Extra time is now being given during the math portion of the new GED, after analysis revealed that changes to the test have been posing a challenge for test takers.
The new GED – a high school equivalency exam – replaces an older version of the exam that had been last updated in 2002. The new version requires test takers to do a lot of reasoning, and the math portion has more algebra in it.
A review of initial results shows test takers were rushing through the end of the math portion. Test givers know this because for the first time, the test was done by computer – no pencil and paper were used. Computer analysis showed how long people were taking to answer each question.
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The private company which administers the test, GED Testing Services, is now allowing 25 more minutes for the math portion. It’s also allowing those who failed that test to retake it at no cost.
“We had some people who didn’t pass and were feeling pretty defeated,” said Beth Lewis, who is with the Department of Instruction and oversees the GED. “What I would want those people who didn’t pass to know is that they helped us change corporate America in terms of the realisticness of that test.”
The new four-part GED combines topics from the older, five-part version. There’s language arts, social science, science and math. The test is designed to prepare people for work or college by giving them higher level math skills and computer literacy.
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