We estimate each state's actual standards by comparing the percentage of students the state identifies as proficient based on its own assessments with the percentage of the students in the state NAEP identifies as proficient. (educationnext.org)
But whatever one thinks of NAEP's definition of proficiency, nothing in Harvey's article begins to touch on the central point of our essay: U.S. states, by committing themselves to implement Common Core State Standards, have promised to set standards benchmarked at international levels, while in fact they have put into place actual standards at diverse — and embarrassingly low — proficiency levels. (educationnext.org)