Will planning and implementing GED® Boot Camps enable us to help our students achieve more GED®s and MSGs?
Product Overview
Our consortium saw a need to reconnect with students who have been stopped out for a while due to the pandemic and other factors. After using data and knowing our students, we decided a GED® bootcamp would help us this year. Each county custom planned their bootcamp to fit their own particular students’ needs.
Contacted them:
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- Physically spoke to our students about what they needed to pass their GED.
- Posted on Social Media
- Contacted former and present students to register them for the bootcamp
- Used letters, emails, texts, GED® manager and phone calls to contact students
Planned the Bootcamps:
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- The camp would be 1 to 3 days long depending on the county and their need
- Two Bootcamps were completed during the Sprint Sessions for most counties
- Math and Social Studies seemed to have the most need
- The second Bootcamp covered other subjects needed for a day
- The day following the Bootcamps was planned to do the GED® Ready and/or GED® test directly following the Bootcamps
- Some counties used Zoom to share with online students.
Mastery Moment
- Enrollments Increased
- GED®s increased. To see the student say “I can, I did” is the top of our accomplishments.
- More student engagement
- Renewed interest in program by students
- Utilized VIBE board
- Created a product that can be used again and again (blended classroom)
- This project has created an urgency attitude in our office
- One county said, “Our biggest mastery moment was having a proctor and mobile testing unit and being able to give the GED® test at our center! We got 3 GED®s through the bootcamp.”
- Our state rankings continue to rise.
- Students who RSVP’d did attend
- Students participated the ways they were asked to.
Messy Moment
- We got ahead of ourselves in the initial kickoff. We didn’t give/allow enough time to adequately announce the Bootcamp. In retrospect, we realized we needed more time to advertise and contact students.
- There was some learning to be done by the instructors as to each person’s role in planning and carrying out the Bootcamp.
- We learned to utilize our time better and to incorporate the use of our technological tools (VIBE board in classroom, online assignment, etc.)
- Safety hazards were identified in the computer room….too many cords on the floor were discussed. Safety officer recommended cord coverings for the floor, order placed and installed. Safety officer followed up and approved.
- Some concerns with the online students having background noise (children crying, etc) and distractions to other students.
- There were loud instructors at the college that distrubed in-class students, having to ask them to close classroom doors.
- There was some trouble in a couple of the counties in getting enough students in to do this.
- There was some trouble with the GED® mobile testing unit and getting the laptops to work with our server.
- Some trouble getting retake vouchers to work for the students’ testing.
- After confirming they were coming, some students did not show up