All about the International Schools’ Assessment’s proficiency levels and how to use them

How are the ISA proficiency levels set? Do they relate to grade level?

ISA proficiency levels are not based on grade levels. Instead, they have been developed from ISA assessment data, which is used to plot student ability in mathematics against the item difficulty of the assessment items used in the ISA, on a single scale.

The ISA scales for Mathematical Literacy, Reading and Scientific Literacy are based on those developed for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD’s) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).* The PISA scales were used as a starting point for each of these learning areas, but have been extended downward to encompass typical skills and concepts covered at primary levels and early secondary levels using data generated from student responses to ISA questions. ACER has developed the scales for Narrative and Expository Writing.

Each of these ISA scales is divided into levels. Each level describes skills and conceptual understandings that students typically demonstrate when they are operating at that level. It is assumed that when a student is at a particular level on the ISA scale, they exhibit at least some of the conceptual understandings and skills characteristic of that level and also all or most of the skills and conceptual understandings in the levels below their current level.  

How do I know which proficiency level my students should be at?

When interpreting your ISA results, we recommended that you use your own school’s data as the reference point.

By administering the ISA regularly you can build a good picture of what is happening in your own school. You can also triangulate your ISA results with other data you have collected.

Set your own targets based on the achievement levels of your students, your school’s context and the significant factors that are likely to affect student learning in your school.

The data from all other schools and other similar schools can also give you a sense of overall achievement in the ISA and provides a guide to typical rates of growth and typical achievements at different grade levels. You will be able to see the average scale score for each grade level, which can then be linked to a proficiency level.

How can you use ISA proficiency levels to know where your students are in their learning?

Each proficiency level describes skills that students at and above that level typically demonstrate. ISA proficiency levels can help teachers to:

• understand what progression in a learning area looks like against a measured scale that gradually increases in difficulty and complexity
• understand the differences across the strands for each learning area
• target lessons to subgroups of students according to the level that they have achieved in the ISA
• plan learning activities that will equip students with the skills needed to move to the next level

For example, in this Individual Student report for Reading, you can see this student has achieved a scale score that places them in Level 5, meaning they have demonstrated that they have competency in the skills and knowledge in Level 5, and assumed mastery in Levels 1-4.

This means that we can look to Level 5 for descriptions of skills that can be consolidated, and to Level 6 to plan future learning activities. You may like to also review the student’s question-by-question performance in the Class report ISA provides. This report helps you to review each student’s performance in each strand, so you see where they may be relatively stronger or where they may need improvement.

Do you have a query about ISA proficiency levels? Contact us at isa@acer.org.

*Note that the ISA is not part of PISA and is not endorsed by the OECD.