Adult education centers are preparing for a shift to the new, computerized version of the GED exam, changing the testing, training and cost for the high school equivalency exam.

“We do have students who are going to have to start over now,” said Ben Aldama, dean of Adult Education through NorthWest Arkansas Community College.

Students who either didn’t finish or didn’t pass the 2002 version of the test will have their scores erased. The questions and scoring on the 2014 test have changed. The new test will be administered on computers beginning Thursday in the U.S.

Paper and pencil tests were administered through Dec. 13.

“It was more like an option to work on computers in the past. Now it’s not going to be an option,” said Martha Cortes, enrollment specialist at NWACC’s Adult Education Center in Rogers.

Despite the winter weather there were two testing rooms crammed with people who hoped to get in under the deadline during the last week of testing, Aldama said. During the past two months at the Rogers center, about 180 people took the old version of the test, half the number who took the test during the entire 2011-12 school year.

It was the same story at other adult education centers.

Typically more students want to test in the spring semester, said Terri Ralston, director of adult education at Northwest Technical Institute in Springdale. She had 85 students test since the beginning of the fall semester, but only 113 all last school year.

The Springdale center piloted electronic testing using the 2002 test in September. Three testing stations have been set up so far and there’s room to expand, Ralston said.

“We don’t anticipate a lot of people being ready to test right away,” she said.

Educators may be ready to teach new material, but Arkansas, however, isn’t ready.

Testing, registration and data management costs for the GED have been rolled into a $120 package, but the state has to decide how much students will pay, said Janice Hanlon, GED administrator for Arkansas with the Department of Career Education. GED tests were free to Arkansas residents before the change.

A proposed $16 charge was part of a public hearing last week, Hanlon said, but the Legislative Rules Committee must meet and decide the final fee. She is hopeful the fee is set in January and centers can begin testing.

There have been four revisions of the exam, according to GED Testing Services. The initial exam was established in 1942 and was revised in 1978, 1988, 2002 and 2014.

Other high school equivalency exams have entered the marketplace, but the GED exam is written into state law as a recognized equivalent to a high school diploma, Hanlon said.

The test standards are shifting to line up with Common Core standards used in schools.

“It’s more logical thinking. It’s going to be more intensive,” said Connie Cox, state language arts trainer and adult education teacher through NorthWest Arkansas Community College.

Essay formats will change. Under the old exam a student could have used his or her personal experiences in their final essay. Under the new exam a student will need to use reference material provided to form an opinion and quote it in their persuasive argument.

Students will need to be able to navigate tabs on the computer, use a calculator on the computer and drag and drop answers. Poetry will no longer be a part of the reading section, but there will be more reading in science and social studies sections, Cox said. Dropping the poetry in favor of more consumer-based reading sections could make it easier, but there will be more writing, Cox said.

Lacey Heskett of Springdale took the exam in November on computer at NTI’s center.

She opted for the computerized test because she would get immediate results and because she’s comfortable with technology. Computerized testing is nicer than pen and paper, Heskett said. Watching the clock and filling in test bubbles remind her more of school tests than clicking on the answer, she said.

“It didn’t really seem like a test,” she said.

Her high school class graduated in 2005, but when she turned 18, Heskett moved out. She got a job and school was out of the question.

The test results were for her and to show her 3-year-old son she could be a good role model, she said.

“I’ve always wanted to get it done,” Heskett said.

For younger people the move to computer testing might be an advantage, but for a 40-year-old day-laborer who has never worked with a computer it could be the biggest challenge of the entire test, said Kathy Spigarelli, director of adult education and community education for the Fayetteville School District.

There will be a calculator for the entire math portion of the test and sections can be taken one at a time, Spigarelli said.

Keyboarding is going to be added to GED preparation.

“That’s a whole ’nother skill beyond just writing paragraphs,” she said.

Fayetteville adult education teachers started prepping students for the new test in late fall and will have people ready to test when the school year begins.

Spigarelli is looking for grants to cover the cost of the test for her students.

“It’s not the amount of money. It’s the fact they don’t have credit cards,” she said.

“A lot of the students we serve any charge is going to make an impact on their family budget,” Aldama said.

The test has value, said Rob Smith with the Northwest Arkansas Council.

Education is one of the Greater Northwest Arkansas Development Strategy Goals put forth by the council. Businesses want to be confident that the work force is well-educated when they consider moving to an area, Smith said.

Every bit of additional education attainment has value to a business, Smith said.

“GED, one of its greatest values is it puts a person in the position to do the next thing,” he said.

The Berry Street location of Tyson Foods hosts classes for both English as a second language and GED, said Dan Fogleman, spokesman.

Not every job requires a GED certificate, but the company goal is for employees to be prepared to advance.

People come to Tyson and stay with the company, he said. A company program pays a portion of tuition for employees getting a degree that will help them in their job at Tyson. Getting a GED follows that same idea, he said.

“Here at Tyson we foster a culture of promoting from within,” Fogleman said.

Students shouldn’t be afraid of the new exam, but they should be prepared to study, Hanlon said.

Arkansas requires a pretest, which also will be computerized, so people who take the GED will be familiar with the new format.

“They’re not going to make this test so hard that nobody can pass,” she said.

“It’s not something people should go in one day and expect to get it the next.”