Reinventing the GED ® test: An introduction to the new GED ® assessment

1. Reinventing the GED® test:An introduction to the new GED® assessment Michigan Adult Education & Training Conference - April, 2012

2. Goals for today’s session • Share the rationale underlying the new GED® • assessment • Discuss the purpose, components, and • design of the new system Introduce upcoming deliverables from the • GED Testing Service • Provide a brief overview of the content and structure of the new test Answer your questions and • direct you to resources

3. What’s driving the change? Because of changes in the landscape of education and the workforce, a new GED® assessment is needed … • to better measure adults’ preparedness for career and college • to provide better information to users • to provide a more systematic and integrated approach for learners … … Ensuring that the GED® test credential remains meaningful for adult learners, employers, and institutions … ensuring that the GED® test credential remains meaningful for adult learners, employers, and institutions.

4. Purposes of the new GED® test Improved • To provide a high school equivalency credential • To provide evidence of readinessto enter workforce training programs or postsecondary education • To provide actionable information about a candidate’s academic strengths and weaknesses

5. Key aspects of the assessment system The GED® content standards clearly specify expectations for career- and college-readiness Educators have access to materials and supporting resources aligned with those expectations Increased access and opportunities are provided through use of technology • 5

6. Key aspects of the assessment system • The GED® test system is designed to support increased learningthrough improved reporting and information • The Diagnostic test provides information on areas of strength and weakness • The Readiness test provides information on likelihood of successon the new GED® test • The GED®test itself provides information on both high school equivalency and readiness for career and college

7. The new GED assessment targets • Align to the Common Core State Standards as well as other career- and college-readiness content standards (e.g., Texas and Virginia) • Are evidence-based • Reflect the skills and knowledge most predictive of success in work and post-secondary education • Are designed to measure deep understanding of core skills needed for a wide variety of pathways. • 7

8. Expert advice has guided the development of the new GED® assessment

9. Key GED® assessment deliverables

10. The new GED® assessment: Key facts Launch • LAUNCH: • January 2014 • Delivered by computer in secure testing centers • CONTENT: • Aligned with career- and college-readiness content most closely linked to career and postsecondary success • Four content area sections rather than five • Two performance levels: • The first level representing high school equivalency (incorporating empirical performance of 2013-14 graduating high school seniors) and • A second level representing career- and college-readiness Platform Content Performance Standards

11. What will the new GED® test look like? • 7 hours of testing time plus field testing, directions, breaks • Mathematics: 1.25 hours • Literacy: 3 hours (including 10 minute break) • Science: 1.25 hours • Social Studies: 1.5 hours

12. Depth of Knowledge A common theme among the four content-area tests: demonstration of higher order thinking skills 80% X 4 3 2 1 Webb’s DOK Model: • Issue of difficulty vs. • cognitive complexity

13. The new GED math test A focus on: • Quantitative problem solving (45%) and algebraic problem solving (55%) • Some items test procedural skill and fluency as well as problem solving • Both academic and workforce contexts • Statistics and data interpretation standards also on GED® Social Studies and Science • Use of an embedded scientific calculator for most items

14. The new GED literacy test A focus on: • 75% informational texts, 25% literature • Academic, workforce, and literary contexts • A range of text complexity, including texts at the CCR level; • US Founding Documents and the “great conversation” • Text length of 450 to 900 words

15. The new GED literacy test A focus on: • Vocabulary, with emphasis on words that appear frequently in a wide variety of disciplines (e.g., relative, vary, formulate, specificity, accumulate, calibrate, itemize, periphery, misfortune, dignified, faltered, unabashedly) • The reading and writing standards will also be measured in the GED Social Studies Test, and the reading standards will be measured in the GED Science Test

16. Focusing Themes Science • Human Health and Living Systems • Energy and Related Systems Social Studies • Development of Modern Liberties and Democracy • Dynamic Responses in Societal systems

17. The new GED science test A new focus on: • Life science (40%), physical science (40%), and Earth and space science (20%) • Items will test textual analysis and understanding, data representation and inference skills, as well as problem solving with science content, 50% in scenarios • Each item aligned to both one Science Practice and one Content Topic • Both academic and workforce contexts

18. The new GED social studies test A new focus on: • Civics and government (50%), US history (20%), economics (15%), and geography and the world (15%) • Items will test textual analysis and understanding, data representation and inference skills, as well as problem solving with social studies content, 50% in scenarios • Each item aligned to both one Social Studies Practice and one Content Topic • Both academic and workforce contexts

19. Item types • All contents • M, S, SS • M, S, SS • All contents • All contents • L, S, SS • L, SS • Multiple choice • Fill-in-the-blank items • Hot-spot items • Drag-and-drop items • Cloze-item drop-down selection items • Short answer • Extended response

20. GEDTestingservice.com/assessment

21. Assessment Guide for Educators • Chapter One • Overview of the assessment • Outline item types and layouts • Glossary of terms • Chapter Two • Assessment Targets for each content area • Description of Cognitive Levels - Depth of Knowledge (DOK) • Content passage specifications and selection criteria • Chapter Three • Scoring of constructed response items • Reporting categories

22. Q&A