Language Matters: Teacher and Parent Perceptions of Achievement Labels from Educational Tests

ABSTRACT

Since the standards-based assessment practices required by the No Child Left Behind legislation, almost all students in the United States are “labeled” according to their performance on educational achievement tests. In spite of their widespread use in reporting test results, research on how achievement level labels are perceived by teachers, parents, and students is minimal. In this study, we surveyed teachers (N = 51) and parents (N = 50) regarding their perceptions of 73 achievement labels (e.g., inadequate, level 2, proficient) used in statewide testing programs. These teachers and parents also sorted the labels according to their similarity. Using multidimensional scaling, we found labels used to denote the same level of performance (e.g., basic and below proficient) were perceived to differ in important ways, including in their tone and how much achievement they convey. Additionally, some labels were perceived as more encouraging or clear than others. Teachers’ and parents’ perceptions were similar, with a few exceptions. The results have important implications for reporting results that encourage, rather than discourage, student learning.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Craig Wells and Linda Tropp for their invaluable support and feedback on earlier versions of this manuscript. We also thank the two anonymous reviewers who provided detailed constructive comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ Based on estimates from G*Power (Faul, Erdfelder, Buchner, & Lang, 2009), the t-tests used to compare scale ratings had sufficient power to detect large differences (expressed in terms of Cohen’s d, or standard deviation units), but were underpowered to detect small or medium differences.

Additional information

Funding

This work was partially supported by the University of Massachusetts Amherst [Graduate School Dissertation Grant].