2006 GED Testing Program Statistical Report
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2006 GED Testing Program Statistical Report AMERICAN COUNCIL ON EDUCATION GENERAL EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT TESTING SERVICE The Unifying Voice for Higher Education OF THE AMERICAN COUNCIL ON EDUCATION 2006 GED Testing Program Statistical Report AMERICAN COUNCIL ON EDUCATION GENERAL EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT TESTING SERVICE The Unifying Voice for Higher Education OF THE AMERICAN COUNCIL ON EDUCATION © November 2007 ® American Council on Education ACE and the American Council on Education are registered trademarks of the American Council on Education and may not be used without the express written permission of ACE. GED Testing Service™ One Dupont Circle NW, Suite 250 Washington, DC 20036-1163 (202) 939-9490 Fax: (202) 659-8875 www.gedtest.org GED is a registered trademark of the American Council on Education and may not be used without the express written permission of ACE. The 2006 GED® Testing Program Statistical Report is a publication of the General Educational Development Testing Service, a national program of the American Council on Education. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Additional copies of this publication are available for purchase online at www.acenet.edu/bookstore for $25.00 per copy, plus shipping and handling. Copies may also be purchased by contacting: ACE Fulfillment Service Department 191 Washington, DC 20055-0191 Phone: (301) 632-6757 Fax: (301) 843-0159 When ordering, please specify Item #250706. Table of Contents LETTER FROM THE AC E P R E S I D E N T ........................................ IV LETTER FROM THE G ED T ESTIN G S ERVI C E E XE C U T I V E D IRE C TOR ....................... V A C KNOW L ED G MENTS .................................................. VII E XE C U T I V E S UMM A RY ................................................. IX I NTRODU C TION ...................................................... 1 About the Data .................................................................................. 1 About the 2002 Series GED Tests .................................................................... 3 S E C T I O N I : W H O L ac K S A H I G H Sc HOO L D I pl OM A A N D W H O T O O K T H E G ED T ESTS? .......... 5 Who Lacks a High School Diploma? .................................................................. 5 Who Took the GED Tests? ......................................................................... 7 GED Candidate Demographics ..................................................................... 10 Candidate Performance on the GED Tests ............................................................ 12 S E C T I O N II : W H O P A S S E D T H E G ED T ESTS? ................................... 1 3 GED Passer Demographics ........................................................................ 15 Passer Performance on the GED Tests ............................................................... 17 S E C T I O N III : T RENDS IN THE G ED T ESTIN G P R O G R A M ............................ 1 9 Foreign-Language Versions ........................................................................ 19 Audiocassette, Braille, and Large-Print Editions ........................................................ 20 Other Trends ................................................................................... 20 S E C T I O N IV : ABOUT THE G ED T ESTIN G P R O G R A M ............................... 2 3 GEDTS Vision .................................................................................. 23 GEDTS Mission ................................................................................. 23 GEDTS Values .................................................................................. 23 Partnership .................................................................................... 23 History of the GED Tests .......................................................................... 24 GEDTS Staff ................................................................................... 24 GED Administrators .............................................................................. 25 GEDTS Advisory Committee ....................................................................... 30 ACE Board of Directors ........................................................................... 32 GEDTS Publications ............................................................................. 33 A pp ENDI C ES Appendix A: GED Testing Program Policies, by Jurisdiction: 2006 ........................................ 34 Appendix B: Percentage of GED Candidates, by Age Group and Average Age: 2006 ......................... 38 Appendix C: Percentage of GED Candidates, by Gender: 2006 .......................................... 40 Appendix D: Percentage of GED Candidates, by Race/Ethnicity: 2006 ..................................... 42 Appendix E: Percentage of GED Candidates, by Highest Grade Completed, and Mean and Mode Highest Grade Completed: 2006 ............................................................... 44 Appendix F: Percentage of GED Candidates, by Years Out of School and Average Years Out: 2006 ............. 46 Appendix G1: Percentage of Candidates Reporting Various Reasons for Taking the GED Tests in the United States: 2006 .................................................................. 48 Appendix G2: Percentage of Candidates Reporting Various Reasons for Taking the GED Tests in Insular Areas and Federal and Other Contracts: 2006 ...................................................... 50 Appendix H1: Standard Score Statistics for All GED Candidates in Language Arts, Writing; Social Studies; and Language Arts, Reading Tests: 2006 ..................................................... 52 Appendix H2: Standard Score Statistics for All GED Candidates in Science and Mathematics Tests: 2006 ......... 54 Appendix I: GED Candidate Participation, by Number Tested, Percentage Who Completed Battery of Tests, and Percentage Who Passed: Changes from 2005 to 2006 ....................................... 56 Appendix J: Percentage of GED Passers, by Age Group and Average Age: 2006 ............................ 58 Appendix K: Percentage of GED Passers, by Gender: 2006 ............................................. 60 Appendix L: Percentage of GED Passers, by Race/Ethnicity: 2006 ........................................ 62 Appendix M: Percentage of GED Passers, by Highest Grade Completed, and Mean and Mode Highest Grade Completed: 2006 ............................................................... 64 Appendix N: Percentage of GED Passers, by Years Out of School and Average Years Out: 2006 ................ 66 Appendix O1: Percentage of Passers Reporting Various Reasons for Taking the GED Tests in the United States: 2006 .................................................................. 68 Appendix O2: Percentage of Passers Reporting Various Reasons for Taking the GED Tests in Insular Areas and Federal and Other Contracts: 2006 ...................................................... 70 Appendix P1: Standard Score Statistics for All GED Passers in Language Arts, Writing; Social Studies; and Language Arts, Reading Tests: 2006 ..................................................... 72 Appendix P2: Standard Score Statistics for All GED Passers in Science Test, Mathematics Test, and Test Battery: 2006 ................................................................... 74 Appendix Q: Number of GED Candidates Tested, by Language: 2006 ..................................... 76 Appendix R: Number of GED Candidates Tested, by Special Edition of the GED Tests: 2006 ................... 78 Appendix S: Trends in GED Testing, All Candidates: 1949–2006 ......................................... 80 Appendix T: Selected Statistics on GED Candidates, by Jurisdictional Group: 2002–2006 ..................... 82 Appendix U: Number of GED Credentials Issued, by Series Tests (1943–2001) and Number of GED Passers, by 2002 Series GED Tests (2002–2006) ................................................... 84 Appendix V: Selected Statistics on GED Passers, by Jurisdictional Group: 2002–2006 ........................ 86 Appendix W: Formulas for Table Statistics ........................................................... 88 L I S T O F Ta B L E S A N D F I G URES L I S T O F Ta B L ES Table 1: GED Tests Average Standard Score and Estimated National Class Rank of Graduating U.S. High School Seniors: 2001 ............................................................. 4 Table 2: Target Population and GED Candidates Who Tested, Completed, and Passed: 2006 ................... 8 L I S T O F F I G URES Figure 1: Percentage of U.S. Adults Without a High School Diploma, by State ................................ 5 Figure 2: Percentage of U.S. Adults in Key Demographic Groups Without a High School Diploma. 6 Figure 3: Percentage of U.S. and Canadian Adults Without a High School Diploma Who Took the GED Tests, by State or Province/Territory: 2006 ......................................................... 7 Figure 4: Standard Score Distributions for All Candidates in the GED Testing Program, by Content Area Test: 2006 ................................................................. 12 Figure 5: Percentage of Adults Without a High School Diploma Who Passed the GED Tests, by State: 2006 ....... 13 Figure 6: Pass Rates on the GED Tests, by