Synonyms

GED

Description

Developed as a joint venture between the American Council on Education (ACE) and Pearson VUE, the General Educational Development (GED) test measures the academic skills and knowledge expected of graduates from high school and a product of the GED Testing Service. The GED is developed upon the philosophy that a core set of academic skills and knowledge is required for an adult to demonstrate readiness for particular vocational opportunities and enrollment in postsecondary education. The GED has three purposes which include providing a high school credential equivalent, providing information regarding an individual’s developmental strengths and weaknesses, and providing evidence of readiness for training programs. Thus, the GED test is intended to be administered to individuals who have not fulfilled the high school graduation requirements to receive a traditional high school diploma or participated in a nontraditional curriculum (e.g., home-schooled students). The GED produces more than 10% of all high school credentials issued in the United States every year (Heckman et al. 2014).

The GED test consists of four content areas: Reasoning Through Language Arts, Mathematical Reasoning, Science, and Social Studies. Each test varies in administration from 90 to 150 min. The current test is administered in multiple formats, including multiple-choice items, fill-in-the-blank, drag-and-drop, hot spot, dropdown, cloze, short-answer, and extended response items. The test is most often administered via computer, but accommodations are available for paper and Braille. The GED test is allowed to be administered with access to approved accommodations to adults with documented disabilities.

Following administration of the GED test, all scores are reported electronically. The GED tests utilize standard scores (i.e., scaled scores) and percentiles for all reporting. The GED test currently provides two performance levels of passing scores, one determining the obtainment of their jurisdiction’s high school-level credential and the other to determine if the candidate has demonstrated career and college readiness. The passing standard score represents a reasonable and sufficient level of performance when compared to traditional graduating high school seniors. A current passing standard score is 150, and the GED with honors standard score is 170. The career and college readiness (CCR) indicator represents a sufficient level of performance indicative of career and college readiness. All individuals taking the GED test receive an official score report, typically available within 3 h of exam completion.

To prepare for the GED, Pearson now offers a GED Ready: The Official Practice Test, a computerized practice tests that is approximately half of the length of the 2014 version of the GED. The GED Ready provides performance feedback and provides a practice opportunity for test takers. The GED Ready is standardized and scaled equivalent to the operational test. Approximately 95% of individuals who meet the threshold as “likely to pass” go on and pass the operational GED test.

Historical Background

Originally developed in 1942, the GED test was initiated by the United States Armed Forces Institute (USAFI) to assist World War II veterans who pursue educational and vocational goals. The original GED test consisted of a high school and a college battery. The opportunity to demonstrate high school-level academic skills significantly helped many service members whose education was interrupted by war, and the equivalent benefit of civilians was noted. In 1960, the Educational Testing Service (ETS) acquired the test, and the tests they developed are currently included in today’s College Board’s College-Level Examination Program (CLEP). The GED test has been revised four times to meet the evolving expectations of individuals that are required to receive a traditional high school diploma. Most recently, the GED began revisions in 2008 to align with an educational shift in aligned academic standards with career and college readiness standards.

Psychometric Data

In 2012, the current version of the GED began a stand-alone field test to assess the quality of new items for content, performance, and psychometric properties. In 2013, a standardization and norming study was conducted and included a national sample of recent high school graduates. To develop an appropriate sample, a two-stage plan was implemented utilizing a for-hire model. Individuals were first recruited by county and from this sample, 1,013 current high school graduates were chosen to participate in the final sample. In assessing reliability, internal consistency ranges are reported from .75 to .88 in content areas. The standard error of measurement is reported to range from 3 to 4 (scaled score) across content areas. With regard to validity, the GED is indicated to be fairly consistent across forms. In further assessing dimensionality, results of analysis indicate that a single trait is measured by each content area test when administered in English. Lastly, items identified as biased based upon ethnicity, gender, and/or race were removed from the item pool.

Clinical Uses

The GED can be helpful to those who wish to demonstrate academic achievement commensurate with those receiving a high school diploma. According to Dalton (1990), the GED is the neuropsychological equivalent of 12 years of education.