GED® 2014

Most of you have already been following the updates through www.gedtestingservice.com regarding the new 2014 test. As updates and information is released, I will also post links here on this post, so feel free to check back occasionally and see what's new!

Free Practice Tests
GED® Testing Service has released free versions of their practice tests in all subjects. These practice tests are shorter in length than the actual ones (which cost $6.00 per test!) and do not provide any score reports or diagnostics at the end. These are simply meant to give instructors an idea of what the students can expect when they take the official GED Ready^TM practice test.

This page also has links to the computer skills tutorial that you might want to check out.

Item Samplers
This page has links to download the item samplers for each subject area (click on Get It Now in the top, right corner). The item samplers are not meant to take the place of a practice test; they are simply meant to show the full range of item types that you may find on the GED® test. They do not reflect the full range of difficulty of the test, nor do they indicate the actual test distribution of item types.

Scoring Tools for Written Responses on the GED Ready
The Educator Scoring Tool is designed to help instructors better understand how their students' written responses might be scored on the GED® 2014 test. The tool breaks down each trait into dimensions and sub-dimensions to consider when determining the overall score of a response. It also includes charts to help you track your students' responses for the GED Ready^TM  practice exams.

Scoring Tool for RLA
Scoring Tool for Social Studies
Scoring Tool for Science: Ophiocordyceps unilateralis
Scoring Tool for Science: Solubility Experiment Design
Scoring Tool for Science: Wind Power


FAQ
Frequently asked questions regarding the 2014 test.

Tutorials for Students
Direct students to this link in order to watch video tutorials on how to create an account, schedule a test, etc. as well as a computer-based testing tutorial to help them prepare for the test before they sign up.

http://www.gedtestingservice.com/testers/test-on-computer-tutorials


Extra Resources

Math Symbol Chart and Explanation Guide
Calculator Demonstration Video
Short Answer Scoring Guide
Extended Response Resource Guide-RLA  (very lengthy, intended primarily for those teaching RLA)
Extended Response Resource Guide-SS (very lengthy, intended primarily for those teaching SS)
Extended Response Answer Guidelines-RLA
Extended Response Answer Guidelines-SS
Performance Level Descriptors Chart
Information on How to Request Student Accomodations

Update: As of March 1st 2016, the new GED passing score for all 4 tests is 145. This score will be retroactive to January 1st 2014. In addition, the Social Studies extended response has been eliminated and the new time for the test is 75 minutes. If you have any questions, you can visit www.gedtestingservice.com for more information.

Common Core Resources

As many of you know, part of the reason why the GED test is undergoing a massive overhaul is due to the ongoing shift in public schools to Common Core State Standards taking place across the country. In order to keep up with these changes, our GED program is going to have to shift to a more standards-driven instructional approach. I know one of our biggest concerns during this transition is going to be lesson planning and finding the time and resources to revamp our curriculum. Luckily, Beth Bowman has offered up a few websites to help us get a head start on this process.

Share My Lesson Common Core Information Center

Share My Lesson is a platform where teachers can exchange lesson plans and ideas. The SML team has dug through over 250,000 user-uploaded and rated resources to pick out the most relevant ones for teaching with the Comon Core. They have a wonderful index for both math and ELA that maps lessons to specific standards. It's all very easy to navigate and can be a great place to find pre-made PowerPoint presentations, activities, video tutorials, etc. It's just a matter of locating what standard you are teaching and downloading the lessons that you like!

LeanZillion Common Core Lesson Plans

This is another website for you to find quality teacher-produced lesson plans aligned to Common Core. It combines videos, assessments, and progress reporting very similar to the Khan Academy (which we all love!). They offer a very user-friendly Common Core Navigator to make finding materials as efficient as possible.

Click here to view a video on LearnZillion that teaches how to compute quotients of fractions in real-world problems. These videos (unlike Khan Academy) have very colorful and vivid images to pair with the math lessons. You can use these videos to brush up on math topics you haven't spent much time with recently, or you can show them as warm-ups to get your lessons started in class!

Sign-In/Out Hourly Calculator

BIG thanks to Darrell Graham for sharing with us this excellent tool he's created for use in your classroom. It's a calculator that will show you the total number of minutes a student was signed into your class. All  you have to do is enter the time in and the time out. This tool can make our lives a lot easier when we're rushing to finish the attendance at the end of the day!

Click here to view the Sign-In/Out Hourly Calculator. Once the new page loads, you will need to click on the down arrow in the top, left corner to download the Excel file.