GED 2014:
UPDATES & IMPLICATIONS FOR INSTRUCTION
INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW GED
• Launches January 2, 2014
• CBT delivered at Pearson VUE CBT testing centers
• Content aligned to career & college readiness
content standards
• Four content areas:
•
•
•
•
Literacy
Mathematics
Science
Social Studies
• Two performance levels
• High-school equivalency
• Career & college readiness
PURPOSES OF THE NEW ASSESSMENT
• To provide a path to a high school credential
• To provide evidence of readiness to enter
workforce training programs or postsecondary
education
• To provide information about a candidate’s
strengths and developmental areas
ASSESSMENT SYSTEM DELIVERABLES
ASSESSMENT GUIDE FOR EDUCATORS
• Chapter One (released)
• Overview of the assessment
• Outline item types and layouts
• Glossary of terms
• Chapter Two (released)
• Assessment targets for each content area
• Description of Cognitive Levels – Depth of Knowledge (DOK)
• Chapter Three (released)
• Content passage specifications and selection criteria
• Scoring of extended response items (writing tasks) on Literacy
and Social Studies
http://www.gedtestingservice.com/assessment
INTRODUCTION– KEY POINTS
• Alignment of content with more rigorous career and
college readiness standards being adopted
nationwide
• Two performance levels on the new assessment
• Continuing the tradition of HS equivalency
• Adding a new performance level to measure performance
at higher levels of career and college readiness
• New assessment content focuses on knowledge
and skills most strongly correlated with success in
career & college
INTRODUCTION – KEY POINTS
• New assessment will be supported by enhanced
reporting
• Learners will be provided sub-scores to inform future study
• Sub-scores on the practice test will be supplemented with
information and links to instructional materials
• New assessment content requires new item types to
evaluate test-takers’ knowledge and skills
•
•
•
•
•
Fill-in-the –blank
Drag & drop
Hot spot
Short Answer (SA) and Extended Response (ER)
Cloze
• Designed with UDL in mind – more information on
Accommodations will follow.
FILL IN THE BLANK
• Assessment of
skills at a higher
cognitive level
• Vocabulary
• Mathematical
reasoning
• Data
interpretation
DRAG & DROP
• Assessment of
skills at a higher
cognitive level
• Data
organization
• Analysis of
arguments
• Comparison/
contrast
HOT SPOT
• Assessment of
skills at a higher
cognitive level
• Relationship
between data
points
• Plotting points
on a coordinate
grid
• Analysis of
evidence
SHORT ANSWER & EXTENDED RESPONSE
• Assessment of
skills at a higher
cognitive level
• Summarization
skills
• Reasoning skills
• Analysis &
construction of
arguments
• Use of American
Edited English
CLOZE
• More authentic
assessment of
skills currently
assessed
• Drop-down
choices in
editing tasks or
in mathematical
comparisons
WEBB’S DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE MODEL
• A framework for analyzing a wide range of
educational materials on the basis of the cognitive
demands they require in order for a learner to
produce a response to those materials.
• Bloom’s Taxonomy was used to develop GED 2002.
• Emphasis is on the complexity of the cognitive
process that activities (applying, analyzing,
creating) requires on the part of the learner.
• Roughly 80% of the items across all four content
areas will be written to DOK levels 2 & 3.
• Roughly 20% will require learners to engage DOK
level 1 skills.
A COMPARISON
Webb’s Depth of
Knowledge
Bloom’s Taxonomy
Knowledge
Comprehension
Recall
Application
Basic application of skill/concept
Analysis
Strategic thinking
Synthesis & evaluation
Extended thinking
DOK: ONE VERB, THREE LEVELS
• DOK 1- Describe three characteristics of
metamorphic rocks. (Requires simple recall)
• DOK 2- Describe the difference between
metamorphic and igneous rocks. (Requires
cognitive processing to determine the differences in
the two rock types)
• DOK 3- Describe a model that you might use to
represent the relationships that exist within the rock
cycle. (Requires deep understanding of rock cycle
and a determination of how best to represent it)
LITERACY ASSESSMENT TARGETS
• Focus on three essential components:
• The ability to read closely
• The ability to write clearly
• The ability to edit and understand the use of standard
written English in context
• Strongest predictor of career and college readiness.
• Include texts from both academic and workplace
contexts that will range from simple to complex.
• 75% informational texts (literary nonfiction, workplace)
• 25% literature
• Writing tasks will require test takers to analyze given
source texts, using evidence drawn from the text(s).
LITERACY TEST PARAMETERS
• Will cover a range of text complexity.
• When vocabulary comprehension is being measured,
the emphasis will be on understanding words that
appear frequently in texts from a wide variety of
disciplines.
• U.S. Founding Documents and the “Great American
Conversation” that followed will be required texts for
study and assessment.
• Length of texts in reading comprehension component
will vary between 450-900 words.
• Roughly 80% of items will be written to DOK 2 or higher
LITERACY TEST PARAMETERS
• The reading and writing standards will also be
measured in the GED Social Studies Test.
• The reading standards will be measured in the GED
Science Test.
MATHEMATICS TEST PARAMETERS
• Intended to measure mastery of fundamentals
• Will include “modeling tasks” that require test-takers
to apply mathematics in a real-life context.
• 45% quantitative problem solving
• 55% algebraic problem solving
• Includes items that test procedural skill & fluency as
well as problem solving.
• Problem solving tasks will be taken from both academic
and workforce contexts.
• 80% of items will be written to a DOK 2 or higher.
• Statistics and data interpretation standards will also
be measured in Social Studies and Science Tests.
MATHEMATICS TEST PARAMETERS
• Candidates will be provided with a virtual, online
calculator to use on a portion of the items on the
GED Mathematics test.
• A Mathematics Formula Sheet containing basic,
essential information for answering items on the
Mathematics test will be made available to testtakers during the entire Mathematics test.
SCIENCE TEST PARAMETERS
• Assessment targets are divided into two sections:
• Science practices: the skills necessary for reasoning in a
scientific context;
• Content topics: the body of knowledge typical of what is
taught in American high schools.
• Each science practice corresponds with the CCSS
for Literacy in Science & Technical Subjects and
mathematics and practices from A Framework for
K-12 Science Education
• Content topics drawn from three domains:
• 40% life science
• 40% physical science
• 20% Earth and space science
SCIENCE TEST PARAMETERS
• Will include items that test textual analysis and
understanding, data representation, inference skills
and problem solving with science content.
• Approximately 80% will be written to a DOK level 2
or higher.
• The contexts within which problem solving skills are
measured will be taken from both academic and
workforce contexts.
• Approximately 50% of the items will be presented in
item scenarios, in which a single stimulus (textual,
graphical, etc.) serves to inform two or three items.
The rest will be discrete.
SOCIAL STUDIES TEST PARAMETERS
• Assessment targets are divided into two sections:
• Social studies practices: the skills necessary for reasoning in
a social studies context;
• Content topics: the body of knowledge typical of what is
taught in American high schools and what is useful and
relevant for an adult population.
• Each social studies practice corresponds with the
CCSS and the National Standards for History.
• Focus on four major content domains:
•
•
•
•
50% Civics and government
20% U.S. History
15% Economics
15% Geography & the world
SOCIAL STUDIES TEST PARAMETERS
• Will measure an individual’s ability to read,
understand, analyze and write about topics
relevant to a variety of social science disciplines.
• Individuals will need to demonstrate basic
numeracy and quantitative reasoning skills with
respect to various forms of data representation,
such as charts, graphs, and maps.
• Will feature an extended written response task (ER).
• Approximately 80% of the test items will be written
to DOK level 2 or higher.
• Approximately 50% of the items will be presented in
item scenarios, in which a single stimulus (textual,
graphical, etc.) serves to inform two or three items.
The rest will be discrete stand-alone items.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
• Scrap paper will not be provided.
• Students will use a “dry erase” board to work out problems,
create rough drafts.
• There is no longer an essay component to the exam
• Extended Response (ER) items will be used in the Literacy
and Social Studies tests.
• A new Official Practice Test will be released in 2013
• Will also be CBT and will include supplemental information
based on test-taker performance.
• Stay tuned for additional information on:
• Corrections
• Accommodations
• Exam costs
IMPLICATIONS FOR INSTRUCTION
• What are we doing to incorporate use of and
comfort with technology?
• How can our instructors increase emphasis on…
• Critical thinking skills
• Application in all content areas
• What can we do to teach content so learners are
able to demonstrate skills & competencies?
• How must writing instruction change so there is an
emphasis on analysis and the ability to read
critically to identify and draw on evidence in source
material?
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
• GEDTS Assessment Guides and Webinars:
• http://www.gedtestingservice.com/assessment
• GEDTS Computer Based Test (CBT) Tutorial:
• http://www.gedtestingservice.com/GEDTSTutorial.html
• Common Core State Standards Initiative
• http://www.corestandards.org
• Webb’s Depth of Knowledge Guide
• http://www.aps.edu/rda/documents/resources/Webbs_DOK
_Guide.pdf
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Contact:
Kate Fergus
Curriculum & Training Specialist
C/SE ABLE Resource Center
Ohio University
Athens, Ohio
fergus@ohio.edu
(800) 753-1519