WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- Educators are worried raising academic standards in the U.S. education system may discourage some people from taking high school equivalency exams.
The G.E.D. test will be changed in January to bring it in line with the Common Core -- a set of standards for kindergarten through 12th grade students that have been adopted by 45 states and the District of Columbia, The New York Times reported.
"There is a lot of fear of it becoming too challenging," said John Galli, assistant director at the Community Learning Center, an adult education center run by the City of Cambridge, near Boston.
The changes have caused concern for instructors and students as they try to prepare for the unknown, the newspaper said.
"The information we have is still very much up in the air," said Catherine Pautsch, education and career pathways coordinator at Youth Build Just-a-Start, a non-profit group that helps young adults prepare for high school equivalency exams. "We haven't had anyone take the test yet, so we're not sure what it's all going to look like."
The cost of the test will also increase come January. Test-takers currently pay $60 in New York, but that will increase to $80 in January.
