Load GED Exam Marks - XML Processing

When a file is submitted the GED XML elements are mapped into PASI's GED Exam Mark data structure through a stored procedure.

GED XML File Layout and Content

  • A GED XML file contains one child element; <Examinee>.
  • <Demographic>, and <Test> are subchild elements of an <Examinee> and it is possible to have an:
    • <Examinee> element with no <Demographic> and/nor <Test> elements.
    • <Examinee> element with multiple <Demographic> and/or <Test> elements.
  • The <Demographic> element has child elements which house the data that is used to create/map/delete GED Examinee.
  • The <Test> element has child elements which contain the data used to create/map/delete GED Exam Mark.
  • The <Test> element contains the child's elements that identify the GED Writing Centre.

GED Exam Mark Processing Logic

GED Exam Marks are added, updated and deleted to a student's record based on the Exam Mark and ASN Mapping logic on the GED Exam/Examinee Conceptual Overview wiki page.

Data Mapping

When a file is submitted the GED XML elements are mapped into PASI's GED Exam Mark data structure through a stored procedure.

A PASI GED exam mark is stored in the GED Exam Mark table. The mapping is as follows:

PASI GED Exam Mark dataXML File: GED Exam Mark DataRules/Comments
GED Exam Mark ID N/A
GED Examinee ID <GEDTSExamineeID>
GED Exam Mark Writing Centre <TestCenterCode> Mapped to a PASI Writing Centre based on a predefined relationship. See below
GED Exam Mark Course Code <TestNbr> Mapped to a PASI Course Code. See below
GED Exam Mark Value </Std>
GED Jurisdiction Code ID'AB' (Alberta)File based Exam Marks always are always written in Alberta
GED Exam Mark Status Code ID'Regular'File based Exam Marks always have a status of 'Regular'
GED Exam Written On Date <TestDate>
GED Exam Mark School Year Derived from <TestDate>See below for School Year derivation logic
GED Exam Mark Form <Frm> See below for exam Form derivation
Exam Language Code ID Derived from <Fmt> See below for language derivation
Exam Series Code ID '2002'File based exam marks are always considered 2002-Series
GED Test Format Code IDDerived from <Fmt>See below from exam format derivation

Student (GED Examinee)

The GED XML file contains a GED Examinee ID that PASI stores and maps to a student (ASN) in PASI. The Examinee identification and mapping algorithm is here.

The file upload process attempts to find a matching student in PASI to assign GED exam marks to. The system uses the <IDNumber> element provided in the <Demographic> object to an ASN in PASI. GED Testing Services commonly includes hyphens (-) in the <IDNumber> element. Hyphens, leading spaces, and other non-numeric characters are removed before comparing the <IDNumber> to ASN’s in PASI.

If the <IDNumber> provided does not correspond to an existing ASN within PASI, the file load process uses the Identify Student service to see if a match can be found based on the first name (<FirstName>), middle name (<MiddleName>), last name (<LastName>), and date of birth (<DOB>) of the student in the XML file. If a single high quality match is found, the exam mark is mapped to the student identified and can be loaded into PASI.

GED Writing Centre ID

The XML file contains a 12 digit TestCenterCode that is mapped to a 4 digit Organization ID in PASI. Each TestCentre to OrganizationID relationship has an effective and expiry date. Rule 49506 uses this effective date range to ensure marks are only loaded for valid TestCentres. PASIprep also uses the date range to display a list of valid and invalid TestCentres based on the writing date of the exam.

See the School Code Mapping table below.

Course Code

The PASI Exam is identified by the ‘TestNbr’ element in the XML file using the mapping below.

XML File: <Test> <TestNbr>PASI: Course Code
1GED9981 – Writing Skills
2GED9982 – Social Studies
3GED9983 – Science
4GED9984 – Interpreting Literature and the Arts
5GED9985 – Mathematics

Mark Value

The GED Exam Mark Value is mapped from the </Std> element. It is represented by a 3 digit number which represents the score the student achieved on the exam.

GED Jurisdiction

All marks loaded from an XML file have a GED Jurisdiction Code ID element set as GED-AB (GED Jurisdiction).

GED Exam Mark Status

The GED Exam Mark status for all GED Exam Marks uploaded from a file is set to RG (GED Exam Mark Status)

Exam Written on Date

The Exam Written on Date is mapped from the <TestDate> element.

School Year

* If the Month is January to August then the School Year is equal to the Year from the Exam Written on Date.

* If the Month is September to December then add 1 to the School Year from the Exam Written on Date.

Example 1:

  • Exam Written on Date = 2015-01-01
  • Month = 01 (January)
  • Calendar Year = 2015

School Year = Calendar Year School Year = 2015

Example 2

  • Exam Written on Date = 2015-10-01
  • Month = 10 (October)
  • Calendar Year = 2015

School Year = Calendar Year + 1 School Year = 2016

Exam Form

The Exam Form is derived based on the value of the Test: Frm attribute within the XML File.

XML File: <Test><Frm> PASI: Form
1 A
2 B
3 C
4 D
5 E
6 F
7 G
… (8-25) … (H-Y)
26 Z

Exam Language

The Exam Language is derived based on the value of the Test: Fmt attribute within the XML File as follows:

XML File: <Test><Language> PASI: Exam Language
1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18 English
4, 8, 9, 20 French
3, 10, 11, 12, 19 Spanish

Exam Format

The Exam Format is derived based on the value of the <Fmt> element.

XML File: <Test><Frm>PASI: Form
1 - 5, 8, 10, 34 Paper
6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15Unknown
17 - 20 CBT

GED Examinee Data

A PASI GED Examinee and its corresponding demographic information is GEDExaminee table. A GEDExaminee is linked to an Exam Mark through the GEDExamineeID element.

The mapping is as follows:

School Code Mapping

To view the most current Writing Centre to School Code mapping access the List GED Writing Centers page in PASIprep. If you do not have PASIprep access contact Student Records to get the most current mapping.