Thread: Newark Spanish-Only GED Testing Center to Open

Newark Spanish-only GED testing center to open

by Jeanette Rundquist/ The Star Ledger Monday May 04, 2009, 6:59 PM

To earn a high school equivalency degree at New Jersey's newest GED testing center, applicants need to know their math, social studies and science. They also need one more skill unique to the center. They must speak Spanish.

The state's first Spanish-only GED testing site is set to open next month in a Newark social service agency called La Casa de Don Pedro. Officials there said offering Spanish speakers a chance to earn their degree in their native tongue will improve their odds of getting a job and going on with their studies.

The Newark center is not the first New Jersey testing site to offer the exam in Spanish -- some 907 New Jerseyans took it in that language in 2007, the most recent numbers available -- but it is the first to administer it exclusively en Espanol.

"Most of these people are learning English. The thing is, by the time they get to the level they need to pass the GED in English, it's going to take a long time," said Rosalina Melendez, director of the Personal Development Division at La Casa.

She said passing the GED test in their native language actually allows students to focus on learning English. The test consists of separate exams in math, social studies, science, reading and writing, plus, in New Jersey and two other states, a test in basic English fluency. To earn the GED, applicants must pass all six parts.

"Whether they take it in English, Spanish or French doesn't matter, a GED is a GED. If they get their equivalency, it will help with a better chance of getting employment," Melendez said. "My personal opinion is, everyone has an equal opportunity to an education regardless of what their first language is."

The center will start by testing 10 students per month, Melendez said, but hopes to increase that in the future. Registration begins May 21, with the two-day test scheduled for June 25-26.

The state does not pay La Casa, but the center receives the $50 apiece that students pay to take the test. Melendez said the agency is hoping in the future to get funding to do GED preparation classes in Spanish.

The GED, or General Educational Development test, was taken by 14,612 New Jersey residents last year, with 9,545 obtaining the "New Jersey State Issued High School Diploma." A number of the state's 33 other testing centers offer the test in English or Spanish.

To some, the new Spanish testing center is another sign of the ever-changing face of New Jersey.

"My understanding is from their experience in dealing with different new citizens, there was a need for something like this," said Richard Vespucci, a spokesman for the state Department of Education.

He said in order to take a standardized test in another language, "you need to be more than conversational."

But some experts in immigration say testing in Spanish "sends the wrong message.

"It certainly seems counterproductive both to the students and to potential employers who might want to hire them, because all the research shows that mastery of English is crucial to moving up in the U.S. labor market," said Steven Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington, D.C., think tank.

He said "nothing would create a better incentive to master the English language than if the exam required it."

"If New Jersey degrees are supposed to mean anything, it's supposed to mean you've mastered certain subjects in English," he said.

Beatriz Colon of Newark is one person who could be helped by the Spanish test. Colon, 40, said through an interpreter that she would like to take the GED in Spanish -- as would her 18-year-old daughter. Colon moved here from Argentina 10 years ago, and her daughter joined her three weeks ago. Both have green cards, Colon said.

Colon, who works at a beauty parlor in Newark, said her employer has asked her to work toward getting the degree. Her daughter wants to attend college.

Colon is studying English as a second language, but said she's not yet ready for the demands of the GED exam.

"It would take me a long time to learn enough English," she said.

Test-takers at the New Jersey site must have proof of who they are and that they live in New Jersey, but U.S. citizenship or GREEN CARDS ARE NOT REQUIRED, according to the Department of Education.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/0 ... sting.html

Why the hell did I have to be required to take 4 damn years of English in school to get a diploma?

And of course, the Spanish Speaking population is paying for this right?

this is utter insanity. where does this stop? teh logical next step is to then claim complete education in spanish including college/university. we are being balkanized, this is loopy!

This is discriminatory and "racist" against every other group with limited English skills. What if I want to take my test in Urdu or Aboriginal click language? Will I be accommodated?
I am spittin' mad over this.

North Metro Tech--Assoc Degree program for xray tech. Spanish required to get degree.

This is totally STUPID!

Nice way to cater to immigrants instead of having them learn English and assimilate....

What a bunch of jerks! But it is New Jersey the land of illegals!

This new GED place ought to attract LOTS of illegals to your lovely state....

I guess the Garden State needs more Gardeners

This kissing up to illegals is getting crazier every day.Come 2010 we must clean out congress and the senate if we are going to have any chance of reversing this madness.

Why should our taxes have to go for Spanish-only GED testing? Why doesnt LaRaza start spending some of its money on programs like that one.