Florida Department of Education
Adult General Education
Curriculum Frameworks

GED® REASONING THROUGH LANGUAGE ARTS	
Program Title	   GED® Preparation 	
Program Number	   9900130 	
Course Title	   GED® Reasoning Through Language Arts (RLA)	
Course Number	   9900131 	
CIP Number	   1532020207 	
Grade Equivalent	    9.0-12.9	
Grade Level	   30, 31	
Program  Length	  Varies (See Program Length Section)	

PURPOSE
Adult General Education Program: The Florida Department of Education administers the Adult General Education Program under the authority of s. Florida Statute 1004.93, F.S., and the Workforce Investment and Opportunity Act (WIOA), 2014. The AGE Program has multiple purposes. Primarily, it provides instruction in reading and language and mathematics to students seeking to obtain a high school diploma or its recognized equivalent. Another purpose is to support parents to become full partners in the educational development of their children and to improve the economic opportunities of their family. Finally, the AGE Program helps learners transition to postsecondary education and training and obtain employment.

GED® Preparation Program: The purpose of the GED® Preparation Program is to prepare students to pass the four subtests of the official GED® Test: Reasoning through Language Arts, Mathematical Reasoning, Science, and Social Studies.

GED® Reasoning through Language Arts (RLA) course: The purpose of the GED® Reasoning through Language Arts (RLA) course is to prepare students to pass the GED® RLA subtest. This test focuses on Reading, Language Arts, and Writing. Students acquire the ability to read closely, write clearly, edit, and use standard written English in context. 

STUDENTS
Students eligible to enroll in the GED® RLA course are those who: 

•	Are beyond compulsory school age (16 years)*
•	Are no longer enrolled in a K-12 school
•	Score at or above the National Reporting System (NRS) Educational Functioning Level (EFL) 5 and the Grade Equivalent 9.0 – 9.9 as measured by FDOE-approved assessments.

* See s. Florida Statute 1003.435(4), F.S., “A candidate for a high school equivalency diploma shall be at least 18 years of age on the date of the examination, except that in extraordinary circumstances, as provided for in rules of the district school board, a candidate may take the examination after reaching the age of 16.”

EDUCATIONAL FUNCTIONING LEVELS
The Workforce Investment and Opportunity Act defines the term Educational Functioning Level as “the ABE, ASE  and ESL literacy levels, as provided in the NRS Guidelines, that describe a set of skills and competencies that students demonstrate in the skill areas of the National Reporting System.” (Code of Federal Regulations Title 34 Subtitle B Chapter IV Part 462). 

Table 1 shows the NRS EFLs of the GED® RLA course as provided in the NRS Guidelines. It also shows the corresponding Grade Equivalent levels.

Table 1: NRS EFLs and Grade Equivalents for the GED® Reasoning through Language Arts Course 

Course Title	NRS Educational Functioning Levels	Grade Equivalent	
GED® Reasoning through Language Arts	 ABE Level 5	9.0 – 10.9	
GED® Reasoning through Language Arts	 ABE Level 6	11.0 – 12.9	

PROGRAM LENGTH 
Table 2 illustrates the recommended maximum number of instructional hours for each level.  It is understood, however, that each student learns at their individual pace and there will be students who successfully complete the program or attain their educational goals in fewer (or more) than the recommended maximum hours noted.  

Table 2: Recommended Maximum Number of Hours by Educational Functioning Level

Course Title	NRS Educational Functioning Levels	Recommended Maximum Hours	
GED® Reasoning through Language Arts	 ABE Level 5	250	
GED® Reasoning through Language Arts	 ABE Level 6	250	

CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION
The GED® RLA curriculum framework provides instructors with the anchor standards in reading, language arts and writing that the adult learner needs. With framework being the operative word, it is the basis for designing curriculum and to assisting programs and teachers with selecting or creating instructional materials, techniques, and ongoing assessment. Additional information on the GED® test standards is based on the GED® Testing Service Assessment Guide for Educators.

The Florida DOE provides the GED® RLA curriculum framework to local programs across the state in order that local program personnel can design a curriculum that will serve the unique needs of their students and instructors. A fully developed curriculum at the local program will include the following elements, at a minimum. Program staff may contact the Florida DOE Bureau of Adult Education for additional information on developing an in-house curriculum.

•	A description of educational outcomes that students will be expected to have achieved upon completion of the course
•	A set of core instructional materials (print and digital) aligned to the educational outcomes that students will be expected to have achieved upon completion of the course 
•	A series of needs assessment tools for teachers that helps them prioritize which standards are most relevant to the learning needs and educational goals of their students
•	Supplementary textbooks on grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary in the context of employment and life skills
•	Pacing guides and matrices that display the scope and sequence of the curriculum
•	A list of recommended websites, films, dictionaries available for teachers to select from
•	An overview of the content to be covered in the course 
•	A description of learning activities that may be used on a regular basis for reinforcement
•	Academic vocabulary (such as Averill’s Academic Word List)
•	Grammar and the conventions of standard English for each level of the course

Note: Instructors are not required to progress through the standards sequentially. The unique needs of each cohort of students can drive instruction and instructors may modify the sequence of teaching the standards.

ASSESSMENT
The Florida DOE has approved the following tests for pre-testing students for enrollment into the GED® RLA course and for post-testing students to measure progress and completion of the course:

•	CASAS GOALS Reading 900 Series
•	TABE 11&12 Language
•	TABE 11&12 Reading 

References for Assessment and Reporting: For complete information regarding assessment procedures and policies, see the Florida DOE Assessment Technical Assistance Paper. For guidelines on the procedures for reporting data related to student test results, see the Florida DOE Division of Career and Adult Education (DCAE) Office of Research and Evaluation. 

Pre-testing: Federal and state policies require local adult education agencies to pre-test all new students within the first 12 hours of enrollment activity. The Florida DOE defines a new student as one who is not found as having been enrolled at the local agency at any point during the current program year and/or the previous program year. All new GED® RLA course students are required to pre-test in reading and/or language, and obtain a score at or above NRS EFL 5. The agency shall report the pre-test results to the Florida DOE per the guidelines of the DCAE Office of Research and Evaluation.  

Post-testing: Agencies are not required to post-test students enrolled in the GED® RLA course for NRS reporting purposes, however, students will benefit from a variety of assessments to gauge their knowledge and skills. The GED® Ready test is an appropriate tool for determining when the student is likely to be able to pass the GED® test.

Course Completion: Students complete the GED® RLA course when they pass the GED® RLA subtest. 

GED® 2014 Assessment: For complete information on the 2014 GED® Assessment and the performance targets and content topics, see the GED® Testing Service Assessment Guide for Educators.

The GED® RLA test items are based on assessment targets derived from the Florida State Standards and similar career-and-college readiness standards.   

Because the strongest predictor of career and college readiness is the ability to read and comprehend complex texts, including nonfiction, the RLA subtest includes texts from academic and workplace contexts. These texts range in complexity of ideas, syntax, and style. The writing tasks, or Extended Response (ER) items, require test-takers to analyze source texts and use evidence drawn from the text to support their answers. The RLA subtest includes the following:

•	Seventy-five percent of the texts in the exam are informational texts (including nonfiction drawn from the science and the social studies as well as a range of texts from workplace contexts); 25 percent are literary texts.
•	Texts included cover a range of text complexity.
•	Texts emphasize vocabulary that has multiple meanings dependent on subject area or context rather than discipline-specific terms.
•	U.S. founding documents and the “Great American Conversation” are required for study and assessment.
•	The length of the texts in the reading comprehension component will vary between 450 and 900 words. 
•	The items written to Depth of Knowledge cognitive complexity level 1, 2, or 3.

Webb’s Depth of Knowledge (DOK) Model
The GED Testing Service® is using Webb’s Depth of Knowledge model to guide test item development for the GED® 2014 assessment. Unlike the Bloom’s Taxonomy system that was used for the GED® 2002 Test Series, the DOK levels are not a taxonomical tool that uses verbs to classify the level of each cognitive demand.  The DOK is the cognitive demand required to correctly answer test questions. The DOK level describes the kind of thinking involved in the task. A greater DOK level requires greater conceptual understanding and cognitive processing by the students. The DOK model includes 4 levels:  (1) recall, (2) basic application of skill/concept, (3) strategic thinking, and (4) extended thinking. Roughly 80 percent of the items across all four tests will be written to DOK levels two and three, and roughly 20 percent will require test-takers to engage level one DOK skills.  Level four entails skills required to successfully complete long-term research projects. Therefore, DOK level four is beyond the scope of this assessment.

ACCOMMODATIONS 
Federal and state legislation requires the provision of accommodations for students with disabilities to meet individual needs and ensure equal access. Adult students with disabilities must self-identify, provide documentation, and request such services. Students with disabilities may need accommodations in areas such as instructional methods and materials, assignments and assessments, time demands and schedules, learning environment, assistive technology, and special communication systems. Documentation of the accommodations requested and provided should be maintained in a confidential file.

ADULT EDUCATION INSTRUCTOR CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS
As per s. Florida Statute 1012.39 (1)(b), F.S., each school district shall establish the minimal qualifications for part-time and full-time teachers in adult education programs.

INTEGRATED EDUCATION AND TRAINING (IET)
The Florida DOE Division of Career and Adult Education (DCAE) promotes the planning, development, and implementation of an integrated education and training (IET) service approach that provides concurrent and contextualized adult education and literacy activities in combination with workforce preparation activities and workforce training for a specific occupation or occupational cluster for the purpose of educational and career advancement. 

The IET service approach provides all levels of adult education students the opportunity to acquire the skills needed to:

•	Transition to and complete postsecondary education and training programs
•	Obtain and advance in employment leading to economic self-sufficiency
•	Exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship

All IET programs must include the following three components:

•	Adult education and literacy activities (§463.30)
•	Workforce preparation activities (§463.34)
•	Workforce training for a specific occupation or occupation cluster which can be any one of the training services defined in section 134(c)(3)(D), of WIOA

In order to meet the “integrated” requirement of IET, all services must include the following:

•	Adult education and literacy activities run concurrently and contextually with workforce preparation activities and workforce training for a specific occupation or occupational cluster for the purpose of educational and career advancement
•	Activities are of sufficient intensity and quality, and based on the most rigorous research available, particularly with respect to improving reading, writing, mathematics, and English proficiency of eligible individuals
•	Occur simultaneously
•	Use occupational relevant instructional materials

The integrated education and training program must have a single set of learning objectives that identifies specific adult education content, workforce preparation activities, and workforce training competencies, and the program activities function cooperatively. 

GED® REASONING THROUGH LANGUAGE ARTS STANDARDS 
Because the strongest predictor of career and college readiness is the ability to read and comprehend complex texts, especially nonfiction, the RLA Test will include texts from both academic and workplace contexts. These texts reflect a range of complexity levels in terms of ideas, syntax, and style. The writing tasks, or Extended Response (ER) items, requires test takers to analyze given source texts and use evidence drawn from the text(s) to support their answers. The RLA Test includes the following: 
 
•	Seventy-five percent of the texts in the exam will be informational texts (including nonfiction drawn from the science and the social studies as well as a range of texts from workplace contexts); 25 percent will be literary texts. 
•	Texts included cover a range of text complexity.
•	Texts emphasize vocabulary that has multiple meanings dependent on subject area or context, rather than focusing on discipline-specific terms.
•	U.S. founding documents and the “Great American Conversation” that followed are the required texts for study and assessment. 
•	The length of the texts included in the reading comprehension component will vary between 400 and 900 words. 
•	The items are written to Depth of Knowledge cognitive complexity level 1, 2, or 3. 

The GED® RLA test will focus on the fundamentals in three major content areas: Reading, Language Arts and Writing. Students will achieve the ability to read closely, the ability to write clearly, and the ability to edit and understand the use of standard written English in context. 

GED® REASONING THROUGH LANGUAGE ARTS
READING STANDARDS	
R.1 	Determine central ideas or themes of texts, analyze their development, and summarize the key supporting details and ideas. 	
R.1.a 	Comprehend explicit details and main ideas in text. 	
R.1.b 	Summarize details and ideas in text. 	
R.1.c 	Make sentence-level inferences about details that support main ideas. 	
R.1.d 	Infer implied main ideas in paragraphs or whole texts. 	
R.1.e 	Determine which detail(s) support(s) a main idea. 	
R.1.f 	Identify a theme, or identify which element(s) in a text support a theme. 	
R.1.g 	Make evidence-based generalizations or hypotheses based on details in text, including clarifications, extensions, or applications of main ideas to new situations. 	
R.1.h 	Draw conclusions or make generalizations that require mixing several main ideas in text. 	
R.2 	Analyze how individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text. 	
R.2.a 	Order sequences of events in texts. 	
R.2.b 	Make inferences about plot/sequence of events, characters/people, settings, or ideas in texts. 	
R.2.c 	Analyze relationships within texts, including how events are important in relation to plot or conflict; how people, ideas, or events are connected, developed, or distinguished; how events contribute to theme or relate to key ideas; or how a setting or context shapes structure and meaning. 	
R.2.d 	Infer relationships between ideas in a text (e.g., an implicit cause and effect, parallel, or contrasting relationship). 	
R.2.e 	Analyze the roles that details play in complex literary or informational texts. 	
R.3.2
L.4.2 	Interpret words and phrases that appear frequently in texts from a wide variety of disciplines, including determining connotative and figurative meanings from context and analyzing how specific word choices shape meaning or tone. 	
R.3.1
L.4.1 	Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining connotative and figurative meanings from context. 	
R.3.2
L.4.2 	Analyze how meaning or tone is affected when one word is replaced with another. 	
R.4.3
L.4.3 	Analyze the impact of specific words, phrases, or figurative language in text, with a focus on an author’s intent to convey information or construct an argument.	
R.4 	Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences or paragraphs relate to each other and the whole. 	
R.4.a 	Analyze how a particular sentence, paragraph, chapter, or section fits into the overall structure of a text and contributes to the development of the ideas. 	
R.4.b 	Analyze the structural relationship between adjacent sections of text (e.g., how one paragraph develops or refines a key concept or distinguishing one idea from another). 	
R.4.c 	Analyze transitional language or signal words (words that indicate structural relationships, such as consequently, nevertheless, otherwise) and determine how they refine meaning, emphasize certain ideas or reinforce an author’s purpose. 	
R.4.d 	Analyze how the structure of a paragraph, section, or passage shapes meaning, emphasizes key ideas, or supports an author’s purpose. 	
R.5 	Determine an author’s purpose or point of view in a text and explain how it is conveyed and shapes the content and style of a text. 	
R.5.a 	Determine an author’s point of view or purpose of a text. 	
R.5.b 	Analyze how the author distinguishes his or her position from that of others or how an author acknowledges and responds to conflicting evidence or viewpoints. 	
R.5.c 	Infer an author’s implicit and explicit purposes based on details in text. 	
R.5.d 	Analyze how an author uses rhetorical techniques to advance his or her point of view or achieve a specific purpose (e.g., analogies, enumerations, repetition and parallelism, juxtaposition of opposites, qualifying statements). 	
R.6 	Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including if the reasoning was valid, as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence. 	
R.7.1 	Delineate the specific steps of an argument the author puts forward, including how the argument’s claims build on one another. 	
R.8.a 	Identify specific pieces of evidence an author uses in support of claims or conclusions. 	
R.8.b 	Evaluate the relevance and sufficiency of evidence offered in support of a claim. 	
R.8.c 	Distinguish claims that are supported by reason and evidence from claims that are not. 	
R.8.d 	Assess whether the reasoning is valid; identify false reasoning in an argument and evaluate its impact. 	
R.8.e 	Identify an underlying premise or assumption in an argument and evaluate the logical support and evidence provided. 	
R.9 & 7 	Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics. 	
R.9.a
R.7.a 	Draw specific comparisons between two texts that address similar themes or topics, or between information presented in different formats (e.g., between information presented in text and information or data summarized in a table or timeline). 	
R.9.b 	Compare two passages in a similar or closely related genre that share ideas or themes, focusing on similarities and/or differences in perspective, tone, style, structure, purpose, or overall impact. 	
R.9.c 	Compare two argumentative passages on the same topic that present opposing claims (either main or supporting claims) and analyze how each text emphasizes different evidence or advances a different interpretation of facts. 	
R.7.b 	Analyze how data or quantitative and/or visual information extends, clarifies, or contradicts information in text or determines how data supports an author’s argument. 	
R.7.c 	Compare two passages that present related ideas or themes in different genre or formats (e.g., a feature article and an online FAQ or fact sheet) in order to evaluate differences in scope, purpose, emphasis, intended audience, or overall impact when comparing. 	
R.7.d 	Compare two passages that present related ideas or themes in different genre or formats in order to synthesize details, draw conclusions, or apply information to new situations. 	
LANGUAGE STANDARDS	
L.1 	Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. 	
L.1.a 	Edit to correct errors involving frequently confused words and homonyms, including contractions (passed, past; two, too, to; there, their, they’re; knew, new; it’s, its). 	
L.1.b 	Edit to correct errors in straightforward subject-verb agreement. 	
L.1.c 	Edit to correct errors in pronoun usage, including pronoun-antecedent agreement, unclear pronoun references, and pronoun case. 	
L.1.d 	Edit to eliminate nonstandard or informal usage (e.g., correctly use tries to win the game instead of try and win the game). 	
L.1.e 	Edit to eliminate dangling or misplaced modifiers or illogical word order (e.g., correctly use to meet almost all requirements instead of to almost meet all requirements). 	
L.1.f 	Edit to ensure parallelism and proper subordination and coordination. 	
L.1.g 	Edit to correct errors in subject-verb or pronoun antecedent agreement in more complicated situations (e.g., with compound subjects, interceding phrases, or collective nouns). 	
L.1.h 	Edit to eliminate wordiness or awkward sentence construction. 	
L.1.i 	Edit to ensure effective use of transitional words, conjunctive adverbs, and other words and phrases that support logic and clarity. 	
L.2 	Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization and punctuation when writing. 	
L.2.a 	Edit to ensure correct use of capitalization (e.g., proper nouns, titles, and beginnings of sentences). 	
L.2.b 	Edit to eliminate run-on sentences, fused sentences, or sentence fragments. 	
L.2.c 	Edit to ensure correct use of apostrophes with possessive nouns. 	
L.2.d 	Edit to ensure correct use of punctuation (e.g., commas in a series or in appositives and other nonessential elements, end marks, and appropriate punctuation for clause separation). 	
WRITING STANDARDS	
W.1 	Determine the details of what is explicitly stated and make logical inferences or valid claims that square with textual evidence 	
W.2 	Produce and extended analytical response in which the writer introduces the idea(s) or claim(s) clearly; creates an organization that logically sequences information; develops the idea(s) or claim(s) thoroughly with well-chosen examples, facts, or details from the text; and maintains a coherent focus. 	
W.3 	Write clearly and demonstrate sufficient command of standard English conventions