Have you tried the new GED Ready online practice tests?

After my co-instructor and I have completed both of the GED Ready math practice tests online (RA & RB), we have many thoughts and questions.  Have others done this yet?  I’ll share a couple of our observations.

Since there were two of us working together, we took lots of notes, etc. while doing the tests.  As we had been told, the tests are much more
challenging than the old PA to PG paper practice tests.  The new tests have a higher math vocabulary and a large percentage of algebra.  It was also very noticeable that several of the questions had extra information in the form of charts, etc. that was not necessary to solve the problem.  I’m concerned that students will need to learn how to sift through the data so that they don’t waste too much time.  Should we teach test taking strategies such as first looking at the question and answer options before they begin working the problem?

After submitting the test and logging back in, we received a single numerical score, but no indication of how many or which questions we missed.  Missing some questions allowed us to receive as part of our scoring the general suggestions of what topics should be studied and correlations with specific chapters of several of the new curriculums. This will be a nice feature for students.

I would love to hear others' experience with the GED Ready tests. 

Comments

I have taken one of the Math practice tests, and I will agree that test-taking strategies are vital to the new test. To me, trial-and-error seemed to be the most effective method in the "drag and drop" questions. Questions that asked "which of the following are correct answers...' were best solved this way. I also liked the fact that the results sheet gave me a score as well as what I needed to work on. I did appreciate the correlations and reference pages to where these objectives could be found in the review material. I desire a cheaper method to determine how my students will perform on the real test. This GED Ready can help them become acclimated to the test before they take it, but the cost per section for practice results merits a cheaper method on our tight budget.   

Kay,

As I read your comments about the new GED®, I was wondering about the standards.  Do you have any observations and comments about the connection to the College and Career Readiness Standards for Adult Education?

Meryl Becker-Prezocki

 

The questions were challenging to the degree of the highest level in the College and Career Readiness Standards. In addition to advanced algebra, the geometry included use of the volume and surface area formulas, some of which gave the volume and asked for the radius or another dimension. We also recognized topics such as functions and statistical models that were not apparent in the old GED. The GED Ready tests will indeed have passing students who are ready for college-level math, but honestly, I am concerned that many students will give up before they reach that level. What do we have to encourage those students?

I took the GED Ready math section once with the other instructors at my program and once on my own. The two tests had no overlapping questions that I could see, but the content was very similar. I agree with Kay's characterization of the test: the students will need to be able to select important information out of some fairly complicated situations. Like the old GED, the math section requires quite a bit of reading skill, especially the skill of skimming through to find the important information. Many of the situations seemed to me like "window dressing"--I didn't actually need to know the story, I just needed to plug these numbers into this equation and solve for x. On the other hand, I noticed that a much deeper understanding of functions was necessary, including fluency with interpreting equations, graphs, and tables and finding slope and intercept from any of these three presentations. Also, not all functions were linear.

One positive note is that they seem to have eliminated "not enough information" as an option. Every question can be answered with the information provided and a knowledge of mathematics.

I'd also like to mention that a fair amount of math will be required on the science test, as well. In fact, most of the statistical analysis that I saw was actually on the science section of the test. (The calculator is available for these questions.) This included comparing averages and choosing an appropriate box-and-whisker plot. Back in November, our teacher group went through the science section twice, and we noticed that some of the questions were the same and some were different the second time around, and the order of the questions was changed. So, rather than set "test forms", there seems to be a bank of questions that the system draws from.

I noticed that the questions requiring percents were almost all in the context of statistics, and nearly all the fractions and percents seemed to be benchmark numbers (1/2, 3/4, 1/8...). I didn't notice much "consumer math," i.e. interest, tip, tax, discount, etc.

I'm curious to hear other people's observations.

Rachel

Thank you, Kay.

I have not yet taken the GED Ready Math test, only the free online practice test. So my question is about the report you received with general suggestions for "topics (that) should be studied and correlations with specific chapters.."  .Can you tell me if the GED Smart Study Guide (GED Academy) was among those resources listed?

Thank you. 

Here are the curricula listed with correlations on our test results. I cut and pasted much of this, so I hope is readable with no special computer character code issues.

Aztec Software 2014 GED® Learning Series---

GED Academy™ Essential Math Skills Workbook---

Fast Forward: Your Study Guide for the GED® Test---

Kaplan Comprehensive Big Book---

My Foundations Lab for GED® Prep---

Steck-Vaughn Test Preparation for the 2014 GED® Test: Mathematical Reasoning Student Edition---

Steck-Vaughn Test Preparation for the 2014 GED® Test: Mathematical Reasoning Student Workbook---

Plato Course - Preparation for the GED®Test---

i-Pathways---

GED 2014 Test Preparation Software by MathMedia Educational Software, Inc.

Thank you Kay!  I teach GED at a community college and at a social services program here in Ohio.  I did try the practice GED math section and barely passed.  (shame on me) My scores on the old GED were in the high 600 - 700, so I do know math.  I've been out of regular high school classroom for a very long time, so functions, and advanced geometry really scare me.  But I will get the books you have mentioned and prep my classes for the new test.  I noticed this test really separates the students into college prep and career/job readyI'm not sure this is equitable since there are many students who are not mathmatically savy, but could do very well in college. . . .

Aztec Software offered us the chance to have some of their pre-tests for free so we have been using this to gauge readiness. It indicates that a student needs to be scoring an 80% or better to be ready for 2014 GED® Exam. It is heavy in functions and complex Geometry.  That matches what I see in the common core standards. There is very little of the more practical problem at the high school level in common core. I have grave concerns about the Adult students over their 20's being successful on the new test or having the time it will take to reach the level of beginning Algebra 2.

Aztec's Free GED® Practice Tests are designed with three purposes:  

  • To familiarize students and teachers with the technology and subject matter found on the 2014 GED®
  • To serve as indicators of student readiness prior to investing in the GED Ready
  • To serve as diagnostics for use with Aztec's GED Preparation Series

Subject Areas and Levels

Aztec Practice Tests have been written for each of the content areas on the GED 2014.  The long form measures student readiness through the College and Career Ready Performance Zones identified by the GED Testing Service. The short form reflects the GED Ready in that it tests only at the GED Level.  At the present time, only the long form is available.  Both forms will be available in the GED Preparation Series.  Additional forms of the tests will be presented regularly.

Scoring

Students will see their scores immediately upon completion of the test.  Study recommendations will also appear based on results.  Only the expanded response portions will not be graded.  Students are encouraged to print their expanded responses and share them with a mentor as well as use the rubric provided for self scoring.

Rigorous Foundations

All items on the tests have been field tested with teachers and students to assure valid and reliable measurement.  Ongoing studies will assure the tests are reliable predictors of GED test readiness.

If anyone has any questions or would like access to free GED practice tests, please feel free to email hsed@aztecsoftware.com and mention LINCS.

I regularly incorporate test taking skills into my math lessons to improve student efficiency.  My students also suffer from test anxiety and when we cover a topic (ie: area and perimeter), we also talk about what types of problems might we see that would use this formula.  It has worked very well for me, and seems to make my students feel more prepared when they face the test.

Leslie

I took the new GED Math section along with two of my colleagues on Friday.  This is a very different test than the old one.  Students will need to possess a much deeper level of Math understanding to pass this test.  The students I am working with at the present time will have a very hard time with this test.  It will take a lot more preparation time in the classroom.  I believe the learners coming in with 3rd to 5th grade level math skills are really going to be challenged by this new test.  I hope they do not get discouraged and give up.  I had some students that were struggling with the other test and did not complete.  They will now be starting over with all four sectrions.

Deb

Hi, I'm new to the site here. I found you by searching desperately online for anything that will help me get past math.

I have already passed the other tests, and only math stands in my way of achieving my GED. I'll be very honest here. 

The math flat out scares me. I'm 44 years old and haven't been a student for 20 plus years. The other 3 tests I confidently

handled with very little studying. Math is the only portion that has discouraged me. the more I try to find study resources, the 

less confident I feel. Could any of you fine teachers give me advice on the best way to approach this test so I can get past this 

obstacle and on my way to better things?