
Student test score descriptions get a makeover: Advanced, Proficient, Developing, Minimal
The State Board of Education on Wednesday approved new labels to inform families and teachers about how students are performing on state standardized tests, aiming to provide clear descriptions that will not be demoralizing for lower-performing students.
Student scores will be ranked in one of four categories on California's annual tests in math, reading and science. The new categories will be: Advanced, Proficient, Developing and Minimal.
The old categories being replaced are: Standard Exceeded; Standard Met; Standard Nearly Met, or Standard Not Met.
In the 7-h6664 vote, the board majority rejected labels recommended by staff from the California Dept. of Education, which had conducted two rounds of focus groups.
Rob Manwaring, who was part of a coalition of nine groups that had raised concerns about earlier labels, was cautiously optimistic.
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 had expressed strong concern over labels for the lowest two groups that had been proposed in November: Foundational and Inconsistent.
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. Focus groups in December and January reinforced the objections to Foundational and Inconsistent, according to a staff report.
Instead, state education department staff changed direction and recommended Basic and Below Basic for the lower two levels. These labels had the broadest support within focus groups of students, parents, teachers, testing coordinators and advocates.
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. The proposed labels also are in common use on tests in other states.
But members of the appointed state board did not fall in line.
'Labels matter,' said Francisco Escobedo. 'We see our kids as continual learners.' Below Basic suggests failure, he said. 'Emerging is a more fitting word.' He noted that Emerging is used for lowest level on a state test of assessing how well non-English-speaking students are learning English.
But a staff member pushed back — saying that a term to capture a student who is just starting to learn English is different from a description of a student's academic skills.
Other board members were not won over by Escobedo's suggested term. But they shared his concern over negativity.
'I also had a visceral reaction to the word Basic,' said Haydee Rodriguez, who added that students use the word basic as a slang insult, a revelation that caused board President Linda Darling-Hammond to take pause.
Board member Cynthia Glover Woods first suggested Minimal for the lowest category. Another suggestion brought forward for the lowest scorers was Beginning.
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.
Among those who voted no on the new labels, board member Alison Yoshimoto-Towery felt the discussion was being unnecessarily curtailed. Escobedo said the new labels remained too harsh. Gabriela Orozco Gonzalez said the views of students and parents in the focus groups should be respected — they apparently had no issue with the word Basic.
Disappointing scores, regardless of label
Even if the board had opted for the NAEP-style labels, they would not have been interchangeable across the tests.
In general, the NAEP labels represent a more rigorous grading standard, with a higher threshold for achieving a rating of Proficient or Advanced. These higher levels are harder to achieve on NAEP than on California tests concluded research that compared state tests with the national NAEP exams.
NAEP results remain low nationwide and in California and have generally failed to recover from the pre-pandemic levels of 2019. Math and English test scores of fourth- and eighth-graders largely held steady or declined nationwide over the last two years — results that were about the same in Los Angeles and California.
Not only are few students scoring as Advanced or Proficient, but fewer are achieving NAEP's version of a Basic ranking, the next level down.
On the most recent results from this test, for example, the percentage of L.A. students who scored as Proficient or better in fourth-grade math was 27%. For California it was 35%.
In fourth-grade reading, 25% of L.A. students tested as proficient or better. California's rate was 29%.
On California's tests, student proficiency rates are higher, but still widely trailing pre-pandemic achievement levels that themselves were considered unacceptable at the time.
Overall, the state tests offer a more precise check than NAEP on what students in California are supposed to be learning. The NAEP test, in contrast, tests a small sample of students to allow for state-to-state comparisons.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Minnesota state representative admits she is in the US illegally during legislative debate
A Minnesota State lawmaker told her colleagues on Monday that she is in the U.S. illegally, as is her family, and have been since fleeing Vietnam after the Vietnam War. Rep. Kaohly Vang Her attended a special session of the Minnesota Legislature convened by Gov. Tim Walz on Monday, where lawmakers were debating about modifying MinnesotaCare eligibility for undocumented adult immigrants. While arguments were being made, Her used the opportunity to share the story of how she arrived in the U.S., telling her colleagues that she is an illegal immigrant. Her said she has been spending a lot of time with her father, who brought the family to the U.S. at the end of the Vietnam War. At one point, she asked her father how he brought the family to the U.S. Colombian Woman Charged With Illegally Voting In 2024 Election Stealing $400,000 In Taxpayer Funded Benefits She previously believed that her family was granted entry into the U.S. because her grandfather was a colonel in the war. But her father told her that was not true. Read On The Fox News App Her father worked for the U.S. Consulate, Her said, and was one of the few there who could speak English and type "really fast." Her said her father had moved to the consulate away from the refugee camp she, her mother and sisters lived at, and his job was to process all the paperwork for the refugees who came to America. Proposed Bill Would Require Law Enforcement In Blue State To Cooperate With Ice: 'A Line Of Communication' While working at the U.S. Consulate, Her's family missed their opportunity to go to the U.S. three times, and there was one more time that they could attempt to go to the U.S. Her told her mother they must have been lucky, but her mom said it was not luck. "We did not have our names on that list to come to the U.S.," Her said, explaining that there was no priority for children of someone who worked for the CIA. "The only people that had names to come to the U.S. were if you were … in the military and you worked for the CIA or worked for USAID." Her's parents worked for a Christian organization, which also did not count. But they were able to find a way by fudging the paperwork, to get to the U.S. 'Shameful': Legal Immigrants Face Uphill Battle Amid Ongoing Border Crisis "What my father did was, one of our uncles worked for USAID, and because his mother had died, my father, as the one processing the paperwork, put my grandmother down as his mother," Her said. "And so, I am illegal in this country. My parents are illegal here in this country. And when we were fleeing that situation, never one time did my family say, 'Let's look at which state has the greatest welfare and which state has the greatest benefits, because that's the state we're going to go to.'" "Nobody leaves their country unless they have to leave that country," she added. Her told the room of lawmakers she shared the story because she wanted them to think about who they are calling illegal immigrants. Her's family was "smarter" in how they came to the U.S., she said, although they broke the laws to get into the country. "I never knew that," she said. "I just learned that now. So, when you're thinking about voting no on this bill, you're voting no against someone like me who paid more into this country than it has ever given to me, that the blood of my grandfather, who died for democracy, that he never received benefits being in this country, and yet he paid taxes his entire life into it." Her's office did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment on the matter. Still, Her asked her colleagues to give everyone the same opportunity her family had, however they got to the U.S. "They didn't want to leave where they were," she said. "We are not looking to what state is going to give us the best benefits. We're looking to just be alive."Original article source: Minnesota state representative admits she is in the US illegally during legislative debate


Boston Globe
2 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Hundreds rally in Providence to protest ICE, immigration raids
Protestors first gathered outside the Providence Federal Center in a peaceful demonstration that began at 6 p.m. The crowd began moving through the city soon after, shouting 'Abolish ICE' and holding signs with expletives in English and Spanish. Related : Hundreds of people gathered in Providence, R.I., on Monday, June 9, 2025, to protest immigration activity and ICE. Alexa Gagosz A participant speaks during a protest against immigration activity in Providence, R.I., on Monday, June 9, 2025. Alexa Gagosz Protesters gather in opposition to immigration raids and ICE in Providence, R.I., on Monday, June 9, 2025. Alexa Gagosz This is a developing story and will be updated. Alexa Gagosz can be reached at

Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Schiraldi out at Department of Juvenile Services, Gov. Wes Moore says
A new acting secretary will take over Maryland's Department of Juvenile Services, replacing the embattled Vincent Schiraldi, Gov. Wes Moore said in a news release late Monday. Betsy Fox Tolentino will assume the post beginning Wednesday, according to the release from the governor's office. Schiraldi had served as secretary of the department since 2023. 'We knew when we took office that the Department of Juveniles Services was one of the most troubled in all of State government. We need to continue to move fast and diligently in order to turn it around,' Moore said in a statement Monday. Tolentino comes to the government from the nonprofit The Roca Impact Institute, where she worked as the managing director of juvenile and young adult justice initiatives. She previously served the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services' Deputy Secretary of Community Operations, the statement said. 'I am thankful for Secretary Schiraldi's service to Maryland while leading an organization that shapes the lives of our young people who need support. I wish him well in his next endeavors,' said Senate President Bill Ferguson in the release from the governor's office. Schiraldi, chosen by Moore to helm an understaffed and financially mismanaged agency as firearm possession and car theft charges among Maryland youth increased, was heralded by many juvenile justice advocates as an expert in his field and an exciting pick to head the department responsible for tamping down youth crime. But his rehabilitative philosophy rattled Republican lawmakers, law enforcement, state prosecutors and members of the public who believe the state's juvenile justice system lacks oversight and accountability for children who commit crimes. Before coming to Maryland, Schiraldi founded the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice in San Francisco and the Washington-based Justice Policy Institute, which focuses on reducing the use of incarceration in the U.S. He then served as director of the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services in Washington, D.C., for five years before taking a post in New York City. 'Vinny Schiraldi brought decades of experience and innovative thinking to the task of running the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services,' Moore said in the statement. Schiraldi contended that he inherited a department riddled with problems when he was appointed secretary by Moore at the beginning of his term. According to Schiraldi, programs and services for kids in need atrophied under the previous administration after the agency returned nearly $10 million of its annual budget for the better part of a decade. When lawmakers expressed dismay that reform wasn't happening quickly enough, Schiraldi pleaded for patience. 'This is an oil tanker, not a speed boat,' Schiraldi said of the Department of Juvenile Services. Maryland's senate Republicans applauded the shake-up Monday, saying Schiraldi's outsting was 'long overdue.' 'He presided over widespread failures: violent juveniles released with no real supervision, repeated contract mismanagement, dangerous missteps in ankle monitoring, and frontline staff left to fend for themselves,' said Senate Minority Leader Steve Hershey in a statement. 'But just as damaging was his refusal to work with anyone. Law enforcement, state's attorneys, local leaders, legislators all lost confidence in his leadership.' Have a news tip? Contact Racquel Bazos at rbazos@ 443-813-0770 or on X as @rzbworks.