Downingtown, Pa. - Thanks to a free, online general education development (GED) program, the "Chester County Alliance for Adult Training and Education":http://DCCC.edu/alliance has taken another step towards helping as many people as possible earn their Commonwealth Secondary School Diploma, more commonly known as a high school equivalency or GED diploma.
GED program coordinator Jody Harman, explained the finer details of the distance learning program and the requirements necessary to take classes on-line.
“Potential students start by e-mailing our distance learning instructor, Jennifer Young, about their interest in the program,” said Harman. “Then they go to an in-class GED location where they take an assessment test. The in-class teacher then e-mails the scores back to our distance learning instructor who decides where in the curriculum students should be placed. Based on their test scores, some students may need to start in a pre-GED program, reviewing basic skills and topics.”
“Besides the assessment, the only other real requirement is that students be comfortable with a computer and e-mail,” said Harman.
Due to a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Education, classes are offered at no cost to residents of both Chester and Delaware Counties. Besides free tuition, the other attractive component of this program is that students can take classes at home from their computer or their local library. Since transportation is an issue for many students, being able to take the class on-line and closer to home is a real help, according to Harman.
Jennifer Young, the distance learning GED instructor, has been an integral part of the GED program for many years.
“I worked as an in-class GED instructor for two years, and then they contacted me when they started doing this and I decided it was a good opportunity.”
Young runs her classes by giving students six hours worth of work on Monday at 12 noon, and requiring that they complete and return their assignments to her by 8:00 p.m the following Sunday.
“I do work with a set curriculum, but based on the educational differences of the students, I try to tailor the course to meet their individual needs,” said Young. “After 30 hours of class time, students have to go back to an in-class location and take a post test. We also offer GED practice tests, which I greatly encourage, so the students can gauge their readiness to take the actual GED examination.”
When students complete the program, they can choose to take the GED exam, earn their Commonwealth Secondary School Diploma and move on, or enroll at Delaware County Community College to work towards an associate degree.
Pennsylvania issues the Commonwealth Secondary School Diploma to all candidates who successfully complete the GED tests.
For more information about the GED distance learning program, please call 484-237-5107 (Delaware County residents); 484-237-5121 (Chester County residents); or go to http://DCCC.edu/alliance.
The distance learning GED program is fully funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Education and operated by the Chester County Alliance for Adult Training and Education, a joint venture of the Chester County Intermediate Unit and Delaware County Community College.
By Calvin Setar
