Rather than calling them below basic, basic, proficient, and advanced—labels that carry a lot of unwarranted freight—try thinking of them as four merely arbitrary levels of performance, say, level 1, level 2, level 3, and level 4. Proponents of standards-based reporting might say that this suggestion is over the top and that the standards are in some way tied to descriptions of what kids actually can do. There is some truth to that claim, but the uncomfortable fact is that the various methods used to set the performance standards can be strikingly inconsistent.
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