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Published:
October 3, 2016
TASC For Dummies
Overview
Everything you need to pass the TASC
If you're looking to gauge your readiness for the high school equivalency exam and want to give it all you've got, TASC For Dummies has everything you need.
The TASC (Test Assessing Secondary Completion) is a state-of-the art, affordable, national high school equivalency assessment that evaluates five subject areas: reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social studies. With the help of this hands-on, friendly guide, you'll gain the confidence and skills needed to score your highest and gain your high school diploma equivalency.
- Helps you measure your career and college readiness, as outlined by the Common
Core State Standards
So far, New York, Indiana, New Jersey, West Virginia, Wyoming, and Nevada have adopted TASC as their official high school equivalency assessment test. If you're a resident of one of these states and want an easy-to-grasp introduction to the exam, TASC For Dummies has you covered. Written in plain English and packed with tons of practical and easy-to-follow explanations, it gets you up to speed on this alternative to the GED.
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About The Author
Stuart Donnelly, PhD, was awarded a PhD in mathematics from Oxford University. He has prepared students for the TASC test and GED Test for the past two decades.
Sample Chapters
tasc for dummies
CHEAT SHEET
In many states, the TASC test has replaced the GED. Students living in those states who are pursuing their high school equivalency can no longer take the GED exam; they must take the TASC test instead. So to prepare for your studies, you need to know how the TASC test is structured and what it covers.
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TASC
To do well on the TASC Language Arts–Reading test, you'll need to recognize the theme or main idea of the text you are reading. You'll also need to understand the difference between a main idea and a theme.Think of it this way: The main idea of a paragraph or segment of text is a major idea expressed in that portion only.
TASC
An important skill that you should develop to help your reading comprehension on the Test Assessing Secondary Completion (TASC) exam is to be able to identify the key supporting details and ideas in what you're reading.These details and ideas provide support for the main idea and themes of a reading passage. In other words, they help explain the main idea.
When you take the TASC, or Test Assessing Secondary Completion, the way you're scored will depend on the section. For example, in the multiple-choice and gridded-response sections, each question is worth 1 point.Having said that, there are some things you need to keep in mind:
You don't get points off for selecting the wrong answer, so make sure to answer every question.
Because each section of the TASC, or Test Assessing Secondary Completion exam, has a time limit, you'll want to be conscious of how much time has passed as you're taking the test.One way to manage your time effectively is by simply wearing a watch. Testing centers may not always have a clock available, and you want to be able to see how much time you have left for each section.
TASC
It's important to know the difference between major and minor details in a reading passage. Authors use both types of detail to convey their messages in the passages of the TASC Reading section.Both major and minor details can be important to a story to describe something so that a reader can comprehend what the author is talking about.
Since 2015, the TASC, or Test Assessing Secondary Completion, has begun to feature a variety of new question formats. Because the TASC is now offered as a computer-based test, there are now more options available for online questions and responses, including multiple-select response and drag-and-drop questions.
TASC
There are a variety of strategies that you can use to maximize your score on the different sections of the TASC, or Test Assessing Secondary Completion exam. When it comes to doing the multiple-choice section, one of the most effective strategies you have at your disposal is to eliminate unlikely choices. Any choices that you can get rid of because you deem them implausible or unrealistic to the problem at hand will increase your odds of selecting the correct answer.
In many states, the TASC test has replaced the GED. Students living in those states who are pursuing their high school equivalency can no longer take the GED exam; they must take the TASC test instead. So to prepare for your studies, you need to know how the TASC test is structured and what it covers.
TASC
Numbers come in all shapes, sizes, and forms, such as fractions, decimals, and percentages. When a TASC Math question asks you to compare numbers or put a set of numbers in a certain order, it's easiest to do when they're all in the same form.
Converting fractions to decimals. To convert a fraction to a decimal, divide the numerator by the denominator.
If you encounter a problem on the TASC Math exam that involves conversion of units, it's important that you keep track of the relationships between measurements.For instance, it's common knowledge that there are 12 inches in 1 foot, which is called a unit factor. Unit factors are made up of two measurements that describe the same thing.
If a question from the TASC Math exam asks you to solve for the solution to a system of equations, one useful approach is to graph the system of equations.Graphically, the solution is the point or points where the lines or curves intersect. This means to solve a system of equations (linear, quadratic, and so on) by graphing, you follow these steps:
Graph each function independently but on the same coordinate plane.
TASC
If you're given the standard form of a quadratic equation on the TASC Math exam, the equation provides valuable information when you're asked to graph it.
A quadratic function is a polynomial in which the highest degree is two. The shape of the graph representing the quadratic function is called a parabola, which is a U shape.
If you encounter a scatter plot on the TASC Math exam, you’ll probably be asked to show how the two variables in the chart are related to each other—or whether a relationship exists between them at all.A scatter plot shows the relationship between two variables. When looking at a scatter plot, you look at the correlation, which gauges the strength of the relationship and the direction.
While most questions on the TASC Math exam require you to deal with real numbers, you'll probably run into one or two problems that involve complex numbers.The first time most people encounter complex numbers is in algebra, when they find out that it's possible to take the square root of negative numbers. The important thing to remember here is thatThis means, for example, thatComplex numbers aren't just numbers that occur when taking the square root of negative numbers, though.
TASC
You will probably encounter questions on the TASC Math exam that involve exponential functions. If the problems appear in the form of a graph or a table, the following instructions will help you navigate through them.
An exponential function is when the independent variable is in the exponent of a constant. The base of the function must be greater than 0 and not equal to 1.
If you run across a quadratic question on the TASC Math exam, you may be able to solve it with the quadratic formula. The quadratic formula is useful for solving quadratic equations and providing a solution for all quadratics.The quadratic formula looks like this:This will provide two solutions (notice the + and – signs in front of the radical).
Some questions on the TASC Math exam involve linear functions. A linear function represents a relationship between two variables in which one variable influences the other.In a linear function, x is usually considered to be the independent variable and y to be the dependent variable (x influences y). The independent variable (x) runs horizontally, while the dependent variable (y) runs vertically.
Not all equations that you'll deal with on the TASC Math exam will be in single variables. There are common formulas that you may need to rearrange to find a certain variable or combination of variables.The following examples illustrate how to isolate a particular variable given an equation or formula.Example 1:In this example, the formula is how force is calculated: Force equals mass times acceleration.
Exponents are often used as a shorthand way to show repeated multiplication, so you can expect to encounter several questions on the TASC Math exam that involve exponents.You can apply the following general rules about exponents:
Zero exponent rule: Any number raised to the zero power is equal to 1.
Product rule: When multiplying numbers with the same base, add the exponents.
Some of the questions on the TASC Math exam may ask you to solve an inequality. Of course, an inequality won't necessarily involve a 'does not equal' sign; there are actually five symbols that can be classified as inequalities:Solving an inequality involves following the same steps you use for solving an equation except for one crucial detail: When you multiply or divide by a negative number, you must flip the inequality symbol.
You will probably run into a quadratic question on the TASC Math exam. A quadratic is a specific type of polynomial equation that is of the form ax2 + bx + c = 0. One way to solve an equation in this form is through factoring.Follow these steps to solve by factoring:
Be sure the equation is in standard form (all terms are on one side of the equal sign, the equation equals 0, and the terms are in descending order).
The TASC Math exam will likely contain some questions where you'll have to confront radicals. Don't worry—it's not as scary as it sounds. You can just think of radicals as the "opposite" operation of applying exponents.The symbolis called a radical or root. Unless otherwise indicated, you're looking for theor principal root when it's an even index (the number outside the root symbol).
The TASC Math exam will probably ask you to solve one or two rational inequality problems. To make the process easier, you should always include a number line in your solution.
Just like a rational number is two integers being divided, a rational expression is two polynomials being divided.
To solve a rational inequality problem, follow these steps:
Get one side equal to 0.
The TASC Math exam will likely contain questions where you'll need to be familiar with real numbers and the different number systems that constitute real numbers.All real numbers can be classified as either rational or irrational, and the rational numbers can be further divided into subsets including natural numbers, whole numbers, and integers.
TASC
If you run across a system of equations problem on the TASC Math exam, two ways to solve it—if you decide to avoid graphing—are through substitution and elimination.
Using the substitution method
To solve a system of two variables using the substitution method, follow these steps:
Solve one or both equations for one of the variables.
When you know how to analyze words and phrases in text, understanding an author's intentions is easier. You should look for clues in the TASC Reading passages to determine the meaning that the author is trying to convey.When you're unsure of the meaning an author is trying to convey because you're unsure of the meaning of a word or words, it can help to look at the words next to the ones you're unsure of to find meaning.
The following table summarizes the TASC test and gives the breakdown by approximate number of items and time for each section.
Breakdown of TASC Test Sections
Subject
Topics
Time in Minutes (English Version)
Time in Minutes (Spanish Version)
Number of Questions
Language Arts–Reading
Information reading & language Literary reading & language
75
80
50
Language Arts–Writing
Language Writing
105
110
50 One essay
Mathematics
Numbers & quantity Algebra Functions Geometry Statistics & probability
50 (calculator)
55 (no calculator)
55 (calculator)
60 (no calculator)
40 12 gridded responses
Social Studies
U.
The TASC test measures high school equivalency and college and career readiness in five subject areas: Language Arts–Reading, Language Arts–Writing, Mathematics, Social Studies, and Science. The entire test lasts about seven hours, with each section having its own time limits.
Language Arts — Reading
The Language Arts–Reading test includes multiple-choice, constructed-response, and technology-enhanced questions that test the student’s ability to understand the information presented in excerpts from novels, short stories, poetry, plays, newspapers, magazines, and business or legal text passages.
TASC
When you understand how an author has structured a passage in the Reading section of the TASC exam, it's much easier to understand the text itself. The structure of a text can provide clues to help you understand its meaning.Two ways in which text can be organized are compare/contrast and cause/effect.
Compare/contrast
When an author uses this organizational structure, she provides both similarities and differences between at least two people, places, or things.
In many states, such as New York, West Virginia, and Indiana, the TASC (short for Test Assessing Secondary Completion) has replaced the GED completely. Students living in those states who are pursuing their high-school equivalency can no longer take the GED exam — they must take the TASC instead.It's worth double-checking which high-school equivalency options your state permits.
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