Achievement Level Descriptors (Abbreviated)

GRADE 4

Step 1
Students identify U.S. symbols; understand community services, local government, how needs are met, the need for and use of money, some rights and responsibilities of citizens. They know some basic landforms and bodies of water, are learning to locate information, and are beginning to read simple aids such as maps.

Progressing
Students match symbols with meanings; identify key U.S. documents, the branches of government, elements of the electoral process; and know about major changes in the U.S. They compare past and present U.S. life, know about basic concepts such as natural resources, recognize information on maps and other visual material, and find locations.

Nearing Proficiency
Students describe parts of documents; know rights and responsibilities of citizens, the democratic process, government services; identify causes and effects of events, and recognize supply and demand. They identify features and life forms of regions, know contributions of historical figures, and use time lines or graphs to make comparisons.

Proficient
Students identify purposes of documents; connect rights and responsibilities of citizens, government services, and processes to real-life situations. They apply basic economic concepts, identify problems and changes in institutions or groups, interpret visual material, justify conclusions, make decisions, compare and contrast, use multiple resources.

Advanced
Students understand democratic principles; make multiple inferences; evaluate, summarize, and categorize events and changes in the U.S. from different perspectives; support answers, and understand how geographic elements affect movement and communication. They analyze advantages and disadvantages and evaluate visual material.

GRADE 8

Step 1
Students interpret historical documents, know principles/processes of local/state/national government, know simple economic concepts such as reasons for costs. They use geographic tools (graphs/maps/illustrations), identify world sites and regions, and identify environmental consequences of the use of resources.

Progressing 
Students apply basic knowledge of government, comprehend primary sources, distinguish between truth and untruth, identify major events of U.S. and world history. They know economic terms such as taxes, distinguish geographic regions, draw conclusions, identify and apply information from given sources, and recognize fundamental social studies concepts.

Nearing Proficiency
Students recognize rights/responsibilities of citizens, purposes of key documents, similarities/differences of government systems, apply knowledge of government, use primary sources, compare time periods. They apply economic concepts such as market economy, determine relative location and cause/effect relationships in environmental issues or history.

Proficient
Students compare documents, know rights/duties of U.S. government, apply principles/process of government/documents to given scenarios, know chronology of events/inventions, explain economic concepts/relationships such as investment. They analyze geographical sources, know the impact of cultural/government interactions/changes, and the research process.

Advanced 
Students analyze principles/processes of government, know fact from opinion, place events in context, analyze economic concepts and decisions, predict outcomes of these decisions. They interpret the past, explain the present, support conclusions, justify application of principles to specific situations, communicate point of view and evaluate sources.

GRADE 11

Step 1
Students understand basic economic terms and ideas, identify basic features of world cultures, and basic ideas about events in Post-Reconstruction U.S. history and world history after 1450. They identify basic economic principles and basic information on charts, maps, graphs, and other visual material.

Progressing
Students recognize basic principles of governmental systems, interpret the roles of individuals in the work place and in the political process, and identify issues and contributions of groups in history. They identify consequences of basic economic principles and use charts, graphs, and maps to identify characteristics of geographic regions.

Nearing Proficiency
Students apply principles of government in specific situations; recognize how literature and the arts, and political and social change influence each other; distinguish fact and opinion; and recognize viewpoints in history. They identify and understand economic concepts such as surplus and economic consequences; identify regions, patterns, and trends.

Proficient
Students interpret principles of government, explain political systems, understand participation in social institutions, and know about other cultures and religions. They conclude or make predictions about events, people, places, and actions in history. They apply economic knowledge to the global economy, and interpret geographic information.

Advanced
Students evaluate principles of government systems, documents of the U.S., recognize roles/functions of international institutions, know the basis for positions on social/cultural/political issues, and make connections between events/people/places/actions. They compare/contrast effects of economic decisions, and analyze regional weather/demographic trends.