Minimum Standards for Administration, Interpretation, and Use of Education Tests

By Elizabeth Franklin-Best, Esq., and Christopher Zoukis, JD, MBA

Program Statement	5312.01
Subject	Minimum Standards for Administration, Interpretation, and Use of Education Tests
Current edition	June 22, 2026
Change notices	None
Supersedes	Rescinds PS 5310.15, Minimum Standards for Administration, Interpretation, and Use of Education Tests (9/4/1996)
Governing regulation	None cited in the Program Statement. The programs it serves are governed by 28 C.F.R. part 544, subpart E (ESL) and subpart H (Literacy)
Governing statute	None cited. The underlying mandate is 18 U.S.C. § 3624(f)
Related BP forms	None named. The Program Statement refers to “test publisher(s) forms,” which BOP does not publish
Official PDF	https://www.bop.gov/policy/progstat/5312_001.pdf

Checked against the BOP policy set · 2026-09-07 · How we verify

Program Statement 5312.01 is the Bureau of Prisons’ rulebook for every education test given inside a federal institution — who may administer one, where the materials are kept, how scores are recorded, and what happens when a test is compromised. It is the machinery behind two mandatory programs: read it alongside the Literacy Program (GED) and the ESL Program (PS 5351.01), and see inmate education levels in the federal system for what the testing looks like from the inside.

One caution before anything else. A Program Statement is agency policy, not law. PS 5312.01 is unusual even among Program Statements: its References section lists other Program Statements and American Correctional Association standards, and no federal regulation at all. There is no 28 C.F.R. section that says two examiners must be in the room. What binds is the regulation behind the programs — part 544, subpart E for ESL and subpart H for literacy — and the statute behind those, 18 U.S.C. § 3624(f). Everything on this page below that line is the Bureau instructing its own staff.

The rule itself: education testing

The three kinds of test

PS 5312.01 sorts every education test into three categories and defines each one. These are the Bureau’s own words, and the named examples are the Bureau’s own examples:

Placement tests are assessments designed to evaluate an inmate’s current level of knowledge or skill in a specific subject area to determine the most appropriate level of instruction or coursework. These tests help Education staff place inmates in classes or programs that match their abilities and learning needs, ensuring they receive the appropriate level of challenge and support. Examples include Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE) and Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment Systems (CASAS) placement tests.

Achievement tests are standardized assessments designed to measure an inmate’s knowledge or proficiency in a specific subject or area of learning. These tests evaluate how well an inmate has understood and retained information taught in an educational setting, typically covering areas in mathematical reasoning, reasoning through language arts, science, social studies, and other academic subjects. Examples include TABE and CASAS achievement tests. Achievement tests must be administered throughout an inmate’s enrollment to track progress and determine readiness for the certification test. A certification test will not be given if an achievement test has not been administered within the past six months of enrollment.

HSE and ESL Certification tests are assessments designed to evaluate an inmate’s knowledge, skills, and competencies and certify the inmate meets the required standards and qualifications. Examples include GED and CASAS certification.

Reproduced from Program Statement 5312.01 at pp. 6–7. Emphasis added to the six-month rule; all other wording is the agency’s.

That is the whole named test list. “HSE” is High School Equivalency, which PS 5312.01 defines at p. 2 as “An alternate program of coursework completion equivalent to a comprehensive curriculum required to earn a high school diploma.” TABE, CASAS and GED are given as examples, not as the operative list. The operative list — which test, which form, which cut score — is not in the Program Statement at all. It lives on the Education Services Branch page of the Bureau’s intranet, which no person outside the agency can open. That is the single most important structural fact about this policy, and it is discussed under “What changed.”

The accountability rules, verbatim

The rest of the Program Statement’s checkable content is in one bulleted list, and it is the part a person actually needs when something goes wrong. Reproduced in full:

An accountability system is vital to the valid administration, interpretation, and use of education tests. The SOE will have a test accountability and inventory system established to ensure:

– Test content and materials are not exposed to unauthorized staff or to non-tested inmates. – All printed certification tests and related materials are stored in a secure, fireproof safe to prevent any test irregularities and compromises. Only HSE and ESL certification test materials can be stored in this safe, to which only the Chief Examiner and authorized Examiners have access. The ESB Test Administrator(s) and REAs are authorized to access and open the safe designated for storing all official testing materials for staff assists and site visits. – All standardized, norm-referenced testing tools, including but not limited to any test books, examiner’s manual, technical manual, online scoring and reporting program, test record, response booklet, and audio recording devices, must be stored in a secure, fireproof storage container or safe. This material will not be in the same safe that holds the HSE and ESL certification test materials. – The Chief Examiner or designee will conduct and maintain documentation of a monthly inventory of all ESL certification tests, compact discs (CDs), and testing materials, including any test administration manual. – The examinee/examiner ratio and test security measures comply with the standards set by the test publishers to ensure reliability and validity of test results. At a minimum, two Examiners must always be present during HSE and ESL certification testing sessions. – All new SOEs preparing to become a Chief Examiner will ordinarily be trained by regional, and/or ESB staff (i.e., SOEs, ASOEs, REAs, and/or ESB staff). When extenuating circumstances exist preventing the SOE from attending the training, the SOE will contact the REA and ESB for authorization to be trained by a local, approved Examiner. – The Examiner maintains historical testing records to include testing schedules and inmates scheduled for HSE and ESL testing sessions, and the number of HSE and ESL tests administered and passed for a minimum of three years. This allows for the retrieval of testing data that may not be available in the applicable Bureau education data system and official HSE and ESL reports from the ESB page of the Bureau’s intranet site. – All inmates must bring their government-issued identification card the day of testing for inmate identity verification prior to taking the HSE or ESL certification test. – Upon completing the HSE and ESL certification test, inmates will be given a program completion assignment in the applicable Bureau inmate management system and awarded an incentive in accordance with Program Statement First Step Act Assessments, Programming and Incentives. – All rules and procedures about test security and procedures are specified in this program statement; those posted on the ESB page of the Bureau’s intranet site and outlined by the HSE test publisher must be followed to prevent any test irregularities and compromises. – Suspicion and/or occurrence of HSE or ESL test irregularities and compromises are reported immediately/within one hour to the respective REA and Central Office Education Administrator. – When test irregularities and/or compromises occur, all appropriate test publisher(s) forms must be completed, and incident reports must be written in accordance with the Program Statement Inmate Discipline Program. Additional guidance and test publisher forms related to test irregularities and compromises are located on the ESB Page of the Bureau’s intranet site.

Reproduced from Program Statement 5312.01 at pp. 8–9. SOE = Supervisor of Education; ASOE = Assistant Supervisor of Education; REA = Regional Education Administrator; ESB = Education Services Branch.

Every deadline and limit in the policy

Rule	Value	Pin-cite
Literacy placement test after arrival	Within 90 days of arrival, for initially designated inmates without a verified high school diploma or equivalent	PS 5312.01 at p. 6
Prior scores that avoid re-testing	Scores less than three years old available from the Bureau’s records system or other official verifiable sources	PS 5312.01 at p. 6
Achievement test before a certification test	An achievement test must have been given within the past six months of enrollment	PS 5312.01 at p. 7
Examiners present at certification testing	At a minimum, two	PS 5312.01 at p. 8
Examiners per institution	At least one additional Examiner in addition to the Chief Examiner	PS 5312.01 at p. 4
Inventory of certification test materials	Monthly, conducted and documented by the Chief Examiner or designee	PS 5312.01 at pp. 5, 8
Score entry	Within two weeks of receipt of final test scores	PS 5312.01 at pp. 7–8
Reporting a test irregularity or compromise	“immediately/within one hour” to the REA and Central Office Education Administrator	PS 5312.01 at p. 9
Retention of testing records	Minimum three years	PS 5312.01 at p. 8
Retention of HSE testing accommodation materials	Three years, in a secure fireproof container, access limited to authorized Education staff	PS 5312.01 at p. 6
Examiner training	Initial training before handling standardized tests, then annually, with an annual certification test “if applicable”	PS 5312.01 at pp. 4–5
ID at the door	Government-issued identification card required on the day of certification testing	PS 5312.01 at p. 8

What the GED testing standards mean for you

If you are the person inside: four rules that are yours to use

Four of those rules are yours to use.

The 90-day clock. If you arrived without a verified high school diploma or its equivalent, PS 5312.01 tells Education staff to give you the approved placement test “within 90 days of their arrival to determine their appropriate instructional level” (p. 6). If ninety days have passed and nobody has tested you, that is a specific, dated thing to ask about in writing — not a general complaint about programming.

The six-month rule cuts both ways. A certification test “will not be given if an achievement test has not been administered within the past six months of enrollment” (p. 7). People are turned away from the GED or ESL exit test for exactly this reason and are not always told why. If you are ready to certify, ask for the date of your most recent achievement test first.

Bring your ID. The Program Statement makes a government-issued identification card a condition of sitting the certification test (p. 8). This is a small thing that costs people a testing cycle.

Two examiners, always. “At a minimum, two Examiners must always be present during HSE and ESL certification testing sessions” (p. 8). If a certification session is run by one person, or by your classroom teacher, that departs from the Bureau’s own instruction — and Education staff “involved in literacy or ESL instruction will not conduct certification test inventories or administer literacy or ESL certification tests” (p. 5). Note the accompanying limit on who may ever be appointed: “Special Education Teachers, school counselors, and volunteers are not permitted to be appointed as Examiners at any time” (p. 5).

One rule runs the other way. “Education staff will not allow inmates to administer, score, record, or interpret tests outlined in this program statement. Inmates are also not allowed to enter test scores in individual progress charts or other tracking forms, reports, and systems” (p. 5). A tutor orderly who is asked to score or record a test is being asked to do something the policy forbids, and the exposure lands on the tutor.

If you are the family: getting the education record

The document you want is the education record, and the specific things to ask for are dates: the placement test date, the date of each achievement test, and the date of any certification attempt. PS 5312.01 directs staff to enter scores “within two weeks of receipt of final test scores” (pp. 7–8), and requires the Examiner to keep testing schedules and results “for a minimum of three years” (p. 8). Those two rules mean the dates exist somewhere even when nobody can find them on a screen.

If a High School Equivalency credential has been earned, two copies exist. “Official and unofficial copies of the HSE credential and transcript will be presented to the inmate along with instructions on how to acquire ownership of their HSE online account upon release” (p. 8), and “Copies of the inmate’s HSE credential and transcript will be sent to the inmate’s Unit Management team to be placed in the Inmate Central File” (p. 8). The online-account instructions matter after release, when a transcript is needed for a job or a school and the original paper is gone.

If you are counsel: education testing

Three features of this document are worth knowing before you argue about a testing decision.

It has no regulatory anchor of its own. PS 5312.01’s References section lists six Program Statements and three sets of ACA standards; it lists no federal regulations and no statute. That is unusual and it is not an extraction artifact — it is what the document contains at p. 10. The consequence is that a testing dispute framed as “the Bureau violated its own policy” is a Program Statement argument, not a regulatory one, and should usually be pleaded alongside the program regulation it serves (§ 544.42 for ESL, subpart H for literacy) rather than on its own.

The operative content is incorporated by reference to a non-public source. The phrase “the ESB page of the Bureau’s intranet site” appears more than a dozen times in a ten-page document — for the approved test list, the education transaction codes, the definitions of test irregularity and compromise, the contents of the certification safe, the guidance for Special Education testing, and the publisher forms used when a test is compromised. A litigant cannot read the rule the Bureau is applying. Where the standard actually applied is decisive, that content has to be requested, not assumed.

The discipline hook is Code 333, not Code 306. Where a testing problem becomes a disciplinary matter, the charge is usually Prohibited Act 333 — “Fraudulent or deceptive completion of a skills test (e.g., cheating on a GED, or other educational or vocational skills test)” — which the Bureau prints at PS 5270.09 at pp. 52–53 and which sits in the Moderate Severity list at 28 C.F.R. § 541.3. Refusing to test, by contrast, is Code 306 under the ESL Program Statement. Two different codes, two different defenses.

Applied Insight — Christopher Zoukis, JD, MBA, Managing Director: On a testing problem we ask for four dates and one name before we ask for anything else — placement test, most recent achievement test, certification attempt, score-entry date, and the Examiner who ran the session. The Program Statement supplies a rule for each of those, which means each one either happened on time or it did not. That is a much better place to start than a general complaint about the education department.

What changed on 22 June 2026

PS 5312.01 was issued on June 22, 2026, one of twenty-three Program Statements the Bureau replaced that day. It rescinds PS 5310.15, in force since September 4, 1996 — thirty years, and a document that still directed staff to mail GED answer sheets by certified mail. This section does not exist on any competing page.

The Bureau’s Summary of Changes at p. 1 lists four items. Set against the retired edition, the practical differences are larger than that list suggests:

Subject	PS 5310.15 (1996)	PS 5312.01 (2026)
Which tests	Named in the policy: ABLE Level 2; SABE/2 Level 6, Spring Norm for Spanish-speaking inmates; CTBS “until the supply is exhausted”; the GED and GED Official Practice Test; CASAS Level C Reading Certification; CASAS Survey Achievement Listening, Form B or C. Required subtests listed for ABLE, SABE/2 and CTBS	Named only as examples: “Examples include Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE) and Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment Systems (CASAS)”; “Examples include GED and CASAS certification.” The approved list is on the Education Services Branch intranet page
ESL cut scores	Printed: “less than 225 on the CASAS Level C Reading Certification Test and 215 on the CASAS Survey Achievement Listening Test, Form B or C”	Not printed anywhere in the document
Terminology	“GED”; “Chief GED Examiner”; “alternate GED examiner”; “test coordinator”	“HSE” (High School Equivalency); “Chief Examiner”; “Examiner”; “Temporary Chief Examiner” — a new role at the Warden’s discretion
Definitions	None	A definitions section (p. 2): ESL, Examiner, High School Equivalency, Learning support needs, Literacy Program, Special Education, Special Education Teacher, Test compromise, Test irregularity
Examiners in the room	Silent; required only that the examinee/examiner ratio comply with publisher standards	“At a minimum, two Examiners must always be present during HSE and ESL certification testing sessions”
Number of examiners per institution	Chief examiner plus “alternate GED examiner(s)”	“Each institution must have at least one additional Examiner in addition to the Chief Examiner”
Storage	One fireproof safe could hold GED plus all other test materials	Two separate secure fireproof containers — certification materials in one, norm-referenced testing tools in another, and “This material will not be in the same safe”
Achievement-test recency	Not addressed	“A certification test will not be given if an achievement test has not been administered within the past six months of enrollment”
Reporting a compromise	“reported in writing immediately” to the REA and Central Office	“reported immediately/within one hour” to the REA and Central Office Education Administrator
Eligibility form	“Inmates shall complete and sign a GED eligibility form prior to taking the GED test as required by the GEDTS”	Not carried forward
Identification	Not addressed	“All inmates must bring their government-issued identification card the day of testing”
Restricted housing	Not addressed	“At the discretion of the Warden and the SOE, institutions will provide education testing services to inmates housed in restrictive and Special Housing Units (SHU)”
Who may never be an Examiner	Not addressed	“Special Education Teachers, school counselors, and volunteers are not permitted to be appointed as Examiners at any time”
Accommodations	Not addressed	HSE testing accommodation request materials and reports kept three years in secure storage; Special Education Teacher follows ESB guidance for students with traits of learning disabilities or dyslexia
Records system	SENTRY named throughout, with transaction codes	Named system and codes removed; staff directed to the ESB intranet page

The through-line is a trade. The 2026 edition is a better operating document — it defines its terms, it adds a second examiner to every certification session, it separates the safes, it adds a recency rule that protects the validity of a certification, and it addresses restricted housing and disability accommodations, none of which the 1996 edition did. What it gives up is verifiability from the outside. Under PS 5310.15 a person could read the policy and know which test they would take, which form, and what score they needed. Under PS 5312.01 those facts have moved to an internal page. That is not a criticism of the policy; it is a fact about how to use it. The right response is to ask, in writing, for the specific test name, form and standard being applied — and to ask early, not after a failed attempt.

Where people get stuck taking the GED test

“They will not let me take the GED test.” Check the six-month rule first. PS 5312.01 provides that “A certification test will not be given if an achievement test has not been administered within the past six months of enrollment” (p. 7). That single sentence explains a large share of blocked certification attempts, and it is fixable by asking for an achievement test rather than by grieving the denial. Route: cop-out to the Supervisor of Education asking for the date of the last achievement test and a date for the next one; if there is no answer, BP-8 informal resolution, then BP-9 to the warden, BP-10 to the region, BP-11 to the Office of National Inmate Appeals (Administrative Remedy Program).

“My score was never entered, so my record says I never tested.” The policy gives a deadline: the Supervisor of Education “will establish a system to ensure all relevant standardized education test scores are entered in the applicable Bureau inmate management system within two weeks of receipt of final test scores” (pp. 7–8). It also requires the Examiner to keep testing schedules and results for at least three years (p. 8). Both facts belong in a written request, because both give staff a specific place to look. This matters beyond education: an unrecorded credential can affect how a program review reads, and program participation is one of the things the Bureau weighs in First Step Act assessments, programming and incentives.

“I have a learning disability and nobody will test me differently.” PS 5312.01 routes this to a Special Education Teacher, who “will follow guidance for the handling, administration, scoring, interpreting, and reporting of scores provided on the ESB page” for students who exhibit or are documented as having “traits of learning disabilities or dyslexia” (pp. 5–6), and it points to a separate Program Statement for anything broader. Requests and accompanying reports must be kept for three years (p. 6). The Program Statement also anticipates the vacancy problem: “In the event of a vacant Special Education Teacher position, guidance is provided on the ESB page” (p. 6) — which is to say, a vacancy is not a reason the request stops existing. See management of inmates with disabilities. Nothing here entitles any particular person to any particular accommodation; the point is that a documented request creates a record.

“I got an incident report over a test.” Test irregularities and compromises trigger a mandatory report to the region “within one hour,” completion of the publisher’s forms, and an incident report written under the Inmate Discipline Program (p. 9). The usual charge is Prohibited Act 333 — “Fraudulent or deceptive completion of a skills test (e.g., cheating on a GED, or other educational or vocational skills test)” (PS 5270.09 at pp. 52–53; 28 C.F.R. § 541.3). Two things to know. The Program Statement distinguishes a test compromise — “any act or situation where the security, integrity, or fairness of a test is compromised” — from a test irregularity, which it describes as “most often uncontrolled” and as “any deviation from the standard procedures or protocols established for administering a test,” including “any significant occurrence that impairs a test candidate’s ability to perform” (pp. 2–3). An irregularity is not, by the Bureau’s own definition, necessarily anyone’s fault. And the detailed examples of both are on the intranet page, which means the standard being applied should be asked for. See inmate discipline proceedings.

“I’m in the SHU and they stopped testing me.” The 2026 edition addresses this for the first time: “At the discretion of the Warden and the SOE, institutions will provide education testing services to inmates housed in restrictive and Special Housing Units (SHU). For any test events scheduled outside of the approved test center, institutions must contact ESB for consultation” (p. 5). That is discretionary language, not a right — but it is a written acknowledgment that testing in restricted housing is contemplated, which the 1996 policy never gave. See solitary confinement and special housing units.

Related BOP policy on education testing

• ESL Program (PS 5351.01) — the mandatory program this testing policy serves, reissued the same day
• Literacy Program (GED) — the other mandatory program, and the one tied to good conduct time
• Education, training and leisure-time program standards — the umbrella Program Statement for records and scheduling
• Management of inmates with disabilities — accommodations and learning support needs
• Inmate Discipline Program — Prohibited Act 333 and the incident-report process
• First Step Act assessments, programming and incentives — the incentive awarded on certification
• Good conduct time — why an unrecorded credential can matter
• Postsecondary education and career and technical education — what follows an HSE credential
• Inmate education levels in the federal system — the day-to-day picture
• Correspondence programs: GED and high school diploma — study routes outside the institution’s schedule
• The Bureau of Prisons policy library — every Program Statement we have mapped

Frequently Asked Questions About Education Testing

Reviewed for legal accuracy by Elizabeth Franklin-Best, Esq., Principal Attorney·September 2026