Links to GED Research, Information, and
Instructional Resources
 

Publishers

Links to publishers of GED preparation and study materials for adults
This list is for information only; no endorsement or recommendation is intended or implied.

• Contemporary/ McGraw-Hill
• Kentucky Educational Television (KET)
• New Readers Press
• Steck-Vaughn
• Official GED Practice Tests

Research

• Acceptance of General Educational Development (GED) in Hiring Policies of Denver Area Employers
  Carson, Betty W. GED Research Brief No. 11 (ED291891), 1986. 
• Colorado GED Study: How Colorado Graduates Benefit From Passing the GED Tests (PDF)
  Based on a survey conducted by the Colorado Literacy Research Initiative in 1996, this study profiles the benefits of passing the GED Tests to graduates and their families and explores two key issues: why these individuals left school before graduating, and what motivated them to prepare for and take the GED Tests. 
• Colorado Sets National Standard for Success, 1990-2000 (PDF)
  Volume 5, Number 2, April 28, 2001 issue of LitScan.
• The Devil is in the Details: Evidence from the GED on the Role of Examination System Details in Determining Who Passes (PDF)
  National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy, NCSALL Report no. 16, April 2000.
• Dropouts Immediately Pursuing a GED: Their Institutions' Characteristics, Self-Reported Reasons for Dropping Out, and Presence of High-Stakes Exit Exams (PDF)
  GEDTS, 2006.
• The Economic Benefits of the GED: a Research Synthesis  (PDF)
  National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy, NCSALL Research Brief.
  As more states use test results as a determinant for high school graduation, many analysts predict higher dropout rates and the growth of the GED as an important educational credential. But does a GED provide economic benefits to a high school dropout?
• Educational and Labor Market Performance of GED Recipients (PDF)
  A research synthesis from the U.S. Dept. of Education, National Library of Education, 1998.
• Educational Attainment of High School Dropouts 8 Years Later (PDF)
  An Issue Brief from the National Center for Education Research (NCES), November 2004.
• Examinee and High School Senior Performance on GED Tests (PDF)
  GEDTS. 2007
  By comparing graduating high school seniors and GED Tests examinees, this report provides evidence of the academic value of the GED Tests credential.
• Focus on Basics: GED
  Volume 2, Issue B, June 1998
  GED theme issue of Focus on Basics.
• The GED and Beyond (PDF)
  National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy, Focus on Policy, April, 2003
• GED Diploma a Stepping Stone to Higher Education, Health, Prosperity and Happiness (PDF)
  Volume 1, Number 2, February 11, 1997 issue of LitScan
• GED Graduates Equal High School Graduates in Entrance Test Scores and College GPA's--But Stop Short of Bachelor's Degrees (PDF)
  Volume 1, Number 1, February 10, 1997 issue of LitScan
• GED Testing in Colorado: 1993-2004  (PDF)
  Graphs of recent statistics about GED test takers.
• GED Testing Program Statistical Report, 2010 (PDF)
• GED Testing Service Research Studies 
• GEDs for Teenagers: Are There Unintended  Consequences?
  Urban Institute, 1999
  This paper uses data by age, state, and year from 1989 to 1997 to analyze whether the GED program encourages youth to leave high school.
• General Academic Achievement of Adult High School Dropouts (PDF)
  GEDTS, 2002
  Although the majority of GED candidates take the GED Tests within two years of leaving school, this study highlights the profile and performance of candidates who for a variety of reasons waited anywhere from 24 to 54 years to attempt to obtain the GED.
• How Colorado Dropouts Who Return to School and Pass the GED Tests Increase Tax Revenues (PDF)
  Volume 2, Number 4, July 13, 1998 issue of LitScan.
• If at First You Don't Succeed... (PDF)
  Volume 5, Number 3, October 10, 2001 issue of LitScan.
• Is the GED a Valuable Credential?
  ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education, Myths and Realities No. 10 (2000)
• The Literacy of U.S. Adults With GED Credentials (PDF)
  GEDTS, 2007
  Using data from the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) and the 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS), this study, The Literacy of U.S. Adults with GED Credentials provides evidence of the validity of the GED credential as an indication of achieving the literacy skills and knowledge equivalent to those skills and knowledge demonstrated by adults with high school diplomas and aids many adult education programs in evaluating their effectiveness through adult learners’ performance on the GED Tests.
• A Productive Partnership
  Response to a study that raised questions about the value of the GED credential.
• Research on the Economic Impact of the GED Diploma
  Webcast of a panel discussion moderated by David Rosen. 
• Results From a New Approach to Studying the Economic Benefits of the GED
  Researchers at Harvard Graduate School of Education took a unique approach to looking at the question, "Does acquiring the GED increase the earnings of dropouts?"
• ‘Second-Chance’ Strategies for Female School Dropouts
  This study looked at women's income ten years after dropping out of high school and found that women who obtained a GED in the 3rd year after dropping out of high school had incomes that were 25 percent higher than those who did not pursue further education. Those women who both obtained a GED and attended a year of job training or college had incomes that were nearly 50 percent higher.
• So You Want a GED?: Estimating the Impact of the GED on the Earnings of Dropouts Who Seek the Credential (PDF)
  National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy, NCSALL Research Brief
  For high school dropouts, earning a GED leads to faster earnings growth, according to this study of GED and employment data from the state of Florida.
• What Do We Know About the Economic Benefits of the GED? A Synthesis of the Evidence from Recent Research (PDF)
  John H. Tyler, Brown University and National Bureau of Economic Research, Aug. 2001
  Synthesizes research on the economic impact of the GED credential.
• Who Benefits from Obtaining a GED? Evidence from High School and Beyond
  Examines the value of the GED credential and the conventional high school diploma in explaining the earnings of 27-year-old males in the early 1990s.

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GED Information

• American Council on Education, GED Testing Service
  Official site of the GED Testing Service.
• Informacion en Espaņol
  Spanish language web site all about GED preparation in the U.S.
• The GED and Students with LD and/or ADHD
  By Kathleen Ross-Kidder, Learning Disabilities Online.
• GED 2002 Online Professional Development
  Designed to help teachers make the transition to the new test and to provide new teachers with an orientation to the GED tests. Includes four training modules: Orientation, Math, Writing, and Critical Thinking.

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For Teachers

• Beyond the GED: Making Conscious Choices About the GED and Your Future. Lesson Plans and Materials for the GED Classroom (PDF)
  National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy, 2000; updated 2006
  This guide is meant for instructors to use in GED classrooms. In addition to providing learners with the opportunity to practice using graphs, reading charts, and writing, learners will analyze research findings on the economic impact of the GED. It serves the dual role of providing a lesson plan on the topic while serving as professional development for the instructor.   See also Using Beyond the GED: NCSALL Seminar Guide (PDF)
• Florida GED Plus College Preparation Program Curriculum and Resource Guide (Rev. 2006) (PDF)
  The Florida GED PLUS College Preparation Program is designed to assist students to complete the GED program with the knowledge and skills necessary to reduce or eliminate their need for remedial or developmental classes when they continue their pursuit of education and employment.
• GED 2002 Teachers' Handbook of Lesson Plans
  From the Texas Center for the Advancement of Literacy & Learning.
• GED 2002 Teachers' Lesson Bank
  Produced by the Florida GED 2002 Project.
• GED as Project: Pathways to Passing the GED
  An inquiry-based approach to preparing students to pass the GED test from the Virginia Workforce Network.
• GED Lesson Plans
  Downloadable individual lesson plans from the Pennsylvania Dept. of Education, Bureau of Adult Basic and Literacy Education.
• GED Preparation Resources on the Web
  From the Maryland Adult Literacy Resource Center: links to resources for teachers in all test subjects.
• GED Quick Guide for the Classroom
  Northwest LINCS' Web page with links for instructors and students to access GED resources for use in the classroom.
• GEDTS Statistical Study: Language Arts, Writing Test (PDF)
  Identifies the specific language arts areas that gave GED students the most difficulty, and assesses the types of problems noted in the essay portion of the test. Using this data, more appropriate classroom strategies can be selected to assist students in becoming better writers.
• GEDTS Statistical Study: Mathematics (PDF)
  According to the GEDTS statistical analysis, the themes of the questions most missed on the 2002 series Mathematics Test are Geometry, Calculation, and Tables and Graphs.   This Technical Assistance Paper from Florida Atlantic University's GED Plus College Preparation Program provides the classroom teacher with specific areas of concern and the types of questions with which students have difficulty.
• Harnessing Technology to Serve Adult Literacy (GED)
  Includes links to online GED instruction and resources, help in teaching students about writing essays in English, and teaching GED and pre-GED students active listening and reading.
• Intensive GED Preparation Program
  Women Employed, 2002. The Intensive GED Preparation Program assists educators in reducing the amount of time necessary to prepare students for the GED by focusing on essential GED skills. The complete program package contains courses that correspond to specific GED test sections. Each course contains a list of expected competencies and detailed lessons for teaching each competency.
• PreGED/GED Links
  A compilation of links to online resources related to the subject areas of the GED, from the U. of Tennessee Center for Literacy Studies and the Tennessee Dept. of Labor and Workforce, Office of Adult Education.
• Putting GED Students on the Fast Track (PDF)
  All Write News, Adult Literacy Resource Institute, Boston, Jan./Feb. 2003
• Study Guide for Educators Providing GED Preparation (PDF)
  This collaborative effort of the U. of Kansas Center for Research on Learning/Division of Adult Studies and the Washington Research Institute; funded by the U.S. Dept. of Education, Office of Special Education Services is a step-by-step guide to evaluating and improving services to adults with LD and other disabilities. Areas covered are pre-enrollment, orientation, assessment, instruction, test-taking, and transition from your program.

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For Learners

• Daniels Fund Opportunity Scholarships
  The Daniels Fund Opportunity Scholarship program seeks to get scholarship funding into the hands of non-traditional students such as adults pursuing education later in life, GED recipients, transfer students, young people from the foster care system, and students exiting juvenile justice programs. More info...
• Directory of Adult Basic Education programs in Colorado
• Free-Ed.net's GED Preparation
  Free-Ed is provides an online, virtual university where users from around the world can study, take courses, and participate in community activities at no cost.
• GED Connection
  PBS LiteracyLink's GED Connection is a stand-alone multimedia learning system that helps adult learners advance toward their GED and improve skills needed at the workplace. Combining video programs, print, and online computer technology, GED Connection helps learners develop strategies and practice for success on the GED 2002 exam and beyond.
• GED Illinois Learning Links
  Web-based resources for adult learners.
• GEDOnline
  Learners can take the GED practice tests online, and receive feedback and help from instructors. Includes online study aids and access to a GED chat room.  A fee is charged.
• Kaiser Permanente Diversity Scholarship Program
  Qualified applicants include those having a minimum GED Score of 520.
• Informacion en Espaņol
  Spanish language web site all about GED preparation in the U.S.
• OnLine Training's Online Practice GED Examination
   An online sample practice GED test; sponsored by OnLine Training Institute.  OLT offers online GED courses.  Students must register; the courses are not free.
• Steck-Vaughn GED Practice Online
  Gedpractice.com is a free service provided by Steck-Vaughn to familiarize learners with the types of items found on the actual GED test.

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