61.057 - Toward Education Justice: Current Research on Alternative Paths to High School Equivalencies

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

In the United States, adults and students without secondary school diplomas have the opportunity to gain their high school equivalency through alternative paths outside of traditional education. The studies in this session examine several modes of alternative credentialing, including the GED, alternative high schools, and youth detention centers. Collectively, these studies seek to understand students’ experiences along these alternative pathways to secondary school completion, provide context to changes in this area, and begin to examine long-term outcomes related to alternative credentialing.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Adult Literacy and Adult Education

Chair

• Pilar Erin McKay, University of California - Los Angeles

Papers

• Changing the GED: Situation Analysis of High School Equivalencies in State-Level Policies - Pilar Erin McKay, University of California - Los Angeles

• Testing School-Level Predictors of GED Recipients' Outcomes in Adulthood - Lacey Ann Hartigan, EMT Associates, Inc.

• Changing Pathways: Youth Identities in Alternative High Schools - Gavin Tierney, University of Washington

• Alternative School Pathways: Educating Incarcerated Youth - Rachel Sophia Phillips, University of Washington - Seattle

Discussant

• Russell W. Rumberger, University of California - Santa Barbara