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The General Education Development (GED) Tests serve only one purpose - to certify a
high school level of academic knowledge and skills. The GED Tests certify these competencies, no matter where or in
what manner the individual learned them.
Every U.S. state and Canadian jurisdiction recognizes that passing the
GED Tests demonstrates the knowledge and faith of a high school graduate.
PLEASE NOTE
Persons seeking to meet the Iowa High School Equivalency Diploma requirements should be aware of companies that claim to offer the Test of General Educational Development (GED) over the Internet or through correspondence courses. There are NO on-line or correspondence testing programs recognized by the General Educational Development Testing Service (GEDTS) of the American Council of Education (ACE). Persons can ONLY take the Official GED Test Battery at an approved Iowa GED test center. The only way to receive an Iowa High School Equivalency Diploma is to successfully pass the Official GED Test Battery by Iowa state standards. The current Iowa state standard is to achieve a minimum standard score of 410 on each of the five Official GED Test Battery subtests and an overall standard score average of 450.
Please contact the Iowa Department of Education at 515.281.7308 for further information.
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About GED Tests
The
GED Tests are rigorous. GED candidates' performance must meet or
surpass the performance of 40 percent of traditional graduating high
school seniors.
The GED Tests provide adults the opportunity to certify their attainment of high school-level knowledge
and skills. In 2004, more than 700,000 adults worldwide took some
portion of the GED Tests. Of that total 600,000 of the completers
(approximately 70%) pass the GED Tests and earned their jurisdiction's
high school diploma.
The GED Tests are demanding. To earn a credential, a candidate must complete a battery of five tests covering math,
science, reading, writing and social studies.
The five tests, which last for 7½ hours, also measure skills in
communication, information processing, problem solving, and critical thinking.
What does earning a GED mean?
The
GED Tests provide a uniform measure of high school achievement.
Passing the tests means the same thing in every state in the United
States, throughout Canada, and around the world.
The
2002 Series GED Tests reflect current high school curriculum standards while
including content relevant to the workplace and community. The series is the fourth edition in the
60-year history of the program. The
2002 Series GED Tests reflect the standards developed at the national and
jurisdictional levels and recommended by panels of experts representing the
core academic disciplines of English-language arts, mathematics, science, and
social studies.
The
process of taking the GED Tests is demanding. Candidates must
demonstrate competence in lifelong learning and problem-solving skills
such as:
- Solving
problems and making decisions
- Taking
responsibility for learning
- Learning
through research
- Planning
- Reflecting
and evaluating
How GED Tests are Developed
During the initial four-year design state (1997-2001),
national panels of experts researched and developed the test specifications, a
score scale, and passing score for the 2002 Series GED Tests. Each year thereafter, the GED Testing
Service initiates a three-year process to develop three equated forms of the
tests, which involve international committees of professional educators,
subject matter experts, and test specialists in each content area.
Each test question undergoes multiple reviews by internal
and external content and psychometric specialists. Test questions included on the GED Tests are reviewed for
fairness using both judgmental and statistical procedures. Further, each question is screened through
the use of trained GEDTS staff, through sensitivity review by panels of outside
experts, and through differential item functioning (DIF) statistical
analysis. Only questions that show
evidence of meeting both content and statistical requirements that match the content specifications, have passed
fairness and DIF reviews, and possess appropriate values for discrimination and
difficulty are included on the GED Tests forms. This ensures that the tests are as free as possible from material
that might be advantageous or disadvantageous to particular groups of
individuals, and that each question truly measures the candidates knowledge
and skills.
Further, these questions are pre-tested on high school
seniors before becoming a part of final test forms. These final forms are then administered to a national stratified
random sample of graduating high school seniors to set passing standards. Individual states, provinces, and
territories may set a passing standard higher, but not lower, than the passing
score established by the GED Testing Service. The GED Testing Service follows the Standards for Educational and
Psychological Testing established by the American Psychological Association,
the American Educational Research Association, and the National Council on
Measurement in Education (1999).
Forms
The forms listed below may be filled in on-line, but must be printed and submitted with an authorized signature.
 GED Verification Letter Request Form
Request for Duplicate GED Diploma
GED Transcript Release Request
Reports
2006 GED Statistical Report
Iowa GED Statistical Report - 2006
Iowa GED Statistical Report - 2005
Iowa GED Statistical Report - 2004
GED Testing Center Locator
For information on
finding a GED Testing Center close to where you
live, please use this link.
http://www.acenet.edu/resources/GED/center_locator.cfm
GED Contacts
For GED verification and information, please contact:
Sandra Jones, GED Records
Specialist
Bureau of Community Colleges & Career and Technical Education
Division of Community
Colleges & Workforce Preparation
Iowa Department of Education
Grimes State Office Building
Des Moines, Iowa 50319-0146
Phone: 515.281.7308
Fax: 515.281.6544
sandy.jones@iowa.gov
Helene Grossman, State GED Administrator
Bureau of Community Colleges & Career and Technical Education
Division of Community
Colleges & Workforce Preparation
Iowa Department of Education
Grimes State Office Building
Des Moines, Iowa 50319-0146
Phone:
515.281.3640
Fax: 515.281.6544
helene.grossman@iowa.gov
GED Links
http://www.readiowa.org/GEDrecords.html
http://www.readiowa.org/GEDexaminers.html
For information on GED testing nationally, use the
following link:
http://www.acenet.edu/AM/Template.cfm?Section=GEDTS
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Community Colleges & Workforce Preparation 
