High School Equivalency Test (HiSET) Jason Carter National Director, HiSET and Jonna McDonough Director, HiSET April 7, 2014 Copyright 2013 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo and LISTENING. LEARNING. LEADING. are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS). HISET is a trademark of ETS. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 22039 1
Agenda Introductions What s new? Customer Service Age Requirements Webpage Requirements Q & A 2
WHAT S NEW IN HISET? 3
Geographical Access HiSET is the fastest-growing high school equivalency assessment program in the U.S. HiSET States to Date: California Maine Montana New Jersey Iowa Massachusetts Nevada Tennessee Louisiana Missouri New Hampshire Wyoming 4
2014 Enhancements April More Essays (from 3 essays to 9) One screen battery schedule capability November Voucher online payment method capability 5
2014 Enhancements April One screen battery scheduling capability 6
Test Preparation Aztec Software CBT practice test Khan Academy video teaching lessons that are HiSET-aligned 7
Standards Setting April 10 th - 11 th April 29 th -30 th Teams created by teacher representatives from states in each content area to work with ETS Psychometricians Teams will review each question individually for rigor and relevance and make recommendations 8
Testing College and Career Readiness Skills Assessments are scaled to the performance of graduating students: passing scores and college/career readiness benchmarks Provides college- and career-readiness scores for each content area Helps facilitate a plan to raise college and career readiness in out-of-school youth and adults See the Research Rationale for the HiSET Assessment at http://hiset.ets.org/s/pdf/research_rationale.pdf 9
CUSTOMER SERVICE 10
Contacting ETS 11
Test Administration Services Test Administration Services Contact Test Administration Services for support and resolution of: Emergencies prior to and on the test date Clarification of test administration procedures Problems involving registration for a current test administration Test center staffing Scheduling of test dates at your center, change of address Examiner or Supervisor or any other questions pertaining to your test center Uncertainty about which department to contact. Phone: 1-800-257-5123* U.S. (except AK, HI, NJ) 1-609-921-9000 all other locations (collect calls will be accepted) Monday Friday 8:00 a.m. 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time Email: hisettas@ets.org Website: HiSET.ets.org Mail: ETS-HiSET Test Administration Services ETS Mail Stop 34-Q Ewing, NJ 08618 U.S. Fax: 1-609-771-7710 12
Office of Testing Integrity Contact the Office of testing Integrity for support and resolution of: All matters involving security of a test and/or test materials (e.g., missing test materials, cheating, or impersonation) Phone: 1-800-353-8570 U.S. only 1-609-406-5430 all other locations (collect calls will be accepted) Monday Friday 8:30 a.m. 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time (as well as test day) Email: TSReturns@ets.org Fax: 1-609-406-9709 13
Test Taker Inquiries Contact Customer Service for support and resolution of: Test taker questions or issues Test taker reports a flawed test question or that there are no correct answer choices Phone: 1-855-MyHiSET (1-855-694-4738) Monday Friday 8 a.m. 8 p.m. Eastern Time Recorded information is available 24 hours a day if using a touchtone phone Email: hiset@ets.org Website: HiSET.ets.org 14
Questions Regarding Accommodations Contact HiSET Disability Services for support and resolution of: Registration problems for a current test administration for test takers receiving accommodations Questions regarding accommodations Emergencies prior to or on the test date for test takers receiving accommodations Clarification of test administration procedures for tests being given with accommodations CUSTOMER SERVICE ETS Disability Services Monday Friday 8:30 a.m. 5 p.m. Eastern Time (New York) Phone: 1-855-802-2748 (toll-free in the United States, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico) All other locations 1-609-359-5615 Fax: 1-609-240-0525 Email: HiSETSSD@ets.org Mail: ETS Disability Services PO Box 6054, Princeton, NJ 08541-6054 Courier Service: ETS Disability Services 225 Phillips Boulevard, Ewing, NJ 08618-1426 15
Questions Regarding CBT Admin Trouble launching CBT Email: HiSETTechSupport@ets.org Phone: 1-855-857-3540 16
16, 17 18 year old Requirements Webpage Location Copyright 2013 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo and LISTENING. LEARNING. LEADING. are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS). HISET is a trademark of ETS. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 22039 17
16-17-18 year old Requirements 2/27/2013 18
16-17-18 year old Requirements This would become a hyperlink to the 16 yo Question under Scheduling an Appointment This would become a hyperlink to the 17 or 18 yo Question under Scheduling an Appointment This would remain the same since it seems to work here 04/07/2014 19
Q & A Copyright 2013 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo and LISTENING. LEARNING. LEADING. are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS). HISET is a trademark of ETS. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 22039 20
Content & Curriculum Formulas on the Math Test? If a formula is required to answer the question, it is often included with the question. In questions where a formula is needed, but not included, the weight of the question is increased, due to rigor Literature content on the Reading test? The test blueprint requires 60% literature, 40% informational text. Steck-Vaughn GED books available online? HiSET does not currently work with Steck-Vaughn. Steck-Vaughn s website should be consulted. Published resources? No approved HiSET published resources at this time. We continue to actively pursue potential providers. 21
Practice Test Questions More Practice Tests Available? Additional practice tests will be available in 2015. New Practice Tests as the HiSET gets harder or will they just change the scoring rubric? Additional practice tests will be created out of released 2014 forms. It is unclear if the rubric will change as we are currently facilitating Standards Setting meetings, the results of these meetings are unknown. Multiple Practice Tests in the future? Yes, additional practice tests, possibly as many as six, will be available in 2015. Will there be a full length Practice Test? We will share this request with our team. A full length practice test could mean fewer new practice tests in the future. 22
Confidentiality Statement Updated for 2015 testing, Confidentiality Statement requires one signature per test
Scoring- Essay reported score Score report indicates passing, and numerical score out of possible 6. 24
Scoring- Essays Holistic Writing Rubric Available in HiSET Download Library 25
Scoring Why doesn t each test in a battery have the same appointment number? How is the appointment number referenced to require unique numbers? Each test is a unique scoring event. The appointment number is used to track and report scores of each subtest. 26
Rosters Why is it required to check in a Battery test taker five different times? This has to do with the unique appointment numbers assigned to each subtest in the battery. It s part of the process for tracking answer sheets through the scoring and reporting steps. 27
Test Forms Why can t the first time test taker use the same test booklet form for all of their subtests? Why have separate answer sheets for Science, Reading and Social Studies, instead of individual sheets for each? The answer to both of these questions is related to scoring. Each subtest is a unique appointment. The assigned appointment number is used to track and report scoring. Each subtest is randomly assigned a form, which may or may not be the same form as all of the other subtests for which the candidate is testing. Similarly, each answer sheet is tied to the appointment number assigned for that subtest, which allows for scores to be reported
Miscellaneous TCA Management Questions Monthly Test Booklet Inventory There is some confusion as to how to complete the monthly test booklet inventory. This is being revised for the next release of test administration manuals. Why not make Social Security Numbers required? We are not able to collect so much personal information, due the risk it presents to the candidate. We are revising our wording around this field in hopes of capturing Social Security numbers more often. 29
Scheduling Can specific times be designated for Writing test administrations? Other subtests? Unfortunately, the system is not designed to allow for customized scheduling to this level of detail. We continue to look at our options for scheduling the Writing test in particular, as we completely understand the challenges in managing testing schedules and capacity. Is it possible for a test taker with multiple same day appointments to take all of their tests at the same workstation? It is possible for a candidate to test at the same workstation for all of their same day appointments. This does require some manual effort from the Test Center Administrator, as described in HiSET CBT Technical Situations and Procedures. 30
Additional Questions What is the turnaround time for testing accommodations paperwork to be approved? Six weeks for a completed application/file (with supporting documentation) Additional six weeks if file is incomplete or more information is required What options are available for customer service after 8pm, EST? Currently, candidates and TCAs would need to leave a message or email customer service after 8pm. As we expand into western states such as CA, we will evaluate the opportunity to increase these hours in Central and Mountain time zones. 31
Additional Questions Is it possible to improve usability of roster functions, including organization, printing, etc.? We have requested improved functionality of testing rosters, to include the ability to organize alphabetically, print with appropriate page breaks, and export to other files such as excel and/or word. This change request is being evaluated for future development. We will definitely update you when we have confirmation. On the Seating Chart, we are asked for a test ID. What number should we use, test code or serial number? Please document the Test Code. 32
Thank You For additional information contact: HiSET Customer Service: 1-855-MyHiSET (1-855-694-4738) hiset@ets.org Test Administrative Service: 1-800-257-5123 hisettas@ets.org xbt Technical Support: 1-855-857-3540 hisettechsupport@ets.org ETS Disability Services: 1-855-802-2748 (toll-free) HiSETSSD@ets.org Copyright 2013 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo and LISTENING. LEARNING. LEADING. are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS). HISET is a trademark of ETS. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 22039 33