General Educational Development

"GED" redirects here. For other uses, see Ged (disambiguation).

General Educational Development (GED) tests are a group of five subject tests which, when passed, certify that the taker has American or Canadian high school-level academic skills. The "GED" initialism is frequently misused to mean "general education degree" or "general education diploma," when in fact the GED brand was developed as a trademark to identify the "tests of general educational development," a term coined by the American Council on Education, the owner of the GED® trademark, in the 1940s to identify a battery of tests that measure proficiency in science, mathematics, social studies, reading and writing. Passing the GED test gives those who did not complete high school the opportunity to earn their high school equivalency credential, but no state awards a "GED" per se.

The GED Testing Service, a joint venture of the American Council on Education and Pearson, is the sole developer for the GED test. The test can be taken by paper or on computer, but tests must be taken in person. Jurisdictions award a Certificate of High School Equivalency or similarly titled credential to persons who meet the passing score requirements. Passing the GED® test, therefore, gives those who did not complete high school the opportunity to earn their high school equivalency credential.

In addition to English, the GED tests are available in Spanish, French, large print, audio cassette, and braille. Tests and test preparation are also offered to persons incarcerated and on military bases in addition to more traditional settings. Individuals living outside the United States, Canada, or U.S. territories may be eligible to take the GED tests through Pearson Vue testing centers.

History of the GED Testing Program

In November 1942, the United States Armed Forces Institute asked the American Council on Education (ACE) to develop a battery of tests to measure high school-level academic skills. These tests gave military personnel and veterans who had enrolled in the military before completing high school a way to demonstrate their knowledge. Passing these tests gave returning soldiers and sailors the academic credentials they needed to get civilian jobs and gain access to post-secondary education or training.

ACE revised the GED Tests for a third time in 1988. The most noticeable change to the series was the addition of a writing sample, or essay. The new tests placed more emphasis on socially relevant topics and problem-solving skills. For the first time, surveys of test-takers found that more students (65%) reported taking the test with the intention of continuing their education beyond high school, rather than to get better employment (30%).

A fourth revision was made in 2002 to make the test comply with more recent standards for high-school education.

Test administration

There are more than 3,200 Official GED Testing Centers in the United States and Canada. Testing centers are most often in adult-education centers, community colleges, and public schools. Students in metropolitan areas may be able to choose from several nearby testing locations.

Official GED Testing Centers are controlled environments. All testing sessions take place in person (not online) according to very specific rules, and security measures are enforced. Breaks may be permitted between tests, depending on how many tests are being administered in a session. There may be restrictions on what test-takers may bring into the testing room.

There are approximately 25 different editions of the GED Tests that may be in circulation. This measure helps catch test-takers who may be cheating. As with any standardized test, the various editions are calibrated to the same level of difficulty.

Cost

The cost of the GED® test for test-takers varies depending on the state. The most reliable and up-to-date information regarding any given area's current testing costs and policies may be found by contacting the local testing center or the department of education.

In some areas, there is no charge to students who wish to take the GED test. In Arkansas, for example, there is no charge to students who pass a practice test. In Connecticut, veterans and students under age 21 take the test for free; depending on their local GED testing board, students can also take preparation courses for free and/or receive a free copy of the official preparation textbook.

In other states, the test-taker must pay for the cost of the test. Fees in 2008 ranged from $7.50 at North Carolina's community colleges to more than $150 in California. There may be a fee for registering for the exam, and then a separate fee for rewriting any failed section. The test-taker may retake a section until the expiration date of the exam, generally the last day of that year or the next year.

Students with disabilities

Disabled persons who want to take the GED test may be entitled to receive reasonable testing accommodations. If a qualified professional has documented the disability, the candidate should get the appropriate form from the Testing Center:

• Physical disability and chronic-health disability (such as blindness, low vision, hearing impairment, and mobility impairment): "Request for Testing Accommodations—Physical/Chronic Health Disability" form
• Learning or cognitive disability (such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, receptive aphasia, and written-language disorder): "Request for Testing Accommodations—Learning and Other Cognitive Disabilities" form
• Emotional or mental-health disorder (such as bipolar disorder, Tourette's syndrome, and schizophrenia): "Request for Testing Accommodations—Emotional/Mental health" form
• Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (inattentive type, hyperactive–impulse type, or combined type): "Request for Testing Accommodations—Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder" form

The candidate should return the completed form to the GED Testing Center. Each request is considered individually. If accommodations are approved, the local GED testing examiner will conduct the testing with the approved accommodations. Accommodations are provided at no extra charge. Accommodations may include, but are not limited to:

• Audio cassette tests
• Braille or large-print tests
• Vision-enhancing technologies
• Use of video equipment
• Use of a talking calculator or abacus
• Use of a sign-language interpreter
• Use of a scribe (a person who writes down the test-taker's answers)
• Extended testing time

Passing the GED testing battery

Possible scores on an individual test within the GED battery, like those on an individual section of the SAT, range from a minimum of 200 to a maximum of 800. A score of 800 on an individual test puts the student in the top 1% of graduating high school seniors. ACE issues recommendations for what constitutes a minimum passing score for any given sub-test (currently 410) and for the test as a whole (currently 2250, i.e., an average of 450 per test across all five sub-tests). Although most GED-issuing jurisdictions (for the most part, Boards of Education of U.S. states) adopt these minimum standards as their own, a jurisdiction may establish higher standards for issuance of the certificate if it chooses. Many jurisdictions award honors-level equivalency diplomas to students meeting certain criteria higher than those for a standard diploma in a given jurisdiction. Some districts hold graduation ceremonies for GED Tests passers and/or award scholarships to the highest scorers.

Colleges that admit based upon high school grades may require a minimum score on the GED test for admittance based upon the test. For example, Arizona State University requires an average sub-test score of 500 in addition to the certificate.

If a student passes one or more, but not all five tests within the battery, he or she needs only retake the test(s) s/he did not pass. Most places limit the number of times students may take each individual test within a year. A student may encounter a waiting period before being allowed to retake a failed test. Tests must be completed by the expiration date, which is generally every two years on the last day of the year.

Many government institutions and universities regard the GED test credential as the same as a high school diploma with respect to program eligibility and as a prerequisite for admissions. The United States military, however, has explicitly higher requirements in admissions for GED test takers to compensate for their lack of a traditional high school diploma. Likewise, economic research finds that the GED certification itself (i.e. without further postsecondary education or training) does not create the same labor market opportunities available to traditional high school graduates.

The test is administered to a representative sample of graduating high-school seniors each year, about 30% of whom fail the test. That only 70% of these students pass the test may show that it is harder than commonly believed.

While people who have earned the GED test credential tend to earn more than dropouts and less than high school graduates, economist James Heckman has found that this is primarily due to preexisting differences in the characteristics and backgrounds of GED test graduates. When controlling for other influences, he finds no evidence that, for the average taker, the GED test credential improves an individual's economic opportunities above those for other dropouts. However, on-going academic research shows that the minority of takers with high levels of both academic ability and characteristics of persistence and motivation potentially benefit greatly from obtaining a GED.

Future developments of the GED test

In March 2011, ACE and Pearson, the world's largest education and testing company, announced a new business that will develop changes to the design and delivery of the GED test. The new business will retain the name "GED Testing Service." The GED Testing Service plans to make several changes. The first change is that the test will no longer be available as a pen and paper test but will be strictly on computer. On January 2, 2014, GED Testing Service will unveil a brand new test. The new assessment will continue to provide the opportunity to earn a high school credential, but it will also measure career- and college-readiness skills. The new test will also have four content areas—literacy, mathematics, science, and social studies—that measure a foundational core of knowledge and skills that are essential for career and college readiness.

See also

• CHSPE, a similar California standardized test aimed at high school students
• HSED, a credential issued in Wisconsin that utilizes two additional testing batteries

Further reading

• GED Technical Manual, 2nd Edition. (1998). Washington, DC: GED Testing Service of the American Council on Education.
• Northcutt, Ellen et al. Steck-Vaughn Complete GED Preparation (2002). Austin: Steck-Vaughn Company. ISBN 0-7398-2837-1
• Rockowitz, Murray et al. Barron's How to Prepare for the GED High School Equivalency Exam (2004). New York: Barron's Educational Series, Inc. ISBN 0-7641-2603-2
• Mitchell, Robert. McGraw-Hill's GED: Science (2003). New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. ISBN 0-07-140704-9
• Larry Elowitz et al. GED Success: 2003 (2003). Lawrenceville, New Jersey: Peterson's. ISBN 0-7689-0906-6

External links

• GED Testing Service Official website of the GED program