GED Testing Service worked with several states in a pilot project focused on reengaging learners and encouraging them to pass their final GED test subject and earn their credentials.

Background/Why We Did the Pilot 

We found that since the 2014 GED test program launched:

  • 141,899 individuals have passed 3 of the 4 required GED tests and never finished the final test
  • 81% of these students need to complete Math
  • 11% of these students need to complete RLA
  •  5% of these students need to complete Social Studies
  •  3% of these students need to complete Science
  • 31% of these students have selected a GED Prep Center

A small working group of 11 state GED Administrators was formed to focus on best practices for “3 of 4” campaigns. As a result, nine participating states conducted targeted campaigns within the past year.

Implementation 

In a recent GED Annual Conference presentation, Kansas, Georgia, Virginia, and Oregon shared how they implemented the campaigns, related outcomes and data, lessons learned, and plans for future outreach.

All 11 states identified their target test takers (learners one test subject from earning a credential) and created state-wide campaigns with high visibility, many including a logo and marketing toolkit. Several states also worked closely with local adult education programs to coordinate email outreach campaigns and additional personal outreach by phone, texts, and mail.

Connections to adult education programs were made for contacted learners, with encouragement to enroll in preparation classes. Eligible learners would have the additional opportunity to take advantage of promotions offering free or discounted practice and official testing (in states where offered).

Outcomes and Data 

  • Alaska contacted 326 students and 20 (6.13%) have credentialed.
  • Arizona emailed 3,038 students, and 38 have credentialed since April.
  • Georgia emailed 6,000 students, and 995 have come in to take at least one test, and 410 have credentialed.
  • Kansas did outreach to 938 students, and 165 (17.6%) have credentialed.
  • Kentucky had a targeted list of 320 students and 15 (4.6%) credentialed. 2,900 people were on their larger list and 63 (2.2%) credentialed.
  • Oregon emailed 3,800 students. 375 chose to opt into their campaign, and 49 have credentialed. An additional 98 credentialed based on email outreach.
  • South Dakota emailed 532 students, and 31 (5.8%) have passed and earned a credential.
  • Texas emailed 11,214 students, and 470 have credentialed in the 3 months since starting the campaign.
  • Virginia did outreach to 3,396 candidates, and 318 have credentialed since February.

How You Can Get Involved 

Educators and adult education programs that want to create similar “3 of 4” campaigns in their state can do the following:

Option 1: Reach out to your state GED Administrator, request that they run a “3 of 4” passers report from GED Analytics. They can run a specific “3 of 4” passers report for your program for as far back as 2017. Option 2: For GED Manager users, you can run reports from the Student Test Activity Page in GED Manager. This data will be a little broader and might require a little more work, but it can generate a target list.

You can view the full presentation with details about the campaigns in Kansas, Georgia, Virginia, and Oregon here: https://ged.com/wp-content/uploads/3-of-4-session-GED-conference-.pdf