In a standards-based grading system, proficiency levels communicate a student’s progress toward learning expectations. Clear proficiency levels and descriptors help ensure that student performance is interpreted consistently across classrooms, schools, and reporting tools.
In Forefront, proficiency language and color schemes can be set at the account level, whether for a school district or an individual school. This helps provide consistent descriptors that align with how educators in your district describe learning progressions.
Language can also be customized for reporting to families. By default, family-facing reports use the same proficiency language configured for your Forefront account. However, family letters, report cards, and other reports can use language specific to an assessment system, report card framework, or other local reporting needs.
Before You Begin
Forefront uses assessment evidence aligned to standards to calculate student proficiency. For that information to be meaningful, districts should establish shared definitions for what each proficiency level represents. Without clear definitions, the same body of evidence may be interpreted differently by different educators.
Before configuring proficiency levels in Forefront, bring together the appropriate district and instructional leaders to establish a shared understanding of proficiency.
Consider:
What does each proficiency level represent in terms of student understanding?
What distinguishes one level from the next?
What evidence demonstrates proficiency?
How should students move from one proficiency level to another?
How will these expectations be communicated to teachers, students, and families?
Step 1: Define Your Proficiency Levels
Many districts use four proficiency levels. For example:
Well Below Basic
Below Basic
Basic
Proficient
Districts may also choose to include an additional level, such as Advanced. The specific terminology is less important than ensuring that each level has a clear and consistently understood meaning.
Step 2: Develop Clear Descriptors
For each proficiency level, develop a descriptor that defines the evidence of student learning expected at that level. Strong descriptors should be:
Clear and easy to interpret
Based on observable evidence of student learning
Aligned to standards and learning expectations
Meaningfully different from one level to the next
For example:
Basic: Demonstrates partial understanding and applies the skill with support.
Proficient: Demonstrates consistent understanding and independently applies the skill as expected.
Advanced: Demonstrates understanding beyond grade-level expectations in ways that extend the standard.
The difference between proficiency levels should reflect meaningful differences in student understanding, rather than minor variations in performance.
Step 3: Consider the Language You Use
Proficiency levels and descriptors are customizable in Forefront. Districts can use terminology that aligns with local curriculum, instructional practices, and reporting expectations.
For example, districts may use language such as:
Simple Progression
Beginning
Developing
Meeting
Exceeding
Standards-Based
Emerging Understanding
Approaching Standard
Meeting Standard
Exceeding Standard
Understanding
Limited Understanding
Partial Understanding
Consistent Understanding
Extended Understanding
Instructional
Needs Support
Developing Independence
Independent Application
Advanced Application
Helpful Tip: Consider how proficiency language will be understood by educators, students, and families. Your district may choose to use different language to support classroom practice than what is shared with families. However, using consistent terminology within the platform and across family-facing reports can improve clarity and support a shared understanding of learning progressions.
Step 4: Norm Expectations Across Educators
Clear descriptors are an important starting point, but districts should also provide opportunities for educators to develop a shared understanding of how those descriptors apply to student work.
A simple norming process might include:
Review the descriptor for a proficiency level.
Review examples of student work.
Ask educators to independently determine the appropriate proficiency level.
Compare and discuss responses.
Identify differences in interpretation.
Refine descriptors or scoring guidance as needed.
This process can help improve consistency across classrooms and schools and identify areas where additional guidance may be needed.
Consider Whether You Need an Advanced Level
Before adding an Advanced proficiency level, consider what the level will mean and how evidence of advanced performance will be collected. Many curricular programs are designed to assess whether students have met grade-level expectations, rather than whether they have exceeded them. Depending on your instructional programs and assessment systems, defining performance beyond grade-level expectations can require significant additional work, including:
Defining what performance beyond proficiency looks like
Developing or refining standards progressions and descriptors
Ensuring assessments provide opportunities for students to demonstrate advanced understanding
Establishing shared expectations across educators
Consider:
Is an Advanced level necessary for the purpose of your grading and reporting system?
What evidence will distinguish Advanced from Proficient?
Are students given opportunities to demonstrate this level of understanding?
Can educators apply the distinction consistently?
For some districts, developing a clear and consistent definition of proficiency may be a more important first step than adding an additional performance level.
Review Your Proficiency Framework
Before implementation, review your proficiency framework with these questions in mind:
Clarity: Are the levels clearly defined?
Consistency: Can educators apply the expectations similarly?
Accuracy: Do the levels represent meaningful differences in student learning?
Manageability: Is the framework practical for teachers to use?
Communication: Will students and families understand what the levels mean?
Using Proficiency Levels in Forefront
Once your district has established its proficiency framework, Forefront can be configured to reflect your district’s terminology and performance expectations.
Proficiency levels are used throughout Forefront to help educators understand student performance by standard and communicate that information through reports and other tools.
Learn more about how standards proficiency is calculated in Forefront in How Standards Proficiency Is Calculated.
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