Solutions to our educational system won't come by throwing technology at it, especially when the technology changes as rapidly as computers do.
More to the point would be to give the family of every high school freshman two books, both paperbacks, combined cost less than $50: A GED practice book and an ASVAB practice book. If a senior can't answer more than half the GED practice questions correctly, he/she can't pass the GED.
I've known altogether too many young adults who obtained a high school diploma but I really don't think they could pass the GED. If they could, then the percentage of students at the University of Hawaii Maui College who have to take remedial English or math would not be 30 percent (The Maui News, Nov. 23, 2010).
ASVAB is the test you must pass to join the U.S. military. Like the GED, it has two math sections. Unlike the GED, you cannot use a calculator for either of them - the GED allows a calculator for one section.
I know this because I recently visited an Army recruiter. I got tired of tutoring young men who think they can blow off high school and join the military. No, they can't, and if their parents knew that, they would make them work harder.
Irene Newhouse
Kihei
