The General Educational Development (GED) Tests are widely used to certify a high school level of academic knowledge and skills. The popularity and profound influence of the GED Tests have elicited numerous studies on the outcomes of obtaining a GED credential. Most studies on labor market outcomes for GED credential recipients have targeted…

This report builds upon a series of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reports on high school dropout and completion rates that began in 1988. It presents estimates of rates in 2006, provides data about trends in dropout and completion rates over the last 3 decades (1972-006), and examines the characteristics of high school dropouts…

The General Educational Development (GED) testing program is frequently used to earn a high school diploma, since about 14 percent of diplomas issued in this country during 1981 were based on the GED tests. A study was conducted to assess the impact that passing the GED tests has on adults' employment and participation in educational activities.…

We use data from the Texas Schools Microdata Panel (TSMP) to examine the extent to which dropouts use the GED as a route to post-secondary education. The paper develops a model pointing out the potential biases in estimating the effects of taking the "GED path" to postsecondary education. Lacking suitable instruments that would allow us…

This Policy Brief takes a first look at a newly identified national population of GED holders, who are compared with their counterparts who received a high school diploma as well as with their counterparts who have no high school credential. The focus of these comparisons is on long-term postsecondary education outcomes. Because these…

The rise in the enrollment of persons with disabilities in post-secondary institutions has introduced a need for the identification of services and/or pre-entry variables that assist in the elevation of retention rates. There is a growing substantiation that connects support service usage with a successful academic experience. However, there is…

A study examined the attitudes of Pennsylvania employers toward General Educational Development (GED) programs and the employment experiences of persons who have earned a GED certificate. The first of the study's surveys was mailed to 100 employers (including the 50 largest) throughout the state. Based on the surveys returned, the study sample was…

The 2012 edition of the "Digest of Education Statistics" is the 48th in a series of publications initiated in 1962. The "Digest" has been issued annually except for combined editions for the years 1977-78, 1983-84, and 1985-86. Its primary purpose is to provide a compilation of statistical information covering the broad field…

To serve adults with disabilities without a high school diploma, the federal government and states have funded adult education and literacy programs that provide services to accommodate the needs of those adults. In addition, the Tests of General Educational Development (GED Tests) provide adults with disabilities with testing accommodations to…

The 2011 edition of the "Digest of Education Statistics" is the 47th in a series of publications initiated in 1962. The "Digest" has been issued annually except for combined editions for the years 1977-78, 1983-84, and 1985-86. Its primary purpose is to provide a compilation of statistical information covering the broad field…

A study was made of the prose, document, and quantitative literacy skills of adults in the United States by their highest level of educational attainment. In addition, the study examined the literacy skills of recent General Educational Development (GED) graduates. The data used in the study came from the 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey…

This article investigates the extent to which state-mandated high school exit examinations are associated with state-level public high school completion rates in the United States. The authors estimate a series of state and year fixed effects models using a new measure of state-level public high school completion rates and archival information…

This annotated bibliography includes a separate entry for each of 57 research reports written about the General Educational Development (GED) tests. For inclusion, documents were required to meet three criteria. They must: (1) focus on outcomes of GED graduation; (2) present some form of empirical, research-based evidence concerning the outcomes…

Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth--Mother and Children and Washington State Family Income studies showed that secondary dropouts, General Educational Development (GED) recipients, and secondary graduates cannot be distinguished by hours of work. All three groups earned the same in the Washington sample; in the other sample,…

This report contains eight tables describing the use of the General Educational Development Tests (GED) in 1986 as well as comparative trends since 1949. The tables report statistics for the 50 states, U.S. territories, and the provinces of Canada. The tables report the following: (1) testing volumes by jurisdiction; (2) percent tested by age…