UPDATES & IMPLICATIONS FOR INSTRUCTION

GED 2014:

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

Bloom’s TaxonomyWebb’s Depth of

Knowledge

KnowledgeRecall

Comprehension

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 test-takers 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 SpecialistC/SE ABLE Resource Center

Ohio University Athens, Ohio

fergus@ohio.edu (800) 753-1519