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Test Specifications and Construction

For more information about the test specification process for the 2011 Series GED® Tests, see the GED® Test Specifications Committee Summary Newsletter. This newsletter includes information about how the the committees are formed for the U.S. and Canada, how the test content is determined, and what the next steps are for launching the new series.

Cognitive skills

Questions on the GED Tests are classified by cognitive level using an adaptation of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (Benjamin Bloom, ed., 1st ed., New York: Longmans Green, 1956). Questions classified at the highest cognitive levels (e.g., synthesis, evaluation) require the use of skills described at the lower levels (e.g., knowledge and comprehension).

Comprehension

Comprehension questions require an understanding of the meaning and intent of written and graphic stimulus material. They measure the examinee’s ability to restate information, summarize ideas, identify implications, and draw conclusions.

Application

Application questions require the ability to use information and ideas in a concrete situation. They measure the examinee’s skill in using ideas in a context different from the one in which they were initially presented.

Analysis

Questions involving analysis require the ability to break down information and explore relationships between component ideas. They measure the examinee’s ability to perform reasoning tasks such as:

• Distinguishing facts from hypotheses or opinions.
• Recognizing unstated assumptions.
• Identifying cause-and-effect relationships.
• Comparing, contrasting, and inferring.

Synthesis

Skills at this level require the production of information in the form of hypotheses, theories, stories, or compositions. Synthesis requires the construction of new and independent communication.

Evaluation

Evaluation questions require the ability to make judgments about the validity or accuracy of information or methods using provided or assumed criteria. They measure the examinee’s ability to:

• Assess the data used to substantiate hypotheses, conclusions, or generalization.
• Recognize the role of values in beliefs and decision making.
• Perceive logical fallacies in arguments.