Student Assessment
PSAE Social Science Performance Definitions
(This subject was assessed 2001 through 2004)
Introduction
The Prairie State Achievement Examination (PSAE), which was administered to Illinois grade 11 public school students for the first time in spring 2001, assesses the high school benchmarks defined by the Illinois Learning Standards. Student performance on the PSAE is evaluated relative to four levels: Exceeds Standards, Meets Standards, Below Standards, and Academic Warning.
The work of students at each performance level is summarized in the following profiles:
- Exceeds Standards – Student work demonstrates advanced
knowledge and skills in the subject. Students creatively apply
knowledge and skills to solve problems and evaluate the results..
- Meets Standards – Student work demonstrates proficient knowledge and skills in the subject. Students effectively apply knowledge and skills to solve problems.
- Below Standards – Student work demonstrates basic
knowledge and skills in the subject. However, because of gaps
in learning, students apply knowledge and skills in limited ways.
- Academic Warning – Student work demonstrates limited knowledge and skills in the subject. Because of major gaps in learning, students apply knowledge and skills ineffectively.
Examples are provided only as guidance and are not meant to be exhaustive.
The PSAE social science test is a multiple-choice assessment that measures the Illinois Learning Standards contained in State Goals 14 through 18:
- political systems;
- economic systems;
- events, trends, individuals, and movements shaping the history of Illinois, the United States, and other nations;
- world geography and the effects of geography on society;
- social systems.
Student work at the Exceeds Standards level demonstrates advanced knowledge and thorough mastery of the skills of the social science disciplines. These students creatively apply their knowledge and skills within and across disciplines to solve problems and forge comprehensive, evaluative judgments. They demonstrate well-developed analytic, synthetic, and evaluative skills that can be applied to a variety of contexts.
Political Systems
Students whose performance exceeds the Standards analyze the relationships
between the roles and responsibilities of local, state, and national
governments and the public goods and services each provide. They
explain and compare the purpose of rules and laws and their impact
on citizens. Students at this level demonstrate a clear understanding
of how rights and responsibilities are grounded in the principle
of limited government as expressed by the federal and state constitutions
and the Declaration of Independence. They compare how and why the
participation of individuals and groups in elections and other public
actions has changed over time. Students whose performance exceeds
the Standards evaluate the impact of media and lobbyists on public
policy at a variety of government levels. They form generalizations
about causes and consequences of such activities. They evaluate
relationships between the United States and a variety of other nations
and between the United States and international organizations. They
compare and evaluate the origin of significant political ideas and
traditions to those that are found in the United States today. They
demonstrate an advanced understanding of the causes of change, such
as the dissolution of monarchies, the expansion of participatory
democracy, and the extension of civil rights, in political systems.
Economic Systems
Students whose performance exceeds the Standards analyze and explain
how national economies vary in the extent that government and private
markets help allocate goods, services, and resources. They explain
and analyze the relationship between productivity and wages. These
students analyze graphs, charts, and other sources of data to draw
reasoned conclusions. They identify the meaning and explain the
importance of the balance of trade and how trade surpluses and deficits
between nations are determined. They analyze reasons why government
policies and laws affecting the economy, such as tariffs, taxes,
and environmental regulations, have changed over time. They demonstrate
an advanced understanding of economic concepts, such as depression,
unemployment, inflation, and capital.
History
Students whose performance exceeds the Standards analyze historical
events to identify cause-and-effect relationships. They compare
and evaluate competing historical interpretations of an event. Students
whose performance exceeds the Standards analyze historical and contemporary
developments using methods of historical inquiry. They analyze and
develop the relationships among an event, where it took place, and
its time period. They compare and analyze institutions, customs,
and traditions that have characterized past societies and the effect
of these upon society today.
Geography
Students whose performance exceeds the Standards use maps, globes,
and other geographic representations and tools to answer complex
geographic questions. They analyze human interaction with the environment
and how the physical and human characteristics of a region change
over time. They discern and evaluate the potential consequences
of a variety of human interaction with the environment in a geographic
context. They analyze and evaluate data that supports appropriate
alternative causes and consequences of actions.
Social Systems
Students whose performance exceeds the Standards analyze and evaluate
the influence of cultural factors, including customs, traditions,
language, media, art, and architecture, in the development of pluralistic
societies. These students analyze various forms of institutions
and major cultural exchanges of the past. They analyze the influence
of worldwide communications on major contemporary cultural.
Student work at the Meets Standards level demonstrates proficient knowledge and mastery of the essential skills of the social science disciplines. These students apply their knowledge and skills within and across disciplines to identify problems and make limited analytic comparisons and judgments. They are developing analytic, synthetic, and evaluative skills that they apply to a limited number of contexts.
Political Systems
Students whose performance meets the Standards analyze the relationships
between the roles and responsibilities of local, state, and national
governments and the public goods and services each provide. They
explain and compare the purpose of rules and laws. Students at this
level demonstrate an understanding of how rights and responsibilities
are grounded in the principle of limited government as expressed
by the federal and state constitutions and the Declaration of Independence.
They demonstrate an understanding of how the participation of individuals
and groups in elections and other public actions has changed over
time. They identify and explain the impact of media and lobbyists
on public policy. They describe relationships between the United
States and other nations and between the United States and international
organizations. These students explain the origin of significant
political ideas and traditions that are found in the United States.
They explain the causes of change over time in political systems,
such as the dissolution of monarchies, the expansion of participatory
democracy, and the extension of civil rights.
Economic Systems
Students whose performance exceeds the Standards explain how national
economies vary in the extent that government and private markets
help allocate goods, services, and resources. They identify the
relationship between productivity and wages. They demonstrate an
understanding of graphs, charts, and other sources of data and draw
some reasonable conclusions. These students explain the meaning
and importance of the balance of trade, how trade surpluses and
deficits between nations are determined, and how government policies
and laws affecting the economy, such as tariffs, taxes, and environmental
regulations, have changed over time. They demonstrate an understanding
of basic economic concepts such as depression, unemployment, inflation,
and capital.
History
Students who meet the Standards analyze historical events to determine
cause-and-effect relationships. They compare competing historical
interpretations of an event. Students who meet the Standards explain
historical and contemporary developments using methods of historical
inquiry. They analyze the relationships between an event, where
it took place, and its time period. They identify institutions,
customs, and traditions that have characterized past societies.
Geography
Students who meet the Standards use maps, globes, and other geographic
representations and tools to answer complex geographic questions.
These students demonstrate an understanding of specific instances
of human interaction with the environment and how the physical and
human characteristics of a region change over time.
Social Systems
Students who meet the Standards explain the influence of cultural
factors such as customs, traditions, language, media, art, and architecture
in the development of pluralistic societies. They explain various
forms of institutions and major cultural exchanges of the past.
They demonstrate an understanding of how major contemporary cultural
exchanges are influenced by worldwide communications.
Student work at the Below Standards level demonstrates a basic mastery of the knowledge and skills of the social science disciplines. However, because of gaps in their learning, these students apply their knowledge and skills in limited ways within and across disciplines. They seldom use comparisons and generalizations to form judgments or develop opinions. These students lack the analytic, synthetic, and evaluative skills to apply to a variety of contexts.
Political Systems
Students whose performance is below the Standards differentiate
between local, state, and national offices and the public goods
and services governments provide, but they do not demonstrate clear
understanding of the roles and responsibilities of each. They explain
the function of rules and laws, but demonstrate difficulty in analyzing
the purpose of the law. These students identify some of their rights
and responsibilities and the sources of their rights, but lack a
clear understanding of the principles of limited government expressed
in the federal and state constitutions and the Declaration of Independence.
Students performing below the Standards do not identify or explain
how the participation of individuals and groups in elections has
changed over time. They identify the main impact of media and lobbyists
on public policy. They demonstrate an unclear understanding of the
relationships between the United States and other nations and between
the United States and international organizations. Students at the
Below Standards level identify the origin of significant political
ideas and traditions that are found in the United States. They demonstrate
only a rudimentary understanding of the causes of change, such as
the dissolution of monarchies, the expansion of participatory democracy,
and the extension of civil rights, in political systems.
Economic Systems
Students whose performance is below the Standards identify some
of the major mechanisms causing national economies to vary the extent
that government and private markets help allocate goods, services,
and resources. These students demonstrate only partial and rudimentary
understanding of the relationship between productivity and wages.
They draw limited conclusions from graphs, charts, and other sources
of data. They demonstrate a limited understanding of the meaning
and importance of the balance of trade and how trade surpluses and
deficits between nations are determined. They identify only well-known
examples of how government policies and laws affecting the economy,
such as tariffs, taxes, and environmental regulations, have changed
over time and of basic economic concepts, such as depression, unemployment,
inflation, and capital.
History
Students whose performance is below the Standards identify some
historical events to determine cause-and-effect relationships. They
describe simplistic, competing historical interpretations of an
event and identify a few competing historical interpretations of
an event. Students performing at the Below Standards level identify
the relationship between an event, where it took place, and its
time period. They identify only a few of the institutions, customs,
and traditions that have characterized past societies.
Geography
Students whose performance is below the Standards use maps, globes,
and other geographic representations and tools to answer geographic
questions. They identify common examples of human interaction with
the environment. They demonstrate basic understanding of how the
common physical and human characteristics of a region change over
time.
Social Systems
Students who are performing below the Standards identify the influence
of cultural factors that are personally familiar to them, including
customs, traditions, language, media, art, and architecture in developing
pluralistic societies. They identify some of the more well-known
forms of institutions and major cultural exchanges of the past.
Students performing at the Below Standards level identify some of
the major contemporary cultural exchanges as influenced by worldwide
communications
Student work at the Academic Warning level demonstrates limited mastery of the knowledge and skills of the social science disciplines. Because of major gaps in their learning, these students apply their knowledge and skills ineffectively within and across disciplines to solve problems. Comparisons and generalizations are seldom used to form judgments or develop opinions. They lack both knowledge and analytic, synthetic, and evaluative skills.
Political Systems
Students whose performance is at the Academic Warning level do not
differentiate between local, state, and national offices and the
public goods and services governments provide. They explain the
function of some rules and laws but encounter difficulty in explaining
the purpose of the law. Students at this level demonstrate knowledge
of some of their rights and responsibilities but identify the sources
of only some of these rights. They do not demonstrate a clear understanding
of how individual and group participation in elections has changed
over time. They do not demonstrate a clear understanding of the
impact of media and lobbyists on public policy. They describe relationships
between the United States and other nations or between the United
States and international organizations only in basic, simplistic
terms. They identify only a few of the major political ideas and
traditions that are found in the United States and do not demonstrate
understanding of the origin of most traditions. They demonstrate
only a rudimentary understanding of the causes of change, such as
the dissolution of monarchies, the expansion of participatory democracy,
and the extension of civil rights, in political systems.
Economic Systems
Students at the Academic Warning level demonstrate a rudimentary
understanding of how national economies vary in the extent that
government and private markets help allocate goods, services, and
resources. They do not explain the relationship between productivity
and wages. They draw some conclusions from simple graphs, charts,
or other sources of data. They identify only a few major examples
of economic interdependence, such as investment, trade, and use
of technology, in a global economy. Most students performing at
the Academic Warning level do not demonstrate a clear understanding
of the meaning and importance of the balance of trade and how trade
surpluses and deficits between nations are determined. They do not
identify basic economic concepts, such as depression, unemployment,
inflation, and capital.
History
Students who perform at the Academic Warning level explain only
the most obvious significance of well-known historical events in
determining cause-and-effect relationships. They identify few historical
and contemporary developments and do not demonstrate an understanding
of methods of historical inquiry. They demonstrate only simplistic
understand of the relationship between well-known historical events,
where they took place, and their time period. They identify few
institutions, customs, and traditions that have characterized past
societies.
Geography
Students at the Academic Warning level use maps, globes, or other
geographic representations or tools, but based on their use answer
only straightforward geographic questions. They identify some well-known
examples of human interaction with the environment. They demonstrate
only a rudimentary understanding of how the physical and human characteristics
of a region change over time.
Social Systems
Students at the Academic Warning level identify a few everyday examples
of the influence of cultural factors including customs, traditions,
language, media, art, and architecture in developing pluralistic
societies. They do not demonstrate a clear understanding of the
various forms of institutions, major cultural exchanges of the past,
or major contemporary cultural exchanges as influenced by worldwide
communications.
