The High School Journal

This article discusses competing perspectives on the value of the General Educational Development (GED) credential. Although scholars and journalists debate the worth of the credential, urban youth continue to pursue the GED, especially as proxy for inadequate schooling. Using qualitative data from a participatory action research project, the author appraises the value of the GED from the perspectives of urban youth, and argues that youth place significance in the credential in ways previously ignored and under theorized by educational researchers, practitioners, and policymakers.