Performance Characteristics of Florida’s Early Exit Equivalency Candidates

Abstract

Many questions have been raised recently about the impact of the Early Exit Program on Florida Schools. Are those who pass the GED and earn a high school diploma: (a) high achievers which might lead to a brain drain from state high schools, (b) low achievers who cannot pass high school courses, or (c) fairly representative of the achievement range of high school students in general? Achievement scores on district level achievement tests were compared to GED scores for 410 students from four Florida districts who passed the GED between January, 1981 and May, 1983. Those who passed the GED were neither predominantly “cream of the crop” students nor low achievers on the high school tests. Rather, they represented the entire range of school achievement with the majority falling in the 40-80 percentile range of the district tests.