About the Data - GED/HSED & Alternative Education | Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction

Overview

General Education Development (GED): A GED is issued to a person who meets the requirements under PI 5.03 and completes the general education development test with a passing score on each subtest.

High School Equivalency Diploma (HSED): Under s. 115.29 (4) (a), Stats., the state superintendent may issue a high school equivalency diploma (HSED), PI 5, to a person who has presented satisfactory evidence of having completed a recognized high school course of study or its equivalent. The state superintendent may establish the standards by which high school graduation equivalency may be determined.

The purpose of the high school equivalency diploma is to provide a credential to those who did not graduate from high school and are unable to receive a high school diploma from their school district of residence, but are able to demonstrate attainment of credits, knowledge, and skills that are equivalent to those which would be attained in a high school program of study.

Alternative education collaborates with school districts to develop programs that help all students to be successful. The goal is to engage all learners, through multiple pathways, to graduate with a high school diploma.

Where to Find Data about GED/HSED
School Years	WISEdash	WINSS Historical Data Files
2005-06 through present	X	--

WISEdash is DPI's primary data analysis portal and contains the most current and most complete range of data about high school equivalency diplomas (HSED) and General Education Certification (GED).

You can filter the GED/HSED Dashboards by three distinct years:

Last Enrolled School Year,
Estimated Grad Cohort School Year, and
Credential School Year.

All three years are school years, meaning July 1 through June 30. This allows you to switch the school year using the filter. For a more granular view of the Credential Attainment dates, please use the GED/HSED Crosstab dashboard and add the Credential Year-Month to the table.

Last Enrolled School Year and Last Exit Type are from the last year the student was tracked in WISEdata. No other data sources are used.

Challenge Academy Graduate, Job Corp Graduate, 118.15 status and Wisconsin Resident flag are as reported by the Testing Center. DPI does not verify these data.

Cautions

During the collection of high school equivalency credentials, there may be errors due to the following circumstances:
- Manual data entry error in student records.
- Errors deciphering handwritten historical student records.
- Errors due to damaged and timeworn historical records.
A few districts used incorrect exit codes and there have been different systems for collecting and maintaining data throughout the years.
Rules around high school credential requirements have changed over time. The most recent rules allow high schools to count students who earn high school equivalency diplomas as graduates.
Data is refreshed weekly over the weekend.

Definitions of Key Terms

For definitions, see the WISEdash Glossary

GED: General Education Development test series. The GED credential is a high school equivalency diploma. It shows that the student passed four high school equivalency tests in all core academic areas (math, science, social studies, language arts), demonstrating that the student has the same knowledge as a traditional high school graduate.

Data Sources

Historical GED data prior to 2014 comes from Oklahoma Scoring. After 2014, data comes from the GED Testing Service.
High school equivalency data comes from a variety of sources. To include Wisconsin School District data collected prior to 2003-04, all data used in the calculation of high school completion rates came from the School Performance Report (SPR) collection. In 2004, Wisconsin implemented the Individual Student Enrollment System (ISES) which follows transfers of students over time and confirms continued enrollment or completion status. From 2007-08 all data about high school graduates and non-completers came from this system.
High School Equivalency data also comes from HSED programs within the Wisconsin Technical College System, community-based organizations, Department of Corrections, and other DPI-approved HSED programs.