Mary Ford teaches a GED study class Tuesday evening at Bowling Green Technical College. The GED test will change by 2002. Photo by Miranda Pederson

Those who havent completed their General Educational Development test have until December to finish or face repeating the entire process. The National GED Testing Service is updating a portion of the test and will discontinue the current version in December so it can start administering the new test in January, Executive Director Joan Auchter said. Students will be able to take the five-section test in sections or as a whole. There is a $30 application fee. Spanish-speaking students will have until December 2002 to complete the test. There are major differences in the new state educational standards, Auchter said. We have to reflect those state standards if we want the states to continue to value the test as a vehicle to award an equivalency diploma. The national service first announced the changes three years ago during its annual state GED administrators conference in Chicago after watching school districts nationwide align their curriculum with market demands, Auchter said. Changes will include the introduction of data analysis and statistics and graphic interpretation, which is the ability to communicate through visuals such as charts and tables. From 30 percent to 50 percent of the changes were in three of the five content areas, Auchter said. We will continue this version until we see a change in secondary education. Every spring, administrators test graduating seniors on the latest version to establish the passing standards, Auchter said. If we see a change in their performance, then we will change again, she said. Though the last two changes in the 1970s and 1980s came 10 years apart, Auchter believes technology will speed up the change process. If a person is only a couple of points away on one test, its a disadvantage if they dont complete it in time, said Lola Bickford, chief GED examiner at Bowling Green Technical College. The GED is based on a 225-point scale, with the person required to score no lower than 40 points on each test. It would be very discouraging if they had to take the test over, especially for those who started taking the test three or four years ago, Bickford said. Adult Education Director Omar Rogers isnt as concerned with people not finishing the test in time. He worries about those who are interested but have yet to start the program. Because people can take the test twice a month, those who are already in the program will have several opportunities to pass the test, Rogers said. The only ones who could be affected by the new regulations are those who start the program late. The Adult Learning Center will stop administering the exam in mid-December and each testing session will admit only 25 participants, so those interested in enrolling need to do so immediately, Rogers said.