To find out where to go for free GED preparation, call 311.