Includes bibliographical references (pages 413-430) and index.

Introduction -- Achievement tests and the role of character in American life / James J. Heckman and Tim Kautz -- The history of the GED. An institutional history of the GED / Lois M. Quinn ; Growth in GED testing / John Eric Humphries -- Evaluating the benefits. Who are the GEDs? / James J. Heckman, John Eric Humphries, and Tim Kautz ; The economic and social benefits of GED certification / James J. Heckman, John Eric Humphries, and Tim Kautz ; The military performance of GED holders / Janice H. Laurence -- The GED creates problems. The GED testing program induces students to drop out / James J. Heckman, John Eric Humphries, Paul A. Lafontaine, and Pedro Rodríguez ; High-stakes testing and the rise of the GED / Andrew Halpern-Manners, John Robertwarren, and Eric Grodsky -- What can be done to promote character? Fostering and measuring skills: interventions that improve character and cognition / James J. Heckman and Tim Kautz ; What should be done? / James J. Heckman, John Eric Humphries, and Tim Kautz.

Achievement tests play an important role in modern societies. They are used to evaluate schools, to assign students to tracks within schools, and to identify weaknesses in student knowledge. The GED is used to grant the status of high school graduate to anyone who passes the test. Recipients currently account for twelve percent of all high school credentials issued each year in the United States. But do achievement tests predict success in life? With The Myth of Achievement Tests, James J. Heckman, John Eric Humphries, Tim Kautz, and a group of scholars explore how the GED came to be used throughout the United States and why our reliance on it is dangerous. Drawing on decades of research, they show that, while GED recipients score as well on achievement tests as high school graduates who do not enroll in college, high school graduates vastly outperform GED recipients in terms of their earnings, employment opportunities, educational attainment, and health. The differences in success are driven by character skills like conscientiousness, perseverance, sociability, and curiosity that achievement tests like the GED do not adequately capture. Not only are these skills important in predicting a variety of life outcomes, they can be measured and they can be taught. Using the GED as a case study, the authors explore what achievement tests miss and call for a return to an emphasis on character in our schools, our systems of accountability, and our national dialogue.