Common Core is not only being integrated into the school system but also for students seeking a general equivalency degree.
Joycie Bright, The GED director of The Good Shepherd Community Center said the GED system is still relatively the same as it has been aside from Common Core being added to the curriculum.
Students that arrive at Good Shepherd to get their GED must go through a process to determine where they are in the learning process.
Bright said that students will take a placement test, and ideally they should score at an eighth grade reading level.
The length of the program depends on the student, Bright said.
“Some students just need a review then they take the GED test and pass, and some stay for a year and some stay for 2 years,” she said.
This year, there are a total of 32 students working towards a GED.
The program is free and is available to anyone 18-years and older.
Students are receiving the tools they need to pass the GED test from accredited teachers in Mississippi.
Gwen Gates, a math teacher at Good Shepherd said when she retired from the Vicksburg Warren School District she did not plan on doing anything, but Bright convinced her.

“She’s a good person and a good person to work for,” Gates said.
She said she not only enjoys teaching the students in the GED program, she enjoys the environment there as well.
“I enjoy the Good Shepherd community — the Christian environment,” Gates said.
Teaching Common Core is a lot of work, but that with God’s help, she can do it.
“I like the way they do it. It takes the student from another level. They have to apply what they learn,” Gates said.
“It’s a slow process. They will come along. They know they have to do it,” she said.
Students in the GED program are doing well.
According to Bright, they have a set of certain goals they have to accomplish in order to receive their GED.
The minimum passing score for a student to receive their GED is 150. They take a practice test twice before they take the actual test.
Students meet Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to noon.
Bright said there is great participation in the program.
“I think most of the students are serious. I just expect us to go higher and higher,” she said.
She added that her goal is to have each student enter the program seriously and to get their GED.