Index — Achievement Communication wiki

Catalog of all pages in the wiki, updated on every ingest. Each entry: link, one-line summary.

See schema.md for conventions and log.md for the operation history.

Entities

• ACT — assessment vendor; operates WorkKeys and the NCRC tier credential; runs Work Ready Communities (31 states + Guam).
• Arkansas DESE — state agency; only state in the wiki bridging NCRC into K–12 student accountability (Act 319, 2021).
• Edge Research — qualitative research firm behind both the SBAC×PTA 2022 study and the HCM/Learning Heroes report-card research.
• HCM Strategists — DC policy consultancy; partnered with Learning Heroes on the multi-state ESSA-compliant model report card.
• Illinois State Board of Education — state agency; lowered IAR cut scores in 2025 to address parent confusion.
• Learning Heroes — research/advocacy nonprofit on parent assessment literacy; "Go Beyond Grades" campaign; HCM partnership.
• National PTA — parent membership org; partners with both Smarter Balanced and Learning Heroes — a hub.
• NGLC — Next Generation Learning Challenges; champions the Portrait of a Graduate framework.
• NWEA — assessment vendor; operates MAP Growth, the dominant K–12 interim growth assessment; uses RIT scale, no proficiency bands.
• Smarter Balanced — multi-state assessment consortium; partnered with PTA on parent-reporting research.
• SpacesEDU — competency portfolio platform from myBlueprint; concrete tooling for Portrait of a Graduate.

Concepts

• Perception gap — parents systematically over-trust grades vs. assessments; named on parent and vendor sides alike.
• Portrait of a Graduate — competency-based framing of "real-world readiness"; alternative to score bands.
• Proficiency bands and cut scores — the dominant reporting mechanism, plus emerging alternatives (NWEA scale-only, NCRC tier-to-job-coverage).

Analysis

• Momentum and sentiment across the field — activity is broad and recent across research, state policy, vendor, and EdTech; almost no one measures whether what they shipped actually helps parents.

Sources

• ACT Work Ready Communities — adopter landscape — 31 states; AR/LA/NY case studies; Arkansas distinctive in K–12 integration.
• ACT WorkKeys / NCRC toolkit — score → real-world job-coverage tier credential, with Arkansas state-adopter notes.
• Chalkbeat — Illinois 2025 cut scores — ISBE lowered IAR cut scores; proficiency rates jumped without comparison data.
• HCM × Learning Heroes report-card redesign case study — multi-state model report card (SD, TX, NM, MA + CCSSO TA); Edge Research methodology.
• Learning Heroes × Gallup — B-flation (2023) — 9-in-10 parents believe child is at/above grade level; canonical perception-gap survey.
• NGLC — Portrait of a Graduate in Practice — framework + 5 district profiles; light on parent-reporting tooling.
• NWEA MAP Growth — family materials — RIT scale + percentile + growth, no bands; "ask the teacher" as recommended fallback.
• Smarter Balanced × National PTA — Findings From Virtual Focus Groups Among Parents (2022) — 5 focus groups, 29 parents (incl. Spanish-speaking); claim-level scores feel un-actionable; college-readiness framing doesn't land at K–8.
• SpacesEDU — product pages — competency portfolio + family-engagement product; concrete answer to PoG tooling gap.