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The Community
A Newsletter for GED Testing Professionals and Adult
Educators
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October 2009
Feature Articles
National Needs Alter
Plans for 5th Edition GED Test
Over the past several months the movement towards more rigorous
national standards for high school education has gained momentum. This
changing national conversation on what it means to be a high school
graduate and what is needed to be college and career ready has a direct
impact on the GED Test. We must introduce changes and improvements to
the GED Test that are aligned with this new direction. As a result, GED
Testing Service® will not introduce a GED Test, 5th
Edition, on January 1, 2012.
Because of the changing national landscape we will work with the
field, government and other stakeholders to transition directly from the
current 2002 Test Series to a new, more comprehensive assessment
program. This new program, GED 20/20TM, will
dramatically increase the number of test-takers and GED credential
recipients who are prepared to pursue postsecondary education
opportunities. Elements of the new program will be introduced as early
as 2010.
Read the official announcement, and an initial set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) (both in PDF).
More information will be made available on the web site and through this
newsletter each month.
Nicole Chestang Named
Executive Director of GED Testing Service
American Council on Education (ACE) appointed Nicole M.
Chestang to the position of vice president and executive director of GED
Testing Service, a program of ACE. Her appointment is effective Nov. 2,
2009.
Chestang joins GED Testing Service after leading Chestang &
Associates, a strategic consulting practice serving the education,
nonprofit and private sectors with a specialty in college access and
pipeline issues related to underrepresented and low-income minority
populations. Before launching her own firm in early 2009, Chestang
worked as chief operating officer and executive vice president/secretary
of the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), a nonprofit
international association of graduate business schools and sponsor of
the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT).
Read full new release here.
Did you miss last month's newsletter? Here are the most-read
stories from September:
- 2008's
Perfect Scorers Recognized by GED Testing Service
- Examiner's Corner: Eligibility
of Candidates to Take the GED Tests
- Passing
the 2002 Series Math and Writing Tests
- Download
GED Logos
- Help
Adult Learners Transition to New Careers
About the GED Tests
So, What is the "Common Core"
and How Does it Relate to the GED Test?
Much of the recent discussion in education has centered on the work
being undertaken by the National Governor’s Association (NGA), the
Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), and others to establish
national high school content standards in English language arts (reading
and writing) and mathematics. While similar efforts to establish
national standards have been undertaken in the past, the current
approach has the support of nearly every state and of the Obama
administration, so the current approach seems likely to succeed. The
standards will be “college and career ready,” meaning that
mastery will prepare students to enter postsecondary education or the
work force. In early October, ACE will play an important role in the
development of the standards by convening panels of higher education
content specialists to review and comment on the draft
standards, which were released on September 21st.
The Common Core will lead to the development of the more rigorous
next-generation GED Test – a test that in the long run must be
based this college-ready content. Once the final standards are released
in late 2009/early 2010, the GED Testing Service will be conducting an
alignment study to identify gaps between the content on which current
item development is based and the college and career ready Common Core
standards. Once these gaps are identified, test specifications and test
item development plans will be adjusted to allow for incorporation of
the new content for the test associated with GED 20/20 . Watch future
editions of The Community for updates on this important process.
Computer-Based Testing
Pilot on the Horizon
During the September Virtual Town Hall Meeting with GED
Administrators, Interim Executive Director Martin Kehe discussed plans
for an upcoming Computer-Based Testing (CBT) pilot study for the 2002
Series GED Tests. Implementation of CBT has been discussed sporadically
for many years, but the time has come to begin getting solid experience
and studying score equivalency of CBT and paper-based testing modes. GED
Testing Service has solicited proposals from vendors to help us with
this initiative. Once a partner for the pilot is selected, we will be
working collaboratively with a three to four jurisdictions to conduct an
initial equivalency study, to ensure that score results from the test
are equivalent to those from the paper-based test. Assuming that
equivalency is demonstrated, the plan is to extend the pilot in the
participating states. Based on the reactions we heard in last
month’s Virtual Town Hall, there appears to be strong interest on
the part of many jurisdictions to participate in this next phase of the
development of the GED Test.
We at GED Testing Service see CBT as providing many future benefits,
including expanding access, elimination of some of the labor-intensive
administrative processes that burden the testing centers. Taking the
first steps towards an electronically administered test will help us
learn about the efficacy of CBT, how test-takers respond to technology,
if the registration and reporting process can be made more efficient and
easier for test-takers and other issues. These items will be critical to
decisions of eventually expanding CBT beyond the pilot states.
Examiner's Corner
Returning 2009 GED
Testing Materials
Section 3.5 of the GED Polices and Procedures Manual indicates
that GED Chief Examiners must inventory all secure testing materials
(test batteries, topic cards and special editions) and return them to
the GED Testing Service within 30 days after the expiration of the
contract year, or upon the request of the GED Testing Service or the GED
Administrator.
As a reminder, we are approaching the end of the 2009 contract year. All
2009 testing materials are due back to GED Testing Service no later than
January 31, 2010 (unless your GED Administrator has implemented an
earlier date). For more information regarding this process, refer to
section 3 of your GED Polices and Procedures Manual.
Marketing the GED Testing Program
Stay Up-to-date with GED Testing
Service's Style Guide
Many of you have already visited www.GEDtest.org/style
to download the full Style Guide & Graphic Standards document or one
of the usage examples. We are also including information on the web site
to indicate when the most recent version was posted and what areas of
the document were updated. As this document grows with more terminology
and graphic standards, we will make sure the latest version is always
available online for download.
So visit the site now and you'll see our latest notation about
updates:
Last updated July 2009: Added graphic standards for web sites
including usage example for correct branding and trademark usage on
jurisdictional web sites; Added PMS color value, Official GED Testing
Center signs, definition for GED Test, 5th Edition; Updated guidelines
for GED testing publications.
We recommend you check the site every three months for an updated
guide. And you are always welcome to submit updates and changes to
us as you use the Style Guide and find areas for improvement. Email
GEDTSCommunications@ace.nche.edu
with your comments.
GED Testing Service Research
GED Option Report
Available
GED Testing Service’s Research and Partner Outreach units
have teamed up to produce a comprehensive report on the GED Option
program. The GED Option program offers states (currently 11) a waiver to
offer in-school preparation for the GED Test to significantly at-risk
high school students with dramatic deficiencies in credits in comparison
with their peers.
The report includes numerous analyses of test-taker demographic and
GED Test performance data from GED Option programs by state. It also
includes a history of the program, program requirements and background
information from each of the 11 participating states, and school-level
data from the most currently available National Center for Education
Statistics (NCES) dataset. NCES data provides selected characteristics
from the schools with GED Option test-takers and from all schools in
each state, and these data were analyzed to examine whether GED Option
test-takers attend schools that are representative of all schools in
their respective state. The report, which is about 70 pages in length,
is currently undergoing final review, and is scheduled for publication
on November 25, 2009.
Local News
Just $70 Can Change Someone's Life
Story about student who returned to testing center to pay
forward the cost of his testing fee has inspired hundreds of people to
contribute to GED testing fees across the state of Florida. Read full story here.
Celebrate Adult Education & Family Literacy Week
(Oct. 18–23, 2009)
Congress approved a resolution to designate the week of October
18, 2009 as Adult Education and Family Literacy Week. This is a great
opportunity to elevate adult education and family literacy nationwide
with policymakers, the media and your community. Learn more about
the event at the National Coalition for Literacy's site: ncladvocacy.org/aefl.html.
Back to School Report Discusses Increase in GED
Test-takers
The Wall Street Journal spoke with test-takers, Georgia GED
Administrator Kim Lee and GED Testing Service about the increase in
adults seeking equivalency degrees across the country. Article notes the
importance of pursuing postsecondary education after earning a GED
credential. Read full story here.
To submit your local news stories, send the link and
any associated pictures to GED@ace.nche.edu.
Short Links
Use Them. Share Them. Love Them.
Local Headlines
Maine
GED grad and Pulitzer Prize winner to receive Lovejoy
award
Minnesota
Mother of two celebrates dream of earning college
degree
Nebraska
Youth prepare for GED Test and learn work skills with
Habitat for Humanity
South Carolina
State to ensure no resident is more than 30 minutes from
a testing center
Virginia
Governor announces GED and Lifelong Learning Week
(video)
Missouri
Blind woman earns GED diploma
Alabama
State funds approved to defray student's GED Test
fee
Florida
Top student makes film to help curb dropouts
Georgia
College wins grant to help GED graduates transition to
post-secondary
Florida
GED graduate receives military honors
Virginia
New GED program aims to train skilled workers
Oregon
HEP program receives competitive U.S. grant
Arkansas
Gov. names GED Pride Day
New York
Visually impaired woman earns GED credential
Louisiana
Bayou grandmother overcomes challenges
North Carolina
Persistence earns statewide award
Florida
GED credential remains an option for students
Please direct questions about this page to:
ged@ace.nche.edu
This page last updated on 10/21/2009
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