WASHINGTON

      In response to concerns that GED passers still lacked basic skills, the American Council on Education in 2002 issued a new General Educational Equivalent test series designed to be more rigorous in certain sections. A recent ACE report titled, “Who Passed the GED? GED 2004 Statistical Report,” details the characteristics and performance of GED test-takers in North America, the Caribbean and the South Pacific.

      In 2002, the year the more rigorous GED test series was introduced, the number of test-takers and test-passers dipped drastically — around 50 percent — from the previous year. Lyn Schaefer, director of test development for the GED Testing Service, says this drastic decline is due to a number of factors.

      “When we went to the 2002 series, we reflected what the high schools were doing at that point in time … we now permit calculator use on one-half of our mathematics test. Prior to 2002, we needed to have the questions somewhat less complex so that they didn’t need a calculator.”

      Schaefer added that the writing and reading portions of the GED were made significantly more rigorous in the 2002 series.

      “We heard from the field that candidates couldn’t write, so we addressed that by putting the teeth in the writing test. … The standard is higher than it was prior to 2002, it perhaps is more intimidating to the candidates at this point,” she says, acknowledging the steep drop in GED test-takers.

      Dr. Stephen J. Ruffini, director of research and program evaluation for the GED Testing Service, says the drop is also due to automation in GED scoring and registration introduced in 2002, and the closing of numerous testing jurisdictions in January and February of that year. Also, test-takers that tested multiple times in multiple states were counted each time prior to 2002. That duplication was eliminated with the new test.