On September 1, the price of the Online Proctored (OP) GED test subjects will increase by $6 in most states.

You can check here to see the current price. The price for in-person testing, which 75% of students continue to choose, will not change.

Based on data, testing patterns, testing performance, and feedback from students, we have recommended that states move from offering OP as a pilot to a long-term testing option for learners. This transition has been approved in most states with a few states still in the final stages of the approval process. The OP test will remain only available through participating U.S. jurisdictions and U.S. territories.

In a recent national survey with previous OP test takers, almost 3 in 4 students would choose OP vs. in-person testing in the future if given the option. Additionally, 84% said that they would recommend the OP test to a friend. Students have found many benefits to taking an OP test such as the availability of test appointment days and times, the convenience of testing from home, and reduced anxiety and stress in testing from home.

However, we understand that the OP testing option isn’t right for every student. While the OP test option is convenient for students, it required the use of advanced technology and processes that are new, different and complex compared to in-person testing. These advances (e.g. artificial intelligence, test security, etc.) have also resulted in additional work and costs. To date, we have kept the OP test price the same as in-person testing to make communications simpler, to allow us time to determine the cost of the OP delivery option and ascertain the future of this new testing delivery mode.

Students who are scheduled to take an OP test before September 1 will pay the current OP price. For example, if on August 30 a student schedules to take their test on October 1, they will pay the current OP price. If they schedule a test on September 1, they will pay the new OP test price.

Vouchers

Vouchers you have already purchased will also continue to be valid for use with OP test through December 1, 2021. These vouchers will cover 100% of the cost for OP or in-person testing if used before December 1. OP test takers will still be required to earn a “Green” GED Ready score before they are allowed to schedule an OP exam.

Accommodations

We’ve also added an OP testing accommodation for eligible students. The reader/recorder will be available as an OP testing option in September for approved students. More information about accommodations is available here.

To learn more about the Online Proctored GED test or schedule a test, visit our site: ged.com/take-the-ged-test-online/

We are making updates to simplify the GED.com account sign-up process for students.

Beginning this month, students will notice changes when they set up a GED.com account. Our goal is to make it easier for students to create their GED account, especially since we’ve heard feedback from both students and educators that it’s currently a lengthy process. During account creation, we will ask for the most relevant information that we need from the student. Students can answer additional questions once they are further along in their GED journey. These questions help us learn more about the students and how we can help them earn their credential.

The Accommodations question will be moving out of account set-up this month. Instead, students will see a notification after creating their account that asks if they need a testing accommodation.

Since the launch of the GEDWorks program in 2015, over 4,400 graduates have earned their credentials at no cost with the support of their employers.

The program has grown to reflect a wide range of employers and health plan providers spanning the U.S., including one of our latest partners, Charter Manufacturing. Charter Manufacturing, a family-owned metals manufacturing and metals-based engineered solutions business, will offer the program to newly-hired employees across its four businesses including Charter Automotive, LLC, Charter Dura-Bar Inc, Charter Steel, and Chart Wire LLC.

Additional companies that currently offer the GEDWorks program to their employees or members include KFC, Sheetz, Total Wine, and UCare. Learners can find if their current or desired employer offers the GEDWorks program through their GED.com accounts.

An overwhelming majority, 71% of GEDWorks participants, are more loyal to their employer because the GEDWorks program is offered. GEDWorks students are also 39% more likely to earn their diplomas than students who are pursuing a GED credential on their own. Throughout the program, students receive online GED study materials in English and Spanish, practice tests, access to a personal advisor, connections to local adult education programs and free GED tests.

We expect additional health plan providers, non-profit organizations, and companies to join the ranks and offer the GEDWorks program as more employers commit to helping their workers pursue their professional, academic, and personal goals.

Additional information about the GEDWorks program and GEDWorks success stories are available here.

–Nadia Gonzales, GEDTS Communications

Thank you for being a part of celebrating our GED graduates and their achievements during this year’s GED Grad Week that took place during the week of May 17-21.

Throughout obtaining their credential, this year’s GED graduates overcame many obstacles and persevered throughout the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This annual event is an opportunity to make our GED graduates feel important and congratulated. We also want our GED graduates to discover and acknowledge the community of support for them now and as they pursue their future goals.

Unlike previous years, we celebrated GED graduates on our social media platforms for an entire week instead of just one day on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. This year’s event included videos with congratulatory messages from adult educators, and celebratory messages and stories of triumph from GED graduates. We also interviewed educators and their GED graduates highlighting the important relationship they have during the GED journey. This was our first year asking graduates across the country to share their names to showcase in a special Grad Week graphic.

Our GED Grad Week event drove the most engagements ever and reached 5x more users and twice the number of responses compared to previous years. Our Facebook event page received a total 7,500 views and reached a total of 56,300 users. We also had 40 adult education programs participate throughout the week.

Thank you for helping make this year’s event another success! We look forward to celebrating our graduates again next year.

To learn more about GED graduates and their success stories, visit ged.com/en/grads/. You can also visit the GED Grad Week event page to see all the posts and videos: https://www.facebook.com/events/558433591987055/

Test accommodations are considered on a case-by-case basis and include things such as extra testing time and extra breaks.

The purpose of accommodations is to provide candidates with full access to their test and is not a guarantee of improved performance or test completion. Test accommodations are individualized and considered on a case-by-case basis. All candidates requesting accommodations must provide appropriate documentation.

Disability types include learning and other cognitive disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, psychological and psychiatric disorders, physical disorders and chronic health conditions.

Commonly requested accommodations include extra time (25%, 50%, 100%), extra “stop-the-clock” breaks, a separate room and a reader/recorder.

All accommodations available at test centers are available for online testing except a reader/recorder–we are actively working on a solution.

Students can request accommodations through their GED.com accounts. More information about the application and appeals process is available here: https://ged.com/about_test/accommodations/

You can find commonly asked questions in our Accommodations FAQs: https://ged.com/wp-content/uploads/accommodations_faqs.pdf

If you still have questions, you can email your questions to the GEDTS Accommodations team at accommodations@ged.com

Our first State of the GED event was an opportunity for GED Testing Service to share what we’ve been up to over the past year and what plans we have moving forward as an organization.

During the event, Vicki Greene, Adora Beard, Danielle Wilson, and Kiara Perez, covered updates including the progress GED Testing Service has made in product and resource offerings, our DE&I initiatives and strategies, partnerships, changes to our board and the development of our transformation team.

One significant update is our move to the Workforce Skills division within our parent company, Pearson. This move will allow us to focus on the learner with more options to upskill, reskill and provide opportunities with larger employers. Our focus will continue to be on evolving as a learner-centric organization focused on the overall success of GED students and graduates. This includes connecting them with the training and education opportunities they need to succeed in the workforce.

We also shared that the new GED+ product allows independent study students to access personal advisors in an all-inclusive model similar to GEDWorks.

GED Testing Service’s official statement on diversity, equity, and inclusion is featured on our “About Us” page on GED.com. We’ve also added photos and bios of members of the GED Testing Service team, leadership, and board members.

Our partnership and alliance work continues as discussions are being held to formalize working with two community-based organizations that support GED students in Kansas City, Kansas, and Baltimore, Maryland.

The GED Testing Service Board of Directors welcomed two new members, Phyllis Kelley and Kellie Blair Hardt, in January 2021. The GED Transformation team was created earlier this year to advise GED Testing Service on how to enhance the GED test program and its impact through fairness, equity, and inclusion solutions.

We also shared that our annual conference returns in July 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia.

You can watch the entire event and view the presentation under the “Tuesdays for Teachers” section on our site: https://ged.com/educators_admins/teaching/professional_development/webinars/

As your students advance through their prep and start taking their GED subject tests, we are here to help you understand the GED test performance level descriptors.

This will help you guide students through the skills they need to demonstrate on the GED® test, corresponding with each performance level on the test. These performance level descriptors also apply to scoring on the GED Ready® practice test.

There are four levels:

• Below Passing
• Passing for High School Equivalency
• GED® College Ready
• GED® College Ready + Credit

Each level builds in complexity regarding the extent to which students can understand and work with content in each subject.

For Mathematical Reasoning, the main areas being assessed are:

• Quantitative problem solving with rational numbers
• Quantitative problem solving in measurement
• Algebraic problem solving with expressions and equations
• Algebraic problem solving with graphs and functions

For Reasoning Through Language Arts (RLA), the main areas being assessed are:

• Analyzing and creating text features and techniques
• Analyzing relationships within texts at a limited and/or inconsistent level
• Using evidence to understand, analyze, and create arguments
• Applying knowledge of English language conventions and usage

For Science, the main areas being assessed are:

• Analyzing scientific and technical arguments, evidence, and text-based Information
• Applying scientific processes and procedural concepts
• Reasoning quantitatively and interpreting data in scientific contexts

For Social Studies, the main areas being assessed are:

• Analyzing and creating text features in a social studies context
• Applying social studies concepts to the analysis and construction of arguments
• Reasoning quantitatively and interpreting data in social studies contexts

You can learn more through the detailed descriptions in this comprehensive pdf download and in this chart.

We also have an assessment target comparison table for your reference.

All of these materials are available in English and Spanish. Learn more on our teaching resources page for adult educators.

May is a month of celebration, a fresh start to hard work, and a time to congratulate GED graduates.

We want to recognize the incredible effort and resilience of our GED learners. This past year had more obstacles than any of us could have ever imagined, and yet our graduates persevered while preparing for the next milestones in their lives.

Next week is our official GED Grad Week celebration, but we want to use this month as a time to reflect on the grit and determination of our graduates. They not only had to study during a pandemic, but many were working multiple jobs and caring for children that may have been home. In many situations, financial burdens surrounded their every move.

This class of graduates succeeded while navigating virtual learning, social isolation, and limited in-person test and preparation options, all while experiencing the uncertainty of what was to come. Many of these new graduates are also the first to be credentialed through the Online Proctored GED test. They are a testament to why we created the remote testing option and how it is helping students start and complete their journey despite uncontrollable circumstances.

We all enter this graduation season with more awareness about the world we live in, the shortcomings of opportunities for those from historically marginalized communities, and our duty to make this a better place for all. Despite their background and where they started, all GED graduates should know that they have a bright future ahead of them and have educators, colleagues, friends, and family members who are rooting for their success every step of the way. We are all committed to being advocates for GED graduates and their dreams.

Educators, we could not do this without you. I want to thank you for how you have been a part of your learners’ journeys. Your support and dedication have not gone unnoticed. These times have introduced so many challenges to how you reach and connect to your learners. This includes, but is not limited to, adopting virtual learning while balancing the demands of your own families and other commitments during a pandemic. You have been a source of confidence for your learners, and your consistency and adaptation are admirable. We know that you have gone above and beyond, and we are grateful for you.

Let each of us connect with and continue to support our graduates in a way we haven’t in the past. Our graduates have made a monumental achievement in a world turned upside down—a milestone worth celebrating and an inspiration to us all. The sky is truly the limit.

Stay well, stay connected, and let’s keep changing the world one learner at a time.

–Vicki Greene, President of GED Testing Service

Graduation season is in full swing, and we’re excited to celebrate the accomplishments of our GED graduates during our weeklong event.

On our social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram), we will be sharing posts from students, graduates, educators, employers, family, and friends to celebrate GED graduates worldwide.

This year we’re asking graduates to share what kept them motivated and pushed them to succeed despite the many challenges presented during the pandemic.

We need your help to make this year’s event a success! Please share your words of encouragement, shoutouts to your grads, and congratulatory messages through videos and posts using the hashtag #GEDGradWeek and tagging @GEDTesting.

We have created a social media toolkit to give you step-by-step instructions on sharing your Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram posts. By tagging us and using the event hashtag, we can see your posts and reshare our accounts. This year we’ve even created GED giphy stickers to add to your Instagram story posts.

You can access the toolkit here: https://ged.com/wp-content/uploads/Grad-Week-Social-Media-Guide.pdf

We also encourage you to join our Facebook event page, where you can join fellow educators and GED graduates worldwide sharing posts all week long.

We’re looking forward to seeing all your posts in celebration of GED graduates!

Engaging your adult learners in advocacy is one of the best ways to garner support for adult education programs.

The COABE Ambassador Training program has helped educators and student leaders become advocates for adult education funding and resources at the local, state, and federal levels. It not only helps garner support for adult education programs, but also provides real world opportunities for learners to practice and apply their skills and knowledge.

The award-winning program was started in Arizona through Pima Community College’s Adult Education program and has since been adopted by COABE to help educators and learners across the country.

The training program consists of four major components that help with skills and knowledge development:

• Awareness–learning statistics and research that support advocacy for adult basic education and high school equivalency credentials.
• Stories–sharing student experiences that highlight the life-changing impact of adult education programs.
• Public speaking–how to best share your story in-person, on social media, or by phone; what to say based on who you are talking to.
• Meeting with officials–how to set up meetings; participating in mock meetings with public officials, how to continue relationships with officials after a meeting.

Students of all education levels are encouraged to sign up to become ambassadors. The program is designed to be flexible and incorporates teacher support throughout the process. Student ambassadors participate in COABE’s Capitol Hill Day events, state and local days on the Hill, and other activities. Many of the students graduate and continue ambassador work, utilizing their leadership skills as they are the best example of how adult education programs change lives for the better.

GED graduate and college student Megan Linzy shared her story:

I attended the Adult Basic Education and Literacy program at Eastern Iowa Community Colleges: West Davenport Center (EICC: WDC). After three years of studying, I graduated with my GED diploma in 2013.

In 2020, the Dean of Adult Basic Education and Literacy at EICC: WDC Scott J. Schneider nominated me to represent Iowa as their Adult Basic Education Ambassador. I attended COABE’s Ambassador Training virtually in June of 2020.

Due to my learning disabilities, I suffer from anxiety that has improved with education, but speaking in public was still a fear that I face even today. The Ambassador program gave me the tools that helped me build my confidence over time.

As Adult Basic Education students, we must speak up if we want to create change in how adults are educated. The COABE Ambassador program is a course where you will learn how the government system works, who your representatives are, and how you can tell your story to help impact changed within your own personal communities and at a federal level.

Since my graduation with my GED in 2013, I enrolled at Eastern Iowa Community Colleges to earn my associate degree in Education in Davenport, Iowa. Today, I am enrolled in online courses at Bellevue University, where I am earning my bachelor’s degree in Adult Education and plan to be completed in 2022. Today I am also employed full-time at the EICC: WDC as an Office Coordinator. I oversee the registration process of our Adult Basic Education students.

Every day, students like Megan share their stories and show how powerful adult education is and the necessity to have funding to keep programs running and available to others.

The COABE Ambassador Training program is currently accepting new ambassadors and being offered in an online format. Please share this information with your students and encourage them to participate. To get involved, email Jessica Wabler at ambassadorcoordinator@coabe.org.

If you’re looking for ways to promote your adult education program or classes, check out our free marketing materials.

GED.com has a dedicated section for Educators and Administrators. Under “Teaching the Test,” you can view Free Classroom Materials, Teaching Resources, Professional Development, and Prep Products.

The “Promote Your Program” section links to printable flyers that you can customize for your program. They are available as pdf downloads in English and Spanish.

You can also visit the GED PrintHub site to order professionally designed brochures, flyers, pamphlets, and more. All materials are free outside of the shipping and handling costs.

We are always looking to update our resources for educators and programs. Let us know what marketing materials you would like to see added to our website in the comment section.

We’ve put together all you need to know to help your students prepare for the Online Proctored GED test.

Over the last year, we have developed resources to help both students and educators prepare for and navigate the online testing process. Students can find information about eligibility, what states are offering the option, how the online GED test works, exam rules, available tools during the test and much more here: https://ged.com/take-the-ged-test-online/

We recommend that students explore this page to find out all they need to know before signing up for the online GED test subjects.

Educators can also find information related to preparing students for the test on our website. We have included webinars that give an overview of the pilot program, policy fact sheets and demos of the full system check, onscreen whiteboard and calculator tutorial. You can find all that information here: https://ged.com/educators_admins/test_admin/

We also have some recent Tuesdays for Teachers webinars that cover teaching strategies and frequently asked questions related to the Online Proctored GED test. The full archive can be found here: https://ged.com/educators_admins/teaching/professional_development/webinars/