The other day, I watched a documentary about the American school system. A term that came up again and again was "reading at grade level" and how many students could not do it. I don't know the documentary anymore, but here are two links which contain similar claims (search the linked pages for "grade level").
I can think of two possible meanings:
- It means that you can read at the same level as an average person in your grade. So for example, if you are in 7th grade, you can read as well as the average 7th-grader.
- It means that you can read at the same as someone in grade school, which is another term for elementary school (?)
It think it's the first option, but then the claims that someone can't read at grade level doesn't seem so bad anymore:
- There will always be people who perform below average for their age, that just follows from the definition of average.
- If someone is in 12th grade, but can only read as well as the average 11th-grader, they would be reading below grade level, but they could surely read enough to get by on a day-to-day basis.
So, can someone clear this up for me? What is meant when they say "a quarter of high school seniors read below grade level"?
Edit: The "possible duplicate" does not answer my question, because it does not give a definition of grade level, especially not with respect to reading.
Best Answer
There are two main approaches to group testing -- criterion based testing and normative testing.
Criterion based testing establishes a series of standards that are meant to measure competence on a given task or in a given field. To be a good driver, you must successfully complete x number of tasks out of a total of x+y tasks. The number of people who successfully complete the overall test is independent of what any particular subject or group of subjects do. Out of ten test-takers, none may pass, ten may pass, or any number in between. Being at an acceptable level is based on the criteria set by the test designers.
Normative testing compares a test taker with other test takers and reports his or her standing based on the performance of the group. If an exam of 100 questions has half the test-takers score at or above 75 correct answers and half below, 75 correct answers is the 50th percentile (50%ile, also known as the median, a certain type of average). But on the next test, if half the test takers score above 40 correct answers and the rest below, on the second test, the 50%ile is 40 correct.
In many districts in the US, schools (and students) have traditionally been ranked based on their percentile scores that are derived from looking at a very large nationwide pool of test-takers.
The problem is that, unlike Lake Wobegone, not all of our children are above average. By definition. Unfortunately, in the past people often equated the median score, 50%ile, with grade level.
But if next year, if we work to improve our schools and succeed, and get many more of our students answering many more questions correctly, they have more overall knowledge and skill, but 50% of them are still below the median score! Or, if all teachers did a lousy job and kids learned much less, the median would drop and 50% of all the kids would still rank above the median score. This would result in a constantly shifting grade level. And that would mean that half our students (out of the whole pool) were always below grade level. This is the ultimate grading on the curve. And it often leads to complaints from the broader community that children are being passed through schools but do not seem to have mastered enough fundamental skills.
Criterion testing seeks to establish a base level of success -- if you get a score of x in a given set of challenges, you are considered acceptably proficient. That doesn't mean perfect, or expert. It means acceptable. Such standard setting is hard, but it is objective, at least as to measurement. And it is no guarantee that the criteria or the acceptable level of success was wisely chosen. But it doesn't change based on who is taking the test and how well they do in a given year.
Most schools now tend to use criterion based measures to describe grade level. There is much controversy, especially as changes in testing lead to reports of achievement that seems to slip, but is often just reporting something different.