GED Information Page
The GED Test is a high school diploma equivalency skills test used to help students who may be lacking in high school credits and/or are looking for an alternative route to entering the work force or a post-secondary training program.
The test costs $150 for all four tests, or $37.50 per subject area test. GED preparation courses in all four (4) subjects can be taken for FREE to anyone at Harrison Center. Any student under 18 years old must obtain a waiver to enter the GED program or take the tests.
GED-to-School Program
Students may be eligible for a voucher that covers the cost of the GED tests through the Michigan Workforce Development Agency program called "GED-to-School". To obtain a voucher, students must take the Official GED Ready Practice Test and receive a score of "Likely to Pass". Next, complete the Participant Information Release of Authorization form and select the subject(s) in which you have completed the GED Ready Practice test. The voucher will be sent to your email.
Sign up for the MyGED Account for additional resources, links, the MyGED Ready Practice Test, and other information about the GED tests.
Click here for a free test question preview.
Free practice test sampler questions can also be located at on the GED Testing Service website. There are 9 sample Social Studies questions that mimic the actual test.
Additional resources can also be located on the Michigan eLibrary's Learning Express Library website. Students can register for a FREE Learning Express Library account which then allows access to a number of skill building tutorials for both basic academic skills and GED test preparation. Click on the High School Equivalency tab for more information.
Additional Practice Websites and Tests
4Tests.com - Choose any or all of the practice tests. There are multiple practice tests for each subject as well.
The test costs $150 for all four tests, or $37.50 per subject area test. GED preparation courses in all four (4) subjects can be taken for FREE to anyone at Harrison Center. Any student under 18 years old must obtain a waiver to enter the GED program or take the tests.
GED-to-School Program
Students may be eligible for a voucher that covers the cost of the GED tests through the Michigan Workforce Development Agency program called "GED-to-School". To obtain a voucher, students must take the Official GED Ready Practice Test and receive a score of "Likely to Pass". Next, complete the Participant Information Release of Authorization form and select the subject(s) in which you have completed the GED Ready Practice test. The voucher will be sent to your email.
Sign up for the MyGED Account for additional resources, links, the MyGED Ready Practice Test, and other information about the GED tests.
Click here for a free test question preview.
Free practice test sampler questions can also be located at on the GED Testing Service website. There are 9 sample Social Studies questions that mimic the actual test.
Additional resources can also be located on the Michigan eLibrary's Learning Express Library website. Students can register for a FREE Learning Express Library account which then allows access to a number of skill building tutorials for both basic academic skills and GED test preparation. Click on the High School Equivalency tab for more information.
Additional Practice Websites and Tests
4Tests.com - Choose any or all of the practice tests. There are multiple practice tests for each subject as well.
The following information is from the GED Testing Service website
The GED® Social Studies Test focuses on the fundamentals of social studies reasoning, striking a balance of deeper conceptual understanding, procedural skill and fluency, and the ability to apply these fundamentals in realistic situations. In order to stay true to this intention, each item on the Social Studies Test is aligned to one social studies practice and one content topic.
The social studies practices can be described as skills that are key to scientific reasoning in both textual and quantitative contexts. The practices come from important skills specified in the Common Core State Standards and other career- and college-readiness standards, as well as in National Standards for History.
The Social Studies Test will also focus on four major content domains:
To measure this content at a range of levels of complexity, several different item types are used in the test, including: multiple choice, drag-and-drop, hot spot, and fill-in-the-blank. Additionally, the Social Studies Test features one extended response task that requires test-takers to analyze arguments and use evidence found within brief excerpts from primary and secondary source texts.
Given these priorities, the GED® Social Studies Test follows these specifications:
The social studies content topics describe key concepts that are widely taught in a variety of high-school level social studies courses and are relevant to the lives of GED® test-takers. They focus, in particular, on American civics and government. They are designed to provide context for measuring the skills defined in the social studies practices section of this document.
The content topics for the Social Studies Test focus on two main themes, each applied across the four domains in the social studies arena (i.e. civics and government, U.S. history, economics, and geography and the world). These themes have been selected to ensure that the test covers a wide range of important concepts and ideas in social studies, but they are also intended to function like a lens to draw focus to a distinct subset of ideas within each content topic. Content that falls outside the parameters of these themes are not included in the GED® Social Studies Test.
For more information see the Assessment Guide for the Social Studies test.
The GED® Social Studies Test focuses on the fundamentals of social studies reasoning, striking a balance of deeper conceptual understanding, procedural skill and fluency, and the ability to apply these fundamentals in realistic situations. In order to stay true to this intention, each item on the Social Studies Test is aligned to one social studies practice and one content topic.
The social studies practices can be described as skills that are key to scientific reasoning in both textual and quantitative contexts. The practices come from important skills specified in the Common Core State Standards and other career- and college-readiness standards, as well as in National Standards for History.
The Social Studies Test will also focus on four major content domains:
- Civics and government
- United States history
- Economics
- Geography and the world
To measure this content at a range of levels of complexity, several different item types are used in the test, including: multiple choice, drag-and-drop, hot spot, and fill-in-the-blank. Additionally, the Social Studies Test features one extended response task that requires test-takers to analyze arguments and use evidence found within brief excerpts from primary and secondary source texts.
Given these priorities, the GED® Social Studies Test follows these specifications:
- Approximately 50 percent focuses on civics and government, 20 percent focuses on United States history, 15 percent focuses on economics, and 15 percent focuses on geography and the world.
- The test includes items that assess textual analysis and understanding, data representation and inference skills, and problem solving using social studies content.
- Social Studies Test items align to one social studies practice and one content topic.
- Each item aligns to one Depth of Knowledge (DOK) level, based on appropriate alignment to social studies practice.
- Approximately 80 percent of the test items are written to DOK level 2 or higher.
- Problem-solving skills are measured in both academic and workplace contexts.
- Approximately 50 percent of the test items are based on scenarios in which a single stimulus (textual, graphic or a combination of both) serves to inform two or three items; the remaining approximately 50 percent of the items are discrete stand-alone items.
The social studies content topics describe key concepts that are widely taught in a variety of high-school level social studies courses and are relevant to the lives of GED® test-takers. They focus, in particular, on American civics and government. They are designed to provide context for measuring the skills defined in the social studies practices section of this document.
The content topics for the Social Studies Test focus on two main themes, each applied across the four domains in the social studies arena (i.e. civics and government, U.S. history, economics, and geography and the world). These themes have been selected to ensure that the test covers a wide range of important concepts and ideas in social studies, but they are also intended to function like a lens to draw focus to a distinct subset of ideas within each content topic. Content that falls outside the parameters of these themes are not included in the GED® Social Studies Test.
- Development of Modern Liberties and Democracy, the first theme, explores the development of current ideas about democracy as well as human and civil rights from ancient civilizations to the present. It examines contemporary thinking, policies and structures, major events that have shaped our democratic values, and major thinkers who contributed to American ideas of democratic government.
- Dynamic Responses in Societal Systems, the second theme, explores how the systems, structures and policies that people have created respond to each other, conditions, and events. For example, societies and civilizations have developed and changed in response to particular geographic features and natural events. National economies respond to both governmental policies and natural laws of economics—such as supply and demand—around which policies are built. Similarly, countries respond to both internal and external changes and challenges in ways that are beyond the ability of any one person to control.
For more information see the Assessment Guide for the Social Studies test.