Comparing General Education Development (GED) Tests to COMPASS Tests As Predictors

1. Comparing General Education Development (GED) Tests to COMPASS Tests As Predictors For College Readiness

2. Problem Statement No research is available suggesting the current version of the GED examination is useful to predict college readiness.

3. Research Questions Are the GED and COMPASS... • similar in content? • similarly reliable? • symmetrical? • meaningfully linkable? • population invariant?

4. Literature Review College Accountability College Success College Readiness GED and College Readiness

5. College Accountability Outputs v. Inputs Burke, 2005 Burke & Minassians, 2004 Carey, 2007 McLendon, Hearn, & Deaton, 2006

6. College Success Academic Achievement, Retention, and Completion Conley, 2007 Lau, 2003; Schmid & Abell, 2003; Wolf, 1983; Wyman, 1997;

7. College Readiness HS exit exams, HS course completion, ACT/SAT Scores, HS GPA, Personal Characteristics Mulvenon, Stegman, & Thorn, 1999 Naumann, Bandalos, & Gutkin, 2003 Popham, 2006 Roth, Crans, & Carter, 2000 Ting, 1998 Wolfe & Johnson, 1995

8. GED and College Readiness Available research relative to GED completers and college readiness was conducted prior to the current version of the GED being implemented. Hamilton, 1998 Rose, 1999 Smith & Goetz, 1988 Wolf, 1983

9. Description of Qualitative Data Test Technical Manuals Test Administrator’s Guides Practice Tests Test Preparation Materials

10. Description of Quantitative Data Study Subjects: GED completers from January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2006 enrolled at Houston Community College semester credit hour programs during the 2006 calendar year. Study Data: GED Reading and Math Scores gathered from TEA Chief GED Examiner’s Office. COMPASS Test Reading and Math Scores gathered from HCC student database.

11. Study Methodology Content Analysis Similar in content? Similar in reliability? Linear Regression Analysis Symmetrical? Scores meaningfully linkable? Population invariant? Equipercentile Score Ranking Concordance Table Construction

12. Content Analysis History Purpose Development Forms Content Areas

13. Analysis of GED andCOMPASS Test Characteristics Reading Mathematics Reliability Range Reliability Range Validity Range Validity Range Total Items per Test Total Items per Test Time Allowed per Test Time Allowed per Test Test Item Configuration Test Item Configuration Score Range Score Range Testing Media Testing Media Retest Protocol Retest ProtocolCalculator Use Allowed

14. Linear Regression Analysis Least Squares Method ŷ = axy+byxx ŷ = Independent: GED Scores x = Dependent: COMPASS Scores

15. Regression Models ONE TWO THREE FOUR Age Age Age Age Gender Gender Gender Gender Ethnicity Ethnicity Ethnicity Ethnicity EXITGRAD EXITGRAD EXITGRAD AECLASS AECLASS GEDSCORE

16. Equipercentile Scaling Scores from different tests are set equal or near equal according to their percentile rank within their respective data sets for predictive purposes. Laverge & Walker, 2006; Schneider & Dorans, 1999

17. Concordance Tables Percentile ranking of GED and COMPASS scores Alignment of respective COMPASS Test scores to GED Test Scores of similar percentile rank.

18. Findings • Content Analysis • Descriptive Statistics • Regression Analysis • Equipercentile Scaling

19. Findings - Analysis of GED Reading andCOMPASS Reading Test Characteristics GED COMPASS Reliability Range .92 - .95 .87 Validity Range .53 - .77 .59 - .72 Total Items per Test 40 13 average Time Allowed per Test 65 minutes Untimed Test Item Configuration Multiple Choice Multiple Choice Four Distracters Four Distracters Single correct answer Single correct answer Score Range 0-800 0-99 Testing Media Paper and Pencil Computer Adaptive or Paper and Pencil Retest Protocol Six month waiting Retest Anytime period or complete a preparation program.

20. Findings – Analysis of GED Mathematics Test and COMPASS Mathematics Tests Characteristics GED COMPASS Reliability Range .94 - .96 .85 - .88 Validity Range .53 - .77 .59 - .72 Total Items per Test 50 13.5 – 14.5 /test area Time Allowed per Test 90 minutes Untimed Test Item Configuration Multiple Choice Multiple Choice Four distracters Four distracters Single correct answer Single correct answer Score Range 0-800 0-99 Testing Media Paper and Pencil Computer Adaptive with optical mark or Paper and Pencil score sheet with Optical mark score sheet Calculator Use Allowed Yes Yes Retest protocol Six month waiting Retest anytime period or complete a preparation program.

21. Findings - Content Analysis The COMPASS Reading Placement Tests and GED Reading Tests share sufficient content overlap to produce useful results if included together in a score linking study. The COMPASS Numerical Skills/Prealgebra, Algebra, and Geometry Placement Tests share sufficient content overlap with the GED Mathematics Tests to produce useful results if included together in a score linking study. The COMPASS College Algebra, and Trigonometry Placement Tests share almost no common descriptors and therefore likely do not possess sufficient content overlap with the GED Mathematics Tests as to be useful together in a score linking study.

22. HCC Sample, by Ethnicity

23. HCC Sample, by Gender

24. Age at GED Completion

25. High School Exit Grade

26. College Readiness and GED Reading

27. College Readiness and GED Mathematics

28. Findings – Linear Regression Analysis ALG as Dependent Variable B Coefficients for ALG as the Dependent Variable Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4 (sd) (sd) (sd) (sd) Age -.415** -.414** -.423** .009 (.180) (.181) (.188) (.169) Gender -4.611 -4.350 -.4.308 -.672 (3.475) (3.507) (3.536) (2.958) Ethnicity -.426 -.544 -.586 1.201 (2.229) (2.244) (2.268) (1.882) EXITGRAD .789 .849 .315 (1.167) (1.203) (.991) AECLASS .684 -1.119 3.592) (2.960) GEDMATH .099* (.016) * significant at p<.001 ** significant at p<.05

29. Findings – Linear Regression Analysis COMPASS READ as Dependent Variable B Coefficients for READ as the Dependent Variable Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4 (sd) (sd) (sd) (sd) Age -.233 -.232 -.228 -.177 (.159) (.158) (.163) (.147) Gender -4.860 -4.638 -4.644 -2.149 2.941) (2.938) (2.957) (2.703) Ethnicity -1.374 -.1.535 -1.522 -.753 (1.882) (1.881) (1.897) (1.706) EXITGRAD 1.181 1.163 .748 (.969) (.990) (.891) AECLASS -.315 -.069 (3.006) (2.691) GEDREAD .061* (.014) * significant at p<.001

30. Findings – College Readiness Concordance of Scores GED Math COMPASS Algebra 790 71 GED Reading COMPASS Reading 540 81

31. Study Limitations • Prior academic performance Gravalia & Gredler, 2002; Nauman, Bandalos and Gutkin, 2003; Popham 2006 • Self-efficacy Golden, 2003 • Personality Characteristics Ridgell & Loundsbury, 2004 • Institutional Factors Lau, 2003 • Test Preparation Stovall, 2000

32. Conclusions Are the GED and COMPASS • similar in content? • similarly reliable? • symmetrical? • scores meaningfully linkable? • population invariant?

33. Implications for Practice Reading Curriculum Mathematics Curriculum Teacher Training Student Awareness Predicting Readiness

34. Future Research • Larger Sample • Symmetry Study • GED completers personal traits • GED Preparation Courses and College Readiness