the 21 century ged assessment system ovae...
TRANSCRIPT
The 21st Century GED® Assessment
System
GED ® Testing Service Presenters
• Nicole M. Chestang, Executive Vice President,
• Martin D. Kehe, Vice President, Product
Management
• Debi Faucette, Senior Director, Field Outreach,
• Tracy Gardner Senior Director, Assessment
Services
2
Session Overview
• 1:45-3:00 Presentation• GED Testing Service®
• Computer-based Testing (CBT)
• Next-Gen GED® Assessment
• 3:00-3:15 Break
• 3:15-4:00 Group Activity
• 4:00-4:15 Report out
• 4:15-4:45 Open Discussion
The BIG Announcement!!
“American Council on Education and Pearson
to Overhaul GED” Inside Higher Ed, March
15, 2011
“GED Exam Will Be Computerized before New
Version is Unveiled in 2014” Youth Today,
March 16, 2011
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The GED Testing Service®
DOB: March 11, 2011
Focus: Adult learners
Mission: To achieve the vision of the GED
21st Century Initiative
Commitment: To ensure that more adults
become career and college ready
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About Us
• We believe that education transforms lives
• We share your sense of urgency about the
crisis in educational attainment
• We know that adult learners are integral to any
strategy designed to improve attainment
• We know that partners are critical to realizing
effective, large-scale change
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Scope of the GED Program
18,000,000adults earned a high school equivalency credential by GED examination since 1942
770,000adults attempted some portion of the GED Test (2009)
683,000adults completed the entire battery of tests (2009)
472,000adults earned a high school equivalency credential (2009)
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The GED® Reality
More than 39 million U.S. adults without a high
school credential
10.5 Million are age 18-34
1.3 million U.S. high school
dropouts annually
~ 770,000 GED®
Candidates
~ 472,000
credentials
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What’s Needed
• A new test that certifies not only high school
equivalence but also career and college readiness
• An integrated system in which testing plays an
important role but as a transitional step to college or
career opportunities
• Diagnostics and additional tools—to provide more
information to candidates and adult educators to drive
preparation
• Technology-based delivery platforms (CBT) to ease
access and capacity issues
The GED Testing Service’s Response
• Pivotal decision to cancel the 5th Edition GED® test
(Sept. 2009)
• Engaged with the Bridgespan Group in market
evaluation and strategic planning process
• Initiated a pilot of computer-based testing in 11 States
Outcome: GED® 21st Century Initiative, a holistic
framework focused on adult learners that facilitates
the transition to careers and college
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The GED 21st Century Initiative Goal
Nationally Accessible
Preparation Programs
Next-gen
GED
Exam
Post-test
Transition
Network
Facilitate development of
broadly accessible,
multi-platform,
accelerated approach to
learning
Test aligned with
CCSS & other
state and int’l
standards,
certifying CCR
Foster creation of
a comprehensive
network for
successful
transition to PSE
& career
opportunities
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The GED 21st Century Initiative’s Goal:
Facilitate pathways to achieve career & college
readiness and increase PSE attainment & career success
PerformPrepare Progress
To
• Content aligned to 1999 high school
curriculum
• Passing standard empirically set
based on norm-referenced
performance of graduating high school
seniors
• Non-standardized paper-based test
delivery channel
• Anecdotal proficiency gains
• A disjointed, fragmented system that
challenges both adult learners and
educators
• Rigorous content aligned to Common
Core State Standards (CCSS), & other
state and international standards
• Proficiency levels based on criterion-
referenced performance standards for
both high school and college/career
readiness
• Standardized computer-based test
delivery channel
• Accelerated proficiency gains
• Comprehensive, easily accessible
system of supports that empower both
adult learners and educators
From
Evolution of the GED® Program
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The GED 21st Century Initiative Timeline
2011
• 2002 Series
• CBT
• Assessment development
• Accelerated learning pilots
• GED Marketplace Portal
2012
• 2002 Series
• CBT
• Assessment development
• Accelerated learning pilots
• 2014 Test content and instructional requirements
• GED Marketplace Portal
2013
• 2002 Series ends
• CBT
• 2014 GED assessment system launch
• Accelerated learning pilots
• GED Marketplace Portal
• GED Transition Network launch
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2014: The Dawn of the Next Generation
GED® Assessment System
It’s a brand new day for adult learners
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Testing Locations:Where GED testing takes place today
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Community College26%
Adult Ed Center20%
Correctional Facility17%
Career/Technical Center7%
Community -based site2%
Four-Yr Postsecondary Institution4%
K-12 Building12%
Library1%
Military<1%
Spec. Needs<1%
State Agency 4%
Workforce Dev. 1%
Workplace1%
Other5%
Source: Test Center Profile, 2010
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Chief Examiner Role:How much work time is devoted to GED testing
responsibilities?
Work-Time Ranges
0 – 25%
26 – 50%
51 – 75%
76 – 100%
% of CEs in Work-Time Range
59.9%
17.4%
7.5%
15.1%
Source: Test Center Profile, 2010
Testing Availability
• Test centers most often test no more than 30
days per year
• Testing on weekdays during the daytime
• 82% of test centers reported no waiting lists but,
– Significant waiting lists in some jurisdictions
– ANY wait is significant for prepared test-
takers
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Source: Test Center Profile, 2010
Insights from the Market Research
• GED® testing is offered largely on a part-time
basis
• 75% of centers reported that they could test at
least 100 more candidates per year = another
1.3 million candidates
• Weekday, day-time hours = significant
challenges for working adults to schedule
convenient appointments
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Source: Test Center Profile, 2010
GED Testing: Operational Challenges
• Labor- and resource-intensive
– People
– Time
– Money
• Test security
• Availability (location, testing center hours, &
scheduling)
• Wait time for credentials to be issued
• Key processes are not yet automated
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What CBT Is…and Is Not
• What CBT is…
– Standardized mode of test delivery that includes technology-based tools for data management, reporting and enhanced security procedures
• What CBT is not…
– ―Online‖ testing
– An automated system that completely replaces human interaction or judgment
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Benefits for Test-Takers
• Rapid turnaround of results
• More choices--when and where to test
• Ease of registration
• More consistent test-taker experience
• Opportunity to demonstrate computer skills
All part of GED Testing Service’s commitment to serving
more test-takers, and providing an accessible, valid and
reliable testing process.
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Why Now?
• Test-takers need increased access
– Only testing 2% of eligible population
– No marked increase in testing over past 8 years
• National & local governments requiring more efficient
processes
• Well-traveled road with many successful examples
• Prepares the way for the new GED assessment
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Road to CBT
• May – October, 2010
– 11-state pilot
– Usability and Comparability Studies
– Finding: CBT is usable and comparable
• November 2010 to June 2011
– Operational CBT planning
• July/August 2011
– Operational CBT launched
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The CBT Planning & Implementation
Timeline
2011
• Data gathering
• Planning process for first four jurisdictions
• Initiate orientation program for next wave of jurisdictions
• Live CBT for lead jurisdictions
• Evaluation
2012
• Data gathering and exploration continues for next wave of jurisdictions
• CBT network expands in jurisdictions
• Orientation program continues
• Ongoing evaluation and operational adjustments
2013
• Data gathering and exploration for final wave of jurisdictions
• CBT becomes dominant mode of delivery for jurisdictions that implemented in mid-2011 & early to mid-2012
• Project orientation program winds down
• Evaluation program continues
• Live CBT operational in all jurisdictions by end of 2013
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Is the Field ready for CBT?
• Almost 60% of test centers already have computers—23
computers on average
• About the same percentage (60%) offer computer-based
testing (outside of GED tests)
• 9 states have computers available in at least 75% of
their current test centers: Alaska, Arkansas, Hawaii,
Kansas, Maine, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota
and West Virginia
• California, Michigan, and Texas each had more than 50
centers with potentially available additional computers
• Yes, but we still have work to do…
Source: Test Center Profile, 2010
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PBT Cost Structure
PBT costs paid by jurisdictions– GED testing materials (as determined by GED Testing Service)
– Staffing expenses: proctoring exams, registration, fee collection,
data management, reporting, transcript processing
– Facilities expenses
– Accommodations
– Test scoring
– Security: test and document handling and storage; staff training
and monitoring
– Transcript and credential issuance
Average cost to the jurisdictions: ~ $150
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Following the Money
GED® testing is supported in varying degrees by:
Just because it’s not in the GED® Program budget,
doesn’t mean that it’s not in someone’s budget
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State funds Local Funds K-12
Two/Four Year Colleges
Community-based
organizationsIn-kinds
Business & Industry
SponsorsFoundations Employers
The Truth About Test-Taker Fees
• More than 46,000 GED® test candidates in all
but five US states received grants or
scholarships to test, totaling more than $3.3
million in 2009
• More than two-thirds of test centers get less than
half of their funding from test fees
• Only one fourth of test centers rely solely on test
fees for their support
• States varied in test-taker fees charged across
test centers & in circumstances for fee waiversSource: Test Center Profile, 2010
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CBT Cost Structure – All Inclusive
• Test battery leasing
• Phone and internet registration
• Fee collection
• Test scoring
• Instant unofficial score reports
• Reporting
• Data management
• Data transfers
• On demand testing
• Test security
• Proctoring
• Facilities
Test Center Compensation ~$40-$50 for 7.5 hour test
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CBT: Fees to Test-Takers
Jurisdictions still set test-taker fees…however, the
most needy test-takers won’t be forgotten
The GED Testing Service will be the lead sponsor
in a consortium of partners who will create a
foundation to support test-takers.
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Why Aren’t There Plans for a National
Rollout of CBT?
• Differing State policies
– Test-taker fees
– Eligibility
– Preparation requirements
• Differing funding models
• Access concerns
– Location…location…location…
– Community-college network
– Corrections
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THE NEXT-GEN GED® ASSESSMENT:
THE FUTURE OF CAREER AND COLLEGE
READINESS (CCR) FOR ADULT LEARNERS
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Guiding Principles of the GED® Assessment
Design
• The GED® assessment targets will– Focus heavily on what matters most for postsecondary success
– De-emphasize what is less important
– Focus students and teachers on a powerful skill set that they can deploy across the subject areas, as well as in careers and college
– Build on the strongest evidence in order to predict readiness in career, college, and life
• The four subject-level assessments will reinforce core masteries (e.g., use of evidence) that strongly predict career and college readiness
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The New GED® Assessment and Career and
College Readiness Standards
• Raise the rigor of the GED® assessment by
aligning with national & international career- and
college-readiness expectations—e.g. CCSS
• Provide a framework for informing test
development as well as provide clear guidelines
for adult educators responsible for preparing
test-takers
Assessment Development Timeline
2011
• Assessment development partners identified
• Content standards and assessment targets finalized
• Performance level descriptors drafted
• Item development begins
2012
• Item Development and Field Testing for Operational and Readiness Tests
2013
• Item Development and Field Testing for Diagnostic Test
• Release of GED Readiness Test v. 1.0
• Construction of 2014 Operational GED Test Forms
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Assessment Development
Communication
2011
• Computer-based testing tutorial available on the GED website (June)
• Assessment targets and draft Performance Level Descriptors shared with GED stakeholders (July)
• GED stakeholders involved in PLD refinement
2012
• GED stakeholders involved in PLD refinement
• GED Item Sampler released (July)
2013
• Release of GED Readiness Test v. 1.0 (September)
• GED stakeholders involved in preliminary setting of Performance Standards (fall 2013)
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The Four Subject-level Assessments
1. Literacy
• Focus: demonstration of the ability to read and
comprehend a range of complex texts, especially
complex nonfiction
• Writing tasks will require test takers to analyze given
source texts, using evidence
2. Math
• Focus on the material that is most important for a wide range of postsecondary outcomes
• Includes material from the career and college ready standards introduced in grades 6-8 and mastered in grades 9-12
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The Four Subject-level Assessments
3. Science & 4. Social Studies
• Focus: Literacy and quantitative reasoning skills in context of the content
• Includes assessment of selected core content in each subject area
Literacy Content
• 75% literary non-fiction; 25% will be literature.
• Text complexity ranging from high school thru college and career readiness levels.
• Focus on general academic vocabulary
• US Founding Documents and the ―great conversation‖ that followed will be required texts
• All writing tasks will require the test taker to analyze a given source text or texts, using evidence drawn solely from the text(s).
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Mathematics Content
• Quantitative Skills and Problem Solving
• Algebraic Problem Solving
• Elementary and Intermediate Algebraic Techniques
• Geometric Problem Solving
• Using Graphs of Functions
• Descriptive Statistics and Basic Inference
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Rethinking Performance Levels &
Credentials
NOW…The current exam
– Is pass-fail and
– Doesn’t provide information about skills that
examinees demonstrate at different levels
FUTURE… Each content-area test in the exam will
– Provide information to the test-taker and the test-
user (i.e., PSE and/or employers) about the
specific knowledge, skills, and abilities that the
candidate has demonstrated
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Next Generation Assessment
Performance Standards – An Illustration
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Passing Standard for High School Equivalency
2002 Series GED® TestsN
o C
red
en
tia
l
Sc
ore
Sc
ale
Cre
den
tial
Next generation GED® Exam
Performance Standard 3 …
tied to college-readiness
with corresponding PLD
Performance Standard 1 …
tied to pre-GED®
performance level
with corresponding PLD.
Performance at this level
does not earn a credential
Sc
ore
Sc
ale
Passing Standard for High School Equivalency
No
Cre
de
ntia
lC
red
en
tial
Ad
ditio
na
l
En
do
rse
me
nt
Performance Standard 2 …
tied to current level of
high school equivalency
with corresponding PLD
Rethinking Performance Levels &
Credentials
• What does the test-taker get?
– Information—which is central to improving
performance
• What does the educator or employer get?
– Information—A roadmap of current skills and
developmental needs, as measured against a
career and college-ready framework—which
is critical to planning for skills development
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Contact Info
Nicole M. Chestang, Executive Vice President
Martin D. Kehe, Vice President, Product Management
Debi Faucette, Senior Director, Partner Outreach
Tracy Gardner, Senior Director, Assessment Services
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