Student test score descriptions get a makeover: Advanced, Proficient, Developing, Minimal

A student takes a computer-based test in this file photo. He said he understood the value of providing information in a positive, encouraging way, which is called an “assets-based approach,” but that parents also need a sober understanding of where their child stands academically to convey an appropriate “sense of urgency.” “I think the labeling of the lowest level as Minimal and the second level as Developing seems to suggest that level of need,” said Manwaring, senior policy and fiscal advisor for the Oakland-based advocacy group Children Now. The coalition — which included EdTrust-West, California Charter Schools Assn., Alliance for a Better Community, Teach Plus and Children Now — had said the terms Foundational and Inconsistent would “would make the data more confusing and misleading.” The state board delayed action in November, in large part because students, parents and rank-and-file educators were not given an opportunity to provide input. The full set of recommended labels — Advanced, Proficient, Basic and Below Basic — also aligned with the labels used on a well-known nationwide test, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, which is often called the nation’s report card. Board members also slightly reworded the extended description of what became the Developing label — saying it did not convey that a student at that level was likely to need extra academic support.