GEDtestingservice.com GED.com The GED ® Program Update PAACE Webinar Brian Smith, State Relationship Manager September

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com Agenda 2014 GED Program The National Landscape Pennsylvania Numbers Pass rates and volume Additional updates 2

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com But before we discuss numbers… Thank you for all of your hard work in 2014! GED Testing Service is grateful for all that you are doing to help adult learners. 3

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com Why the GED ® Program is Different 4

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com Why the GED Test Changed: It’s about the Dream and Opportunity More than 65% of GED ® test takers want more than a high school diploma… They want to be: Firefighters, Nurses, Teachers, EMTs, Certified Nurse Assistants, Dental Hygienist, Computer Programmers, Police Officers, Welders, HVAC Techs, Managers, Business Owners, and more. Jobs that require further education and training 5

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com But…. Less than 12% of GED ® grads earned a credential or certificate after passing The old way of doing things was keeping too many adults from realizing their dreams 6

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com Jobs Evolved Quickly but the GED ® Test and Adult Education Didn’t We heard from employers, colleges and the military that the GED ® test had to change Value of the GED ® credential and number of people taking the test were eroding GED ® grads were competing for too few low-skill jobs while middle-skill jobs remain vacant 7

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com Middle-skill jobs 8

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com The 2014 GED ® Test The only HSE test created from the ground-up, specifically for adult learners, measuring both HSE and CCR Very strongly aligned with PA state standards Measures essential higher-order thinking and reasoning skills needed for success in jobs and career and college training programs Ensures that passers demonstrate the knowledge and skills on par with graduating high school seniors 9

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com Much More Than a Test 10 Prepare Preparation programs Perform New assessment system Progress Support for post- test transitions MyGED ® portal Publisher alignment GED Ready ® with Enhanced Score Report GED Marketplace™ GED Analytics™ Educator/Professional Development Resources MyGED ® portal Publisher alignment GED Ready ® with Enhanced Score Report GED Marketplace™ GED Analytics™ Educator/Professional Development Resources 2014 GED ® test Aligned with CCRS for Adult Education Score report aligned with publisher products Same-day scoring MyGED ® portal GED Analytics™ Educator/ Professional Development Resources 2014 GED ® test Aligned with CCRS for Adult Education Score report aligned with publisher products Same-day scoring MyGED ® portal GED Analytics™ Educator/ Professional Development Resources Enhanced Score Report GED Analytics™ Credentialing with Smart Transcript MyGED ® portal Badging ACE CREDIT ® Transcript Career Pathways Enhanced Score Report GED Analytics™ Credentialing with Smart Transcript MyGED ® portal Badging ACE CREDIT ® Transcript Career Pathways

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com GED ® Testing Program Results A National Look at the first year 11

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com The Big Picture January 1, 2014 – September 28, ,530,824 GED.com accounts 326,588 Test Takers 192,672 Completers 126,635 Passers National Pass Rate: 66% (CBT) Pass rate in 2015: 72% 12

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com National Monthly Volume 13

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com National Pass Rate 14

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com Pennsylvania GED ® Testing Program Results 15

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com PA GED ® Testing Statistics Computer Based Testing Only from Jan. 1, 2014 – September 28, ,741 GED ® Test modules delivered 45,964 GED Ready ® tests delivered 12,739 Test-takers 6,984 Completers 4,677 Graduates 67% CBT passing rate 75% pass rate in

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com PA Pass Rate by Subject in 2015 RLA – 77% Science – 77% Social Studies – 73% Math – 61% 17

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com Volume and Pass Rates An analysis of 2014 and the beginning of

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com 2014 Volume was steeply down across the U.S. –States offering the test completely for free –States not using the GED ® program –States using GED ® plus one or more tests –States using only paper tests 19

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com What a difference a year makes! 20 National volume PA volume

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com Reports from Test Providers 21 Test taker volume year-over-year decrease, based on 2012 data: TASC: 99,196 – 56% Decline in 2014 HISET: 84,869 – 41% Decline in 2014 GED ® : 488,205 – 49% Decline in 2014 * Based on numbers provided/reported in the Wall Street Journal From NCSDAE report

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com Unemployment rates by education level 22 High school dropouts have lowest unemployment rate since 2008

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com For respondents who have been accepted to college, gotten a new job, or enrolled in a certification program, most agree that passing the GED ® test helped them 23 Strongly Agree / Agree 69% 64% 68%

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com Recent Utah GED ® graduates demonstrate higher functioning level vs. prior graduates 24 2nd4th6th 9th 11th12th 87% of GED ® graduates passed at the AHSC level in 2015, and 79% passed at the AHSC level in 2014 compared to 47% with the old GED ® test.

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com Student success drives us all! 25 April ‘14May ‘14 Enrolls in GED ® test prep class Earns GED ® credential June ‘14 Enrolls in welding program Completes program Hired as a welder August ‘14 September ‘14

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com Additional GED Program Updates 26

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com Excitement from employers Launching major employer program They believe the new GED ® program will help them retain employees, prepare more employees for promotion/advancement, and fill open jobs with qualified applicants 27

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com PathSource – a new career pathways resource for GED® students 28

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com What’s the link to the GED® Program? 29 MOTIVATION The GED® credential is a stepping stone; once learners are more informed about their potential careers it will help them motivate and persist GUIDANCE This tool provides the guidance students need on different career options and allows them to explore in more depth OUTCOMES Students will be better equipped for success in the job market, resulting in better mid and long-term outcomes (WIOA) The new PathSource tool is one aspect of our long-term career pathways strategy of linking students to sustainable careers and setting them up for success after they earn their GED® credential.

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com The free PathSource tool is seamlessly integrated into MyGED® After logging into GED.com, students can take a career assessment, watch videos of real people in real jobs, and access career summaries and salary information. 30

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com A career assessment helps students hone in on jobs that excite them 31

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com Students can learn more about jobs from 3,000+ videos of real people in those jobs 32

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com Personalized career matches and favorite videos are saved for easy access 33

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com Additional updates Erasable board policy: Test-takers get a packet of 3 boards when testing 4 GED Ready tests for each subject Embedded calculator now available on GED Ready Publishers being reviewed 34

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com 35 About the CREDIT ® Program

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com CREDIT ® Recommendation Independent review by faculty from across the U.S. Recommend that colleges do the following for GED grads reaching GED with Honors designation: –Bypass placement exam –Bypass developmental education courses Grads will soon be eligible for certificate/transcript ACE and GEDTS communicating with CC systems and leaders over the coming months 36

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com Technical Manual – Now Available 37 On the Research and Policy webpage under “Technical Manuals” As is typical with Technical Manuals, we will be adding and adjusting the manual as the we gather more information and data on how the test and our test- takers/grads are performing.

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com Assessment and Operations Update New Resources for Educators New Reference Sheets for Test-Takers 38

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com New Materials on Educators page 39

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com New Materials on Educators page New Extended Response Quick Tips sheet Updated Extended Response Resource Guides for Educators Passages and prompts for two new GED Ready tests Updated Answer Guidelines for RLA and Social Studies 40

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com Updated Answer Guidelines 41

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com New ER Quick Tips Sheet 42

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com Updated ER Resource Guides for Educators 43

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com New Laminated Boards Two new double-sided boards will include: Board 1 –Side 1: Math Formula Reference Sheet –Side 2: Calculator Reference Sheet Board 2 –Side 1: RLA Extended Response Answer Guidelines –Side 2: SS Extended Response Answer Guidelines Targeting Nov. 1 for shipment to test centers 44

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com Professional Development Update 45

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com Comprehensive Content Offerings Phase I Webinars 1. March April May June 23 Phase II Webinars 5. September October November December 8 46

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com Back to School Promotion 47

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com 48 We will be running a Back to School Fall Promotion in order to incentivize testing, grow test-taker volume, and help boost test-taker confidence From September 21 – October 31, students can take advantage of these two offers: GED Ready® practice test for $1 GED Ready® Practice Test Guarantee – Students who take the GED Ready® practice test and score “Likely to Pass” are guaranteed to pass that test subject of the real test … or their retake is free!

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com 49 How It Works: GED Ready® practice test for $1 Students login to GED.com, purchase a GED Ready practice test, and enter promo code BACKTOSCHOOL at checkout Students must purchase and take the GED Ready practice test by Oct. 31 Any practice test purchased for $1 but not started by Oct. 31 will be refunded $1 Any unused $1 vouchers after Oct. 31 can be applied towards future GED Ready practice test purchase GED Ready® Practice Test Guarantee If a student takes the GED Ready practice test between Sept. 21 – Oct. 31 and scores “Likely to Pass”, then takes the corresponding test subject within 60 day but does not pass, we will pay for 100% of their test retake. Free retake offer must be redeemed within 60 days of taking the GED test subject To schedule the free retake, students call EXAM-GED

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com 50 Educators can find more information about the Back to School promotion, as well as collateral to promote these offers at: Materials include: Customizable flyer template Sample social media posts Media advisory Web ads Note to educators: Please do not distribute these materials to students until the start of the promotion, Sept. 21. The promo code will not work until then.

GEDtestingservice.com GED.com Thank you for being with me today! Brian Smith