In a proficiency-based system, students earn their diploma by demonstrating mastery of skill and content. Rhode Island has proficiency-based graduation requirements (PBGRs) where by proficiency is defined as a level of knowledge and skills that are expected to be learned signaling that a student is well prepared to progress to the next lesson, grade level, or to receive a diploma. Mastery can be demonstrated through multiple venues, including but not limited to formative assessment, summative assessments, locally-designed assessments, performance assessments, and state and national standardized assessment. The specific course, experience, and demonstration of mastery requirements are determined by local LEA policy, but must represent the state-adopted high school content standards adopted by the Rhode Island Council of Elementary and Secondary Education in the six core content areas of:
- English Language Arts
- Mathematics
- Science
- Social Studies
- Arts
- Technology
Why are Proficiency-based Graduation Requirements (PBGRs) important?
PBGRs assure that when students show mastery in the cross-curricular skills and knowledge in the core content areas and, consequently, receive a high school diploma, they meet the vision for a RI graduate. A Rhode Island graduate is well prepared for postsecondary education, work, and life. He or she can think critically and collaboratively and can act as a creative, self-motivated, culturally competent learner and citizen.
PBGRs are required under the RI Secondary School Regulations. The Secondary School Regulations, approved by the Council on Elementary and Secondary Education in 2016, require schools to have PBGRs to determine student proficiency and readiness for graduation. This means that diplomas must be issued based on demonstrated proficiency in the six core content areas of mathematics, English language arts, science, the arts, social studies, and technology. The level of proficiency in the six core content areas for graduation purposes is determined locally. For the purposes of graduation, proficiency is not based on a particular test, but rather demonstrated through successful completion of coursework and the performance based diploma assessment (senior project, portfolio, capstone product, or exhibition). Local policy may outline additional graduation requirements beyond the statewide minimum graduation requirements.
Rhode Island Proficiency Framework
Through the RI Learning Champions project, RIDE created a model Proficiency Framework, inclusive of content area and cross-curricular Graduation Proficiencies.
Scoring Criteria
Important Terms
Graduation Proficiencies: Focus instruction on the most foundational, enduring, and high leverage concepts and skills within a discipline.
Performance Indicators: Describe or define what students need to know and be able to do to demonstrate mastery of a Graduation Proficiency. Performance Indicators are measurable and, in aggregate, with other, related performance indicators, they measure whether a student has met the Graduation Proficiency.
Scoring Criteria: Describe the quality of evidence at different levels of achievement for each performance indicator. Common scoring criteria establish a clear definition of achievement of the essential skills and knowledge defined in performance indicators that is shared by teachers, students, and families. By providing descriptions of different levels of performance, common scoring criteria promote consistent expectations.
Through the RI Learning Champions project, RIDE created a model Proficiency Framework, inclusive of content area and cross-curricular Graduation Proficiencies. (View this content as a printable PDF.) An example of a content Graduation Proficiency is shown below:
The title and description of Graduation Proficiency #1 for ELA, Reading Literature, are to the left center of the example, and all proficiencies for the discipline are listed to the right center. Proficiencies are statements within broad categories that elicit the essential content and skills in each curriculum area that students must know and be able to demonstrate by graduation. Each content area has between 5 and 10 Graduation Proficiencies. In RIDE’s sample model, by showing evidence of proficiency for each Graduation Proficiency, students would meet their school’s requirements for graduation.
The table at the bottom shows a sample of the Performance Indicators associated with Proficiency #1 for ELA. Performance Indicators are used to assess whether or not a student has met the Graduation Proficiency associated with those indicators. In this model, Performance Indicators are grouped by grade span (K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12). The high school Performance Indicators inform determinations of student proficiency and graduation readiness. The elementary and middle school grade span Performance Indicators provide learning progression milestones, and encourage schools to frame PBGRs as the outcome of a larger, K-12 Proficiency-Based Learning system.
Scoring Criteria describe the levels of proficiency for each Performance Indicator. Scoring criteria are used to create rubrics for summative assessment and support continued instruction for students. In the RI Proficiency Framework, there are four levels of scoring criteria (Beginning, Developing Proficient, and Expanding) for each Performance Indicator. It is important to note that scoring criteria are task neutral, meaning that the criteria can be applied to a variety of tasks and assessments, and are not dependent on just one assessment or assessment type. Shown below is an example of the Scoring Criteria for ELA Performance Indicator #1A for grades K-2:
In addition to being assessed against content area proficiencies, students are required to demonstrate mastery of cross-curricular skills. Cross-curricular skills are the cross-content skill-based standards students are expected to learn and acquire over the course of their K-12 education, including communication, problem-solving, critical thinking, research, reflection and evaluation, and collaboration. These skills are not assessed in isolation, but instead are demonstrated over a body of evidence collected across multiple curriculum areas. Performance Indicators for cross-curricular skills are viewed as being relevant to K-12 students although demonstration of proficiency in a given cross-curricular skill (like the ability to work collaboratively) would look different for a kindergartener than it would for a twelfth grader. Therefore, cross-curricular skills are not separated by grade cluster, just as they are not differentiated by content area. An example of the cross-curricular proficiencies is shown below:
Building Resources to Support Proficiency-Based Learning
The Rhode Island Learning Champions project, a collaborative effort of the Rhode Island Department of Education and the Great Schools Partnership, brought together outstanding Rhode Island educators and administrators to build the components of a proficiency-based learning system. The goal of this effort, funded by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, is to support high quality proficiency-based learning from K to 12 to ensure every graduate can think critically and collaboratively and can act as a creative, self-motivated, culturally competent learner and citizen in order to be prepared for post-secondary education, work, and life.
View the Rhode Island Learning Champions Timeline
Proficiency-Based Learning Resources
Proficiency-based learning is designed to identify and address gaps in learning to provide equitable learning opportunities for every student. To ensure that all students succeed in meeting learning targets, educators provide more personalized learning opportunities and supports and allow students to learn at varying times and places, assess their learning when they are ready, and progress at their own pace. This is a contrast to traditional systems which advance students based on seat time. Read more:
Performance Assessment
Educators use a diverse array of assessment tools to measure a student's comprehension of specific elements of learning. While standardized tests measure how well students have mastered specific knowledge and skills through a series of questions, performance assessments typically require students to complete a complex task, such as a writing assignment, science experiment, speech, presentation, performance, or long-term project, to demonstrate mastery of the topic. Rhode Island has a performance-based diploma assessment graduation requirement, defined as a multifaceted assignment that serves as a culminating demonstration of student’s cross-curricular and content area knowledge, such as a graduation portfolio, senior project or other capstone product.
Reading and Materials
Note: Competency and proficiency-based learning are used interchangeably in the resources below. The readings and resources listed below are not exhaustive, but were key resources to the RI Learning Champions in exploring and understanding Proficiency-Based Learning more deeply.
Proficiency-Based Learning Resources
Organizations and tools that support proficiency-based learning.