We’ve heard a lot recently about how Kansas students did on the most recent NAEP test, particularly the number of Kansas students scoring “proficient” but haven’t heard anyone acknowledge that the NAEP proficiency standard is actually set significantly above what is commonly understood as “proficient”. We have talked about this article from 2011 before but it bears repeating.
“Oddly, NAEP’s definition of proficiency has little or nothing to do with proficiency as most people understand the term. NAEP experts think of NAEP’s standard as ‘aspirational.’ In 2001, two experts associated with NAEP’s National Assessment Governing Board (Mary Lynne Bourque, staff to the governing board, and Susan Loomis, a member of the governing board) made it clear that:
“'[T]he proficient achievement level does not refer to ‘at grade’ performance. Nor is performance at the Proficient level synonymous with ‘proficiency’ in the subject. That is, students who may be considered proficient in a subject, given the common usage of the term, might not satisfy the requirements for performance at the NAEP achievement level.’
“Far from supporting the NAEP ‘proficient’ level as an appropriate benchmark for student accomplishment, many analysts endorse the NAEP ‘basic’ level as the appropriate standard.”