Pass Rates for Math Section on GED and HiSET

Submitted by Nina Gonzales on Mon, 01/04/2016 - 13:42
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Hi, I am wondering what others are seeing for pass rates on the Math section of GED versus HiSET? Our students seem to be passing all sections but the math, which they often miss by a few points. Are others seeing this as well? 

 

Thanks! 

Comments

Which test do your students take?  Do they have the choice to take either test?  I was looking for data on the GED for 2014 pass rates and didn't see anything on their website.  I hope others will chime in - this would be an interesting discussion.

Brooke

Pennsylvania exclusively uses the GED, so I cannot speak to the HSET.  The GED math is a rigorous test that includes bits of trig and calculus.  The majority of our students are taking the GED in order to get find employment.  They are not college bound.  For those that are seeking further education, the GED is appropriate. For those seeking employment,  the math section is inappropriate, and I would guess many high school seniors may have difficulty passing it.

There should be a choice of tests in each state.  The GED math is definitely challenging, and it is the one section our students have difficulty passing.  We also have problems with the Practice Exam scores matching the GED scores.  Practice scores are much higher giving the students false hope.   Has anyone else encountered that problem? 

Good Morning Everyone!

My school exclusively uses the GED test for HSE. After a rough start, we have had 3 people earn their GED this year, all of them by passing the math exam. This change occurred after a year of having student get a 148 or 149. All I can think of at the moment is that students started paying attention to the little mistakes. I know that we change the pace and the units of what was covered for the math exam. I also know that we used and still use a lot of different websites and supplemental materials. 

We use the GED Academy, MyFoundationsLab (both the regular and GED courses), as well as the Steck-Vaughn books (both the student version and the workbook version). Then during direct instruction, there are more supplemental materials given as needed. We have a couple more students scheduled to take the math exam this month and then from there I can begin to have enough data points to narrow down what the actual trigger is. 

I hope that this was a helpful start and feel free to reach out if you have any more questions for me. 

 

-A. Prince

Like the others, I have no comparison data, but I do have an observation on the TASC test, the most popular of the 3 here in New Jersey,  Many students fail math on the first try, but then pass it after a period of intense concentration on the subject.  Generally they need to put in a lot of time outside of class, but I just had 3 women pass who did exactly this. An historical note is that this often happened in the old GED.