California has decided upon a traffic-light theme to make test scores more interpretable to parents - probably not a bad choice in a state that's as car-crazy as California:
Parents of California's public school students can expect easier explanations this summer of how their children are performing on state standardized tests. Education officials have scrapped complicated old report cards that they said confused parents and replaced them with easier charts and color-coded guides.
In three weeks, parents of nearly 5 million students from grades two through 11 will receive the mailed Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Student Report, showing how each performed on last spring's tests.
The new two-page report will use the three colors of traffic lights to show how students are faring - green for proficient, yellow for basic and red for performance below basic, state Schools Superintendent Jack O'Connell said.
Students will also gets lists of their strengths and areas that need more focus. For the first time, the reports also will include translation guides in Spanish, Chinese, Hmong, Korean, Tagalog and Vietnamese.
Posted by kswygert at July 12, 2004 12:56 PM