Word on the Beat: Proficiency
As a regular feature, The Educated Reporter features a buzzword or phrase that You Need To Know (yes, this designation is highly subjective, but we're giving it a shot). Send your Word on the Beat suggestions to erichmond@ewa.org.
What it means: In education circles, proficiency typically refers to whether a student’s academic achievement is on par with grade-level expectations. However, statistics can vary widely among schools, districts, and states because of the wide range of tests and benchmarks that are currently in place. Proficiency can also refer to whether a teacher is meeting expectations of on-the-job performance.
Why it matters: When students in the United States are compared to their peers in other countries, it is often based on the percentage of them who are meeting or exceeding the standards for proficiency on international exams in core subjects like reading, writing, math and science. Having a national concept of “proficiency” is a key element of the new Common Core State Standards, which were initially approved by 46 states and the District of Columbia. With a common set of expectations, it would theoretically make it easier to compare student performance from state to state.
Who’s talking about it: Mike Petrilli, a vice president at the conservative Thomas B. Fordham Institute in Washington, D.C., is wondering whether it’s time to retire proficiency as a measurement of a school’s achievement and replace it instead with a more flexible model that recognizes growth – that is, how far students progress over the course of an academic year compared with where they started. (It’s worth