How Is the GED Test Graded?
More than 750,000 people took at least some part of the GED test in 2007, according to the American Council on Education, or ACE. The test is used to assess knowledge as compared to a typical U.S. high school education.
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History
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The GED was developed by the American Council on Education after a request from the U.S. armed forces in 1942. The purpose was to give military personnel and veterans who had not graduated from high school before their service in World War II a way of achieving an academic credential that would help them find jobs or go to college. The test became available to people outside the military in 1947, when New York state began offering it as an equivalent to a high school diploma. Today, the GED credential is offered in all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories and Canada.
Format
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The GED test may be taken only at testing centers, not online. It consists of five subject areas: reading, writing, science, math and social studies. Each area comprises 50 multiple choice questions except the reading section, which has 40 questions. The writing component has two parts--multiple choice questions and an essay. As described by ACE, the time allotted to take the entire test is seven hours and five minutes and may be completed in one or more sittings.
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Scoring
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Each subject area of the test is scored by awarding one point for each correct answer. The points for that area are totaled and converted mathematically to a standard score ranging from 200 to 800. A score of 410 is required to pass each subject area. ACE says test takers must get between 60 percent and 65 percent of the questions right in any given section to receive a score of 410. According to ACE, the passing score is determined by giving the test to high school seniors. Those taking the GED must demonstrate the same level of knowledge as 40 percent of graduating high school seniors. The score of all sections combined must total at least 2,250 to pass the GED. Any sections that are not passed may be retaken at a later date.
Percentile Rank and GPA
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Another way the score is presented is as a percentile rank. This number describes how well a test taker's result compares with others who have taken the same test; in this case high school seniors are used for comparison. If a test result shows a percentile rank of 83, this means the test taker performed better than 83 out of 100 high school seniors and is within the top 20 percent of test takers. The test scores cannot be converted to a grade point average because letter grades are not standardized from one school to another. A letter grade of "B" at one school might be equivalent to a "C" at another school or an "A" at a third school.
Essay Score
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The essay is scored on scale of one to four. A score of two is needed to pass and is equivalent to 410 on the standard scale. The essay is graded by two readers who look at five areas: Does the writer address the topic offered? Does she support her position with examples? Does her writing utilize a clear structure? Does the writer follow conventions in grammar and syntax? Is the word use appropriate and varied? According to ACE, if the two readers are more than one point apart in scoring, a chief reader will decide which score best represents how closely the writer adhered to GED conventions.
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References
Resources
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