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Meaning of 'Proficient' on Common Core Tests Varies by State

Ohio seems to have taken a page from Lake Wobegon, where all the children are above average.

Ohio seems to have taken a page from Lake Wobegon, where all the children are above average.

 

Last month, state officials releasing an early batch of test scores declared that two-thirds of students at most grade levels were proficient on reading and math tests given last spring under the new Common Core requirements.

 

Yet similar scores on the same tests meant something quite different in Illinois, where education officials said only about a third of students were on track. And in Massachusetts, typically one of the strongest academic performers, the state said about half of the students who took the same tests as Ohio’s children met expectations.

 

It all came down to the different labels each state used to describe the exact same scores on the same tests.

 

That kind of inconsistency in educational standards is what the Common Core — academic guidelines for kindergarten through high school reading and math that were adopted by more than 40 states — was intended to redress. But Ohio is not alone in adjusting the goal posts. In California and North Carolina, state officials reporting headline results lumped together groups of students who either passed or nearly passed the tests. And in Florida, the education commissioner recommended passing rates less stringent than in other states.

 

Caroline Cournoyer is GOVERNING's senior web editor.
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