ACE Report Details Characteristics and Performance of GED Test-Takers
By David Pluviose
WASHINGTON
In response to concerns that GED passers still lacked basic skills, the American Council on Education in 2002 issued a new General Educational Equivalent test series designed to be more rigorous in certain sections. A recent ACE report titled, “Who Passed the GED? GED 2004 Statistical Report,” details the characteristics and performance of GED test-takers in North America, the Caribbean and the South Pacific.
In 2002, the year the more rigorous GED test series was introduced, the number of test-takers and test-passers dipped drastically — around 50 percent — from the previous year. Lyn Schaefer, director of test development for the GED Testing Service, says this drastic decline is due to a number of factors.
“When we went to the 2002 series, we reflected what the high schools were doing at that point in time … we now permit calculator use on one-half of our mathematics test. Prior to 2002, we needed to have the questions somewhat less complex so that they didn’t need a calculator.”
Schaefer added that the writing and reading portions of the GED were made significantly more rigorous in the 2002 series.
