Adult basic education, GED, and ESL programs

GED, ESL, & ABE

Individuals wanting to pursue an education or an educational venue have choices to fit their particular circumstance. An Adult Basic Education (ABE) allows individuals to learn basic skills needed to not only perform in an educational setting, but in a trade or in the workforce. It teaches skills from remedial math to basic reading for individuals sixteen and older who have no previous or very little previous high school education. The General Educational Development (GED) or the General Equivalency Diploma as it is often referred to as, has a more educational component and comparable to getting a high school diploma. In order for the GED to be earned, a student needs to fulfill a high school curriculum and needs to get a certain score in order to be awarded this diploma. English as a Second Language (ESL) classes are for students who know very little to no English. These courses prepare them to speak English conversationally and grammatically correct, in order to eventually prepare them to use these learned English skills in an educational setting.

These different routes that were previously mentioned share a lot of things in common. First they are all ways to excel educationally. Each of them is tailored to fit and fill the needs of a specific population, but the life styles and life circumstances of students pursing each of these venues are common in a variety of ways. First of all, they are all looking for alternative ways to finish their education. Not having a traditional high school setting as a way to finish their basic requirements, they seek these programs as a means of furthering their schooling. Each of the individuals pursing any of these programs realize the importance of education in today's workforce and recognize the need to enhance their credentials. Students who are in these courses are mostly all individuals of unusual circumstances, who for one reason or another, were unable to finish high school, whether it be because of money issues, family problems, or just a lack of cultural encouragement, they all share the life circumstance of being an alternative type of student.

Even though the students who pursue each of these venues respectively share certain life circumstances, each of these classes are customized to fit the needs of a particular group of people. As mentioned previously, Adult Basic Education (ABE) classes are for individuals who are seeking to get the basic knowledge to get through the workforce. Unlike the General Educational Development (GED) classes that are more academic centered and more closely based on a high school curriculum, ABE classes are for those adults who do not wish to pursue a degree of higher learning in the near future. With that said, GED classes are seen as a direct alternative to a high school education. On most, if not all, college applications, earning a GED is just as good as earning a high school diploma, so many individuals who are in GED courses wish to pursue more education, or have a specific career goal in mind that requires more academia related skill than trade. English as a Second Language (ESL) classes can actually be compared and contrasted as being a combination of the aforementioned. Students in ESL courses could be a mix of both types of individuals, but their main goal is to dominate the English language enough so that it does not pose a barrier when trying to either further their education, or their workforce advancement. Unlike the students in ABE and GED classes who want to pursue a specific goal right away, students in ESL classes are actually taking the first step in getting their either their education or trade skills, because their main hindrance in them pursing a GED or ABE is a language barrier.