 ROPER CORPORATION in LaFayette, Georgia has had a workplace GED program in place for about six years. Classes are offered two days a week at the Roper plant. When the program began, the participants were employees or their immediate dependents. Now the program is available to employees, their relatives, and the community at large. A unique feature of the GED program at Roper is that although the staff at the local technical school administers the GED test, it is given in separate sections, rather than giving students all five sections to take at the same time. Many students have expressed a desire to concentrate on one area of the test at a time, and taking that test before focusing on subsequent areas. This makes the GED test more manageable; like climbing a hill instead of a mountain. Many of the examinees who come to the Roper GED site do so because of this feature of the program. Knowing that they don't have to pass all areas of the test at once, gives them the confidence and security they need to begin the program and stick with it until completion, even when it takes a year or longer. The students in this program look at each section as an individual course in which they take a final test, and then go on to other subjects.
Students enjoy getting immediate feedback after their studies and this sustains interest. Although there are at least sixteen other sites for adult literacy classes in the neighboring counties, Roper is the only one of them offering this unique strategy in regards to testing. The Roper Corporation Development Center believes that this testing option is one of the main reasons for the program's continued success.
Tracy Philpott
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GED Instructor, Pat Garrett,
Math tutor, Jim Garrett, |
