Content area
Full Text
Long, A., & Mullin, C. M. (Eds.). (2014). America's forgotten student population: Creating a path to college success for GED® completers. Sterling, VA: Stylus. 192 pp. US$90.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-1-62036-139-9. US$35.00 (paper), ISBN 978-1-62036-140-5. US$27.99 (eBook), ISBN 978-1-62036-142-9.
In the year 2025, the General Education Development (GED) Certificate will be 78 years old. It is estimated that the total number of GED certificates awarded in the United States by that year will be 24 million. Only half of those recipients are likely to achieve a postsecondary credential. Editors Angela Long and Christopher Mullin bring together research, researchers, practitioners, first-person narratives, and an astronaut to show the human and economic costs of GED completers failing to persist toward upward social mobility through a postsecondary credential.
Angela Long, a former community college advisor, is well known in the adult education community as a founder of the Pathways to Persistence Scholars Program, as well as a researcher, writer, and speaker on the topic of non-traditional student retention in higher education. Many readers will know Chris Mullin, presently Executive Vice Chancellor of the Division of Florida Colleges, from his service with the American Association of Community Colleges. In addition to editing the volume, Mullin and Long serve as the "book end" authors of the first and last chapters.
The four-part book brings multiple views to the postsecondary completion issue through the lens of the GED completer. The foreword is written by former U.S. astronaut, Story Musgrave. He tells the story of his early life, lack of mentorship, high school withdrawal, and how joining the Marines and subsequently receiving his GED gave him new opportunity. He attributes much of his subsequent academic confidence and career progress to having completed the GED, to include graduating from Syracuse University. For those in career fields associated with community colleges and/or adult education, the numbers and stories will not surprise as much as confirm the challenges facing GED recipients in their pursuit of higher education credentials.
In Part One, Mullin demonstrates obstacles GED completers face in their matriculation to college. Their challenges seem to mirror those of the majority of community college students. The average test taker is in his or her mid-20s and reads at the 10th grade level. While intent to enroll...