The TASC is the high school equivalency exam used by New York State. It replaced the GED in 2014. As I have been homeschooling myself, I decided that it was time to take the TASC. Unfortunately, registering to take it was more complicated than registering for any other exam I’ve ever taken, including the Advanced Placement ones.
I sent the initial email with all the necessary forms to my nearest testing center on August 20th. I was finally registered on September 7th. I emailed or called six different testing centers and government offices at the city and the state level in the process of registering.
Below is a verbatim recreation of the first part of my interactions with the testing center. I’ve added my own commentary in brackets.
From: Gregory Wickham
To: Brooklyn Adult Learning Center
Sent: August 20, 2021 at 11:09 AM
To whom it may concern:
I would like to register to take the TASC. Application A, the Age Eligibility Attachment, and my residency verification are attached.
[Ed. Note: These are all the required documents to register for the exam.]
Thank you,
Gregory Wickham
Attachments:
- Application A
- Age Eligibility Verification [Ed. Note: This is a form that I had sent to the NYC DOE’s Office of Home Schooling, which they completed and returned in a timely manner.]
- Residency Verification
From: Brooklyn Adult Learning Center
To: Gregory Wickham
Sent: August 20, 2021 at 11:14 AM
[Ed. Note: A screenshot of my Age Eligibility Verification form was inserted here. It is omitted here because it contains personally identifying information.]
This should have a stamp or seal on it.
From: Gregory Wickham
To: Brooklyn Adult Learning Center
Sent: August 20, 2021 at 2:35 PM
I’ve contacted the Department of Homeschooling, asking them to correct the document accordingly, but this is what they returned to me after I initially sent them the half-completed form. Should I have known to ask them to stamp it? Are there any issues with any of my other documents or anything else which might not have been included in the general TASC registration directions?
[Ed. Note: Note that in this email, I am specifically asking to be informed of any and all other issues there may be with my application.]
Is there any way for me to become registered before I have the officially stamped form? I don’t know how long it will be before I receive it.
Thank you,
Gregory
From: Brooklyn Adult Learning Center
To: Gregory Wickham
Sent: August 20, 2021 at 2:38 PM
sorry but it needs to be stamp or seal before you registered to take the test.
From: Gregory Wickham
To: Brooklyn Adult Learning Center
Sent: August 23, 2021 at 1:26 PM
The Office of Home Schooling has added the NYC DOE stamp to the file, and it is attached.
Attachments:
- Updated Age Eligibility Form
From: Brooklyn Adult Learning Center
To: Gregory Wickham
Sent: August 23, 2021 at 3:45 PM
Is home-schooled in accordance with Education Law and Commissioner’s Regulation; Use: Application F
sorry because of your age and is home school you need another attachment to fill out.
sorry, but we must follow the rules.
look where the check mark is read there, I highlight the information to read.
[Ed. Note: This image is cropped to remove personally identifying information. Notice how the test center official highlighted two separate options together to make them seem like a single option.]
Attachments:
From: Gregory Wickham
To: Brooklyn Adult Learning Center
Sent: August 23, 2021 at 4:01 PM
I misread that too when I saw it, but that’s not what it actually says. It’s a lot clearer here: http://www.acces.nysed.gov/hse/if-you-are-17-or-18-years-age-day-testing. Where it says application F, it only applies to the part after the “or” on the same line as the link, not both parts after the checkbox. So, it applies to people who are foreign-born, but not to people who are homeschooled. You can tell because, when you look at application F, it says “This form is for New York State residents who are foreign born and have NEVER attended K-12 schools in the United States.” Application F also requires a copy of my passport or visa showing when I came to the US, which I don’t have because I was born here.
It’s just bad formatting, but it’s clarified on NYSED’s website.
From: Brooklyn Adult Learning Center
To: Gregory Wickham
Sent: August 23, 2021 at 4:21 PM
Gregory I am finding it out, I will let you know as soon as my supervisor reach out to me.
From: Brooklyn Adult Learning Center
To: Gregory Wickham
Sent: August 23, 2021 at 4:43 PM
Gregory my supervisor said you need and Attachment F also.
[Ed. Note: I do not believe that any supervisor was consulted.]
From: Gregory Wickham
To: Brooklyn Adult Learning Center
Sent: August 23, 2021 at 4:49 PM
Again, that’s impossible. Read attachment F. I was born in the US. I have no immigration visa or sponsoring agency. Refer to NYSED’s website (http://www.acces.nysed.gov/hse/if-you-are-17-or-18-years-age-day-testing) it clearly says application F only needs be completed if “you are 17 or 18 years old, are foreign born and do not meet any of the aforementioned criteria.”
From: Brooklyn Adult Learning Center
To: Gregory Wickham
Sent: August 23, 2021 at 4:59 PM
Gregory if you keep going on back and forth, your application is incomplete because missing an attachment.
From: Brooklyn Adult Learning Center
To: Gregory Wickham
Sent: August 25, 2021 at 1:12 PM
what’s up did you get the information fill out?
[Ed. Note: After deliberately giving me an incompletable form, they ask me how completing the form is going. At this point, it started to feel personal.]
From: Gregory Wickham
To: Brooklyn Adult Learning Center
Sent: August 25, 2021 at 1:39 PM
Application F is for foreign-born students who have never attended K-12 school in the US. I can not fill it out because I was born in the US and I have attended school in New York.
If you need proof of that, my osis number is [redacted], and you can contact the office of homeschooling for verification.
From: Brooklyn Adult Learning Center
To: Gregory Wickham
Sent: August 25, 2021 at 3:35 PM
Ok as you know your application is still incomplete.
I also called the testing center 13 times from Aug 23 to Sept 4, but nobody ever picked up the phone or called me back.
To be continued in my next post!
