[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-265326-105":59,"doc-detail-265326-en":131},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":124,"head_meta":126,"extra_data":128,"updated_unix":130},105,"en","who-are-the-geds","Who Are the GEDs?","","Chapter 4 examines who GED recipients are by contrasting their educational pathways with those of other high school dropouts using longitudinal evidence. It explains how the GED program has shifted from its earlier veteran-focused cohort to a population leaving high school for different personal and institutional reasons. The chapter compares cognitive ability, the presence or absence of character skills, and how differences in skills, backgrounds, and life events emerge and shape educational outcomes.",{"@graph":69,"@context":123},[70,84,106],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/who-are-the-geds/265326/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/who-are-the-geds/265326.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Paura","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-18","2026-09-14",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":105},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",13,{"@type":107,"mainEntity":108},"FAQPage",[109,115,119],{"name":110,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":112},"How do modern GED recipients differ from the earliest GED cohort?","Question",{"text":113,"@type":114},"The earliest exam-certified high school equivalents were World War II veterans, whereas modern GED recipients leave high school for different reasons rather than being war heroes reintegrating after service.","Answer",{"name":116,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":117},"Why do many people leave school to become GED recipients?",{"text":118,"@type":114},"Many GED recipients report reasons such as expulsion, lack of ability, or disliking school. Female recipients also frequently cite pregnancy.",{"name":120,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":121},"How does the chapter treat differences in skills and background across educational groups?",{"text":122,"@type":114},"It argues that differences in skills and backgrounds can emerge early, then examines how life events and the relative importance of skills versus background influence educational outcomes.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":125,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":127,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":129,"site_id":62},265326,1789394282,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":132},{"doc_id":129,"user_id":133,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":134,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":135,"file_id":136,"file_url":137,"file_type":138,"file_size":139,"view_count":105,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":140,"language":141,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":142,"faqs":143,"seo_title":144,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":130,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},13056712833777,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0","Chapter 4  \nWho Are the GEDs?  \nJames Heckman, John Eric Humphries, and Tim Kautz  \nOctober 17, 2013  \nContents  \n4.1 A New Breed of GED .............................. 3  \n4.2 GEDs Have Greater Cognitive Ability than Other Dropouts ......... 7  \n4.3 GEDs Lack Character Skills ........................... 12  \n4.4 Di✛erences in Skills Emerge Early Across Educational Groups ........ 20  \n4.5 Di✛erences in Background between Educational Certi✜cation Groups .... 22  \n4.6 Life Events Surrounding GED Certi✜cation .................. 24  \n4.7 The Relative Importance of Skills and Background in Determining Educational Outcomes ..................................... 30  \n4.8 Summary and Conclusions ............................ 38  \n4.1 A New Breed of GED  \nThe ✜rst cohort of exam-certi✜ed high school equivalents were World War II veterans who had been trained and disciplined in the armed forces. After the war, they were welcomed home as heroes. Many had left high school to serve their country, and the early high school equivalency program helped reintegrate them into society. Given their training and discipline, it is not surprising that the veterans who were able to pass the exam were relatively successful later in life, often performing as well in college as high school graduates.1  \nThe modern GED program does not target war heroes; modern GED recipients leave highschool for very di✛erent reasons. Figure 4.1 displays self-reported reasons for dropping out of high school for GED recipients and other dropouts based on evidence from two longitudinal data sets.2 For each demographic group, it shows the proportion reporting the indicated reason for dropping out of school for both dropouts and GED recipients. Responses are mutually exclusive in the top panel but are not mutually exclusive in the bottom panel. A black dot indicates whether the means are statistically signi✜cantly di✛erent from eachother, comparing GEDs and other dropouts. The ✏`a✑ represents standard error bars for each mean.  \nToday, GED recipients leave school for reasons similar to other dropouts: Figure 4.1 shows that many GED recipients leave school because they are expelled, lack ability, or dislike school. Many female GEDs drop out due to pregnancy.3 ; 4 GEDs tend to dislike  \nschool less than dropouts. Male GEDs are more likely to report the desire to work as their  \n1 See the discussion in Chapter 2 about the performance of exam-certi✜ed veterans in college. Atkinson (1949) reports that veterans outperformed nonveterans due to their higher levels of maturity and motivation. Gowan (1949) reports that exam-certi✜ed veterans performed better than nonveterans, despite having lower grades in high school. For a contrasting view, see D✬Amico (1953), who found that the exam-certi✜ed veterans had lower grades and higher attrition rates from college.  \n2 The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) and the National Educational Longitudinal Survey (NELS) . For a detailed description of these data sets, see Web Appendix Sections W[5.1.1.1](5.1.1.1) and W[5.1.1.8](5.1.1.8). The Web Appendix mentioned in this note and subsequent notes is found at [http://jenni](http://jenni) . [uchicago.edu/Studies_of_GED](uchicago.edu/Studies_of_GED).  \n3 See Chapter 3 for a discussion of trends in average age at which recipients take the test.  \n4 The reasons for dropping out from the NELS data have been aggregated to similar categories in the NLSY79 data. Figures A4.1✕A4.8 in the Web Appendix show similar ✜gures by race and ✜nal levels of postsecondary education.  \nChapter 4 | 3  \nreason for leaving school, and female GEDs are less likely to report that they lack ability compared to other female dropouts.  \nFigure 4.1 Reasons for Leaving School  \n\n|  |  |  |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| (a) NLSY79, Males\u003Cbr>\u003Cbr>Married Dislike School\u003Cbr>Lack Home Work Expel/\u003Cbr>Ability Respons. Suspend | (b) NSLY79, Females\u003Cbr>\u003Cbr>Married Preg Dislike School\u003Cbr>Lack Home Work Expel/\u003Cbr>Ability Respons. Susp","cbCainvu3LUkQUX6","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCainvu3LUkQUX6","pdf",817330,42,"English","# 4.1 A New Breed of GED\n# 4.2 GEDs Have Greater Cognitive Ability than Other Dropouts\n# 4.3 GEDs Lack Character Skills\n# 4.4 Differences in Skills Emerge Early Across Educational Groups\n# 4.5 Differences in Background between Educational Certification Groups\n# 4.6 Life Events Surrounding GED Certification\n# 4.7 The Relative Importance of Skills and Background in Determining Educational Outcomes\n# 4.8 Summary and Conclusions","[{\"question\":\"How do modern GED recipients differ from the earliest GED cohort?\",\"answer\":\"The earliest exam-certified high school equivalents were World War II veterans, whereas modern GED recipients leave high school for different reasons rather than being war heroes reintegrating after service.\"},{\"question\":\"Why do many people leave school to become GED recipients?\",\"answer\":\"Many GED recipients report reasons such as expulsion, lack of ability, or disliking school. Female recipients also frequently cite pregnancy.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the chapter treat differences in skills and background across educational groups?\",\"answer\":\"It argues that differences in skills and backgrounds can emerge early, then examines how life events and the relative importance of skills versus background influence educational outcomes.\"}]","Who Are the GEDs? | PDF",106]