2009 GED Testing Program Statistical Report

Abstract

The "2009 GED[R] Testing Program Statistical Report" is the 52nd annual report in the program's 68-year history of providing a second opportunity for adults without a high school credential to earn their jurisdiction's GED credential. The report provides candidate demographic and GED Test performance statistics as well as historical information on the GED testing program. GED Testing Service[R], with the cooperation of jurisdictions that administer the GED Test, is the sole source of worldwide data on the GED testing program and GED Test candidates and receives no federal funds. In 2009, more than 788,000 adults worldwide took some portion of the five GED Test content areas measuring skills of writing, reading, social studies, science, and mathematics. Approximately 684,000 people completed the GED Test. Nearly 473,000 of these completers (69.2 percent) met the passing standard by earning scores equal to or higher than those earned by the top 60 percent of graduating high school seniors. This report is presented in such a way as to facilitate comparisons across jurisdictions on pass rates, candidate demographics, and trends across time, yet the reader is cautioned while making such comparisons. Ultimately, each jurisdiction manages its own GED testing program, is dependent upon the funding it receives, and establishes many testing-program and related policies. Thus, it is important to recognize that variability among jurisdictions may correlate with testing program outcomes such as pass rates. For example, jurisdictions that prescreen candidates by requiring them to pass the Official GED Practice Tests (OPT) generally have higher GED Test pass rates. This report draws attention to situations in which the outcomes may reflect jurisdictional variability. This report contains the following sections: (I) Who Lacks a High School Credential and Who Took the GED Test?; (II) Who Passed the GED Test?; (III) Trends in the GED Testing Program; and (IV) GED Testing Program Information. Twenty five appendices are included. (Contains 3 tables, 13 figures and 27 footnotes.) [Anne Guison-Dowdy, Margaret Becker Patterson, Wei Song, and Jizhi Zhang contributed to the data analyses, authorship, and production of this report.]