Labor Market Impacts of the GED[R] Test Credential on High School Dropouts: Longitudinal Evidence from NLSY97. GED Testing Service[R] Research Studies, 2011-2

N

32

Adult Education; High School Equivalency Programs; Labor Market; Educational Research; Data Analysis; Longitudinal Studies; Credentials; Dropouts; Employment Potential; Program Effectiveness; High Schools; Labor; Career Development

General Educational Development Tests; National Longitudinal Survey of Youth

Ever since achieving a high school credential by passing the GED[R] test became widely institutionalized through adult education programs in the United States, outcomes for GED test credential recipients have continued to be of great interest to the adult education community and the general public. Very few studies of GED test credential recipients have examined the impacts of the credential from a national and longitudinal perspective; even fewer have provided information on their occupational changes after obtaining a GED test credential. This study utilizes a new wave of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97), a national longitudinal study sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, to examine the impacts of the GED test credential on the labor market outcomes of high school dropouts. The analyses take advantage of 12 years of data to explicitly model the impacts of the acquisition of a GED test credential on the hourly wages and work hours of youth who did not complete a high school education and to explore the immediate impact on occupational change upon obtaining a GED test credential. (Contains 1 figure, 11 tables, and 7 endnotes.)

ERIC

23

2013

ED541696