/proficiency Proficiency en-US 2021 (c) Education Week Wed, 04 May 2022 22:12:13 GMT /events/webinar/the-critical-concepts-proficiency-scales-to-accelerate-student-learning Learn about the Critical Concepts, a crucial tool to help you maintain laser focus on essential standards to accelerate student learning. Wed, 04 May 2022 22:12:13 GMT /events/webinar/the-critical-concepts-proficiency-scales-to-accelerate-student-learning /teaching-learning/is-the-bottom-falling-out-for-readers-who-struggle-the-most/2021/06 A growing proportion of 4th and 8th graders read at the lowest level on national tests. Experts are working to understand why. Tue, 15 Jun 2021 21:10:07 GMT /teaching-learning/is-the-bottom-falling-out-for-readers-who-struggle-the-most/2021/06 /teaching-learning/is-proficient-insufficient-a-new-wrinkle-in-the-debate-over-naep-achievement-levels/2018/11 A modification to the Nation's Report Card achievement level descriptions of "basic," "proficient," and "advanced" performance is the latest in a nearly 30-year battle over where to set the bar for student performance. Sun, 18 Nov 2018 13:55:00 GMT /teaching-learning/is-proficient-insufficient-a-new-wrinkle-in-the-debate-over-naep-achievement-levels/2018/11 /policy-politics/opinion-counting-proficient-students-creates-bad-accountability/2016/08 Accountability targets based on the percentage of 'proficient' students obscure real differences between schools, encourage bad instructional practices, and encourage the wrong kind of intervention, writes Morgan Polikoff. Tue, 16 Aug 2016 04:35:52 GMT /policy-politics/opinion-counting-proficient-students-creates-bad-accountability/2016/08 /teaching-learning/states-are-setting-bar-higher-for-proficiency/2016/02 A pair of studies show that states’ math and English tests are getting tougher and tougher to pass. Wed, 10 Feb 2016 01:55:25 GMT /teaching-learning/states-are-setting-bar-higher-for-proficiency/2016/02 /education/opinion-using-blended-learning-to-increase-reading-proficiency-in-early-grades/2016/02 With schools facing increasing pressure to have their rd graders read at grade level, technology can be a huge help. Wed, 03 Feb 2016 11:07:31 GMT /education/opinion-using-blended-learning-to-increase-reading-proficiency-in-early-grades/2016/02 /teaching-learning/student-proficiency/2014/09 What U.S. states expect students to know varies widely and often falls short of international standards for learning, a new report from the American Institutes for Research shows. Wed, 01 Oct 2014 00:53:47 GMT /teaching-learning/student-proficiency/2014/09 /leadership/opinion-consortium-points-the-way-on-proficiency-based-learning/2013/12 David Ruff is the executive director of the Great 69´«Ă˝ Partnership and coordinates the New England Secondary School Consortium (NESSC), a project of the Great 69´«Ă˝ Partnership in Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. He favors a proficiency-based education model. Mon, 02 Dec 2013 07:07:45 GMT /leadership/opinion-consortium-points-the-way-on-proficiency-based-learning/2013/12 /leadership/naep-economics-results-highlight-proficiency-gaps/2013/05 More than half of American 12th graders lack proficiency in economics, according to new results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress Tue, 07 May 2013 20:41:53 GMT /leadership/naep-economics-results-highlight-proficiency-gaps/2013/05 /teaching-learning/opinion-formative-assessment-efficiency-summative-assessment-proficiency/2012/01 Teachers who are surprised by students' test performance often aren't assessing students' understanding in class routinely or effectively. Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:57:12 GMT /teaching-learning/opinion-formative-assessment-efficiency-summative-assessment-proficiency/2012/01 /leadership/science-proficiency-wide-ranging-across-states/2011/12 A new report finds that in many cases, what a state has deemed a proficient score is equivalent to below "basic" on the science NAEP. Wed, 14 Dec 2011 05:15:38 GMT /leadership/science-proficiency-wide-ranging-across-states/2011/12 /policy-politics/opinion-commentary-gave-false-picture-of-naep-proficiency/2011/12 To the Editor:In a recent Commentary ("NAEP's Odd Definition of Proficiency," Oct. 26, 2011), James Harvey makes inaccurate assertions about the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, achievement levels—specifically, that they are invalid and that the "proficient" level is set too high. Wed, 14 Dec 2011 02:09:38 GMT /policy-politics/opinion-commentary-gave-false-picture-of-naep-proficiency/2011/12 /teaching-learning/opinion-naeps-odd-definition-of-proficiency/2011/10 NAEP's proficient standard is beyond the reach of students and it has little to do with how states measure achievement, James Harvey argues. Tue, 25 Oct 2011 15:13:53 GMT /teaching-learning/opinion-naeps-odd-definition-of-proficiency/2011/10 /education/opinion-nation-should-seek-more-than-proficiency/2011/08 To the Editor:The news that states have failed to raise standards on math and reading tests is certainly disappointing, but not at all surprising (“What Do Rising Title I Achievement Scores Really Mean?,” Inside School Research blog, Aug. 10, 2011). The federal education framework set in place by the No Child Left Behind Act requires our country’s states, districts, and schools to focus exclusively on maximizing the number of students considered “proficient” on end-of-year tests. This myopic attention to “proficiency” has led to two disturbing, but wholly unsurprising results: First, as your report noted, states have lowered standards to increase the number of students considered “proficient.” Mon, 29 Aug 2011 23:35:54 GMT /education/opinion-nation-should-seek-more-than-proficiency/2011/08 /leadership/video-good-school-bad-school/2011/06 Fri, 24 Jun 2011 17:18:00 GMT /leadership/video-good-school-bad-school/2011/06 /teaching-learning/most-students-lack-civics-proficiency-on-naep/2011/05 High school seniors' scores fell, 4th graders' rose, and 8th graders' remained the same. Wed, 04 May 2011 18:58:35 GMT /teaching-learning/most-students-lack-civics-proficiency-on-naep/2011/05 /teaching-learning/opinion-academic-fluency-a-key-to-academic-proficiency/2010/10 David Ginsburg addresses a key to proficiency in any academic subject: fluency in that subject's language. Tue, 19 Oct 2010 01:26:00 GMT /teaching-learning/opinion-academic-fluency-a-key-to-academic-proficiency/2010/10 /policy-politics/opinion-the-proficiency-delusion/2010/03 Letting states set the cut scores for tests used with "common-core standards" would repeat a bad mistake and set back reform, writes Mark Schneider. Mon, 01 Mar 2010 19:44:28 GMT /policy-politics/opinion-the-proficiency-delusion/2010/03 /policy-politics/opinion-wish-2-the-end-of-proficiency-only-accountability-systems/2009/01 The No Child Left Behind Act may represent the largest threshold-based government accountability system in the country. 69´«Ă˝ are evaluated not by how much progress students make, but by their success in pushing students over the proficiency bar. By now, you're probably familiar with the discontents of this system: states can game the system by setting that proficiency bar low; some schools have triaged their students, essentially reallocating resources to the kids most likely to become proficient in the very short-term; and policymakers can misleadingly make claims about declining racial achievement gaps based on proficiency rates, even as these gaps are unchanged or growing. Fri, 23 Jan 2009 22:55:24 GMT /policy-politics/opinion-wish-2-the-end-of-proficiency-only-accountability-systems/2009/01 /teaching-learning/weigh-proficiency-assess-content/2008/12 69´«Ă˝ who are still working to master the English language are being held to the same reading and math proficiency targets as native English-speakers. Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:08:00 GMT /teaching-learning/weigh-proficiency-assess-content/2008/12 /education/multiple-yardsticks-for-measuring-proficiency/2008/10 Although data from state testing programs show increasing proportions of students reaching or surpassing the proficiency bar, some experts question the validity of such gains. Those results have raised eyebrows, in part, because trend lines are rising much more rapidly on state-developed tests than on the U.S. Department of Education’s National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as The Nation’s Report Card. Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:05:48 GMT /education/multiple-yardsticks-for-measuring-proficiency/2008/10 /policy-politics/opinion-the-unintended-consequences-of-focusing-on-proficiency/2008/06 I'm totally in awe of the regular commenters here - for me, they are the best part of this site. I had to share this comment by Rachel, who had this to say about the post below: Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:32:09 GMT /policy-politics/opinion-the-unintended-consequences-of-focusing-on-proficiency/2008/06 /policy-politics/opinion-when-measuring-achievement-gaps-beware-the-proficiency-trap/2008/06 Though we can thank the No Child Left Behind Act for drawing our attention to the "achievement gap" - which is now loosely deployed to reference gaps between African-American and white/Asian, poor and advantaged, suburban and urban, or even male and female kids - it's also done us a great disservice by distorting the way that we measure, and think about, differences between groups. Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:42:52 GMT /policy-politics/opinion-when-measuring-achievement-gaps-beware-the-proficiency-trap/2008/06 /education/probing-proficiency/2008/06 The Center on Education Policy has released a new study on what's happened with student achievement since the inception of No Child Left Behind. It concludes that 1) state achievement has risen in math and reading; and that 2) the achievement gap between white and minority students appears to have closed, at least judging by students' performance on state tests, and to a lesser extent, by their performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:01:55 GMT /education/probing-proficiency/2008/06 /education/universal-proficiency-possible-or-not/2008/02 Can the nation meet NCLB's goal of universal proficiency? Yes, says Deputy Secretary of Education Raymond J. Simon. No, say Michael Rebell and Jessica Wolff of the Campaign for Educational Equity. Fri, 29 Feb 2008 11:36:43 GMT /education/universal-proficiency-possible-or-not/2008/02 /education/nclb-and-the-meaning-of-proficiency/2008/01 In this comment on a previous post, a mom says that the goal of 100 percent proficiency is possible. Using the real-life example of her dyslexic son, she says that students can make dramatic progress. But can they all reach proficiency? Tue, 15 Jan 2008 17:23:04 GMT /education/nclb-and-the-meaning-of-proficiency/2008/01 /teaching-learning/opinion-the-grand-illusion-of-proficiency/2007/12 Dear Deb,As usual, you raise lots of interesting questions and you sharpen our clear differences. Yes, I do think we should have national testing. This idea that fifty states should each have their own standards and their own tests is nutty. We are not getting higher standards; we may even be getting lower ones. Tue, 04 Dec 2007 14:25:00 GMT /teaching-learning/opinion-the-grand-illusion-of-proficiency/2007/12 /education/opinion-should-does-the-school-improvement-industry-have-anything-to-say-about-100-proficiency-by-2014/2007/10 Proficency targets are the single most important factor determining the size of the school improvement market as measured by potential sales revenues. Thu, 18 Oct 2007 16:24:36 GMT /education/opinion-should-does-the-school-improvement-industry-have-anything-to-say-about-100-proficiency-by-2014/2007/10 /policy-politics/opinion-is-proficient-too-much-to-ask-for/2007/04 "Outside of a handful of Asian nations, the typical 8th grader in many foreign countries would not meet “proficient” levels on U.S. tests of mathematics and science, according to a reanalysis of international achievement data being published today," begins this EdWeek story (Most Nations Fall Short of NAEP Proficiency, Analysis Finds). "Then again, the study also shows, neither do most American students." Wed, 25 Apr 2007 13:18:21 GMT /policy-politics/opinion-is-proficient-too-much-to-ask-for/2007/04