CA high schools give students color-coded IDs based on test scores.

[madfloridian]

According to this article nearly all the privileges they have at school are based on these IDs based on test scores. A professor is alarmed, state officials call it illegal. However the schools are saying it works.

From the OC Register:

Principal defends color-coded IDs; expert 'horrified'


Kennedy High sophomore Samantha Lopp holds two of the school-issued planners. At left is the white and at right is the gold. The planners come in one of three colors based on a student's performance on the California Standards Tests.
CHRISTINE COTTER, FOR ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

The criteria for the 3 color coded IDs.

Color-coding criteria

At the beginning of the school year, Kennedy and Cypress high school students received one of three color-coded ID cards, based on performance on the California Standards Tests. Student scores on these exams fall into one of five categories – advanced, proficient, basic, below basic and far below basic.

Black/platinum cards: Students must score "advanced" in all subject areas tested.

Gold cards: Students must score "proficient" or "advanced" in all subject areas tested. Students with a white card who improve their scores in at least two subject areas by at least one level (i.e. moving from "far below basic" to "below basic") also qualify for a gold card.

White/regular cards: Students who don't score "proficient" or above in all tested subject areas receive a white card. This category includes those who score "far below basic," "below basic" and "basic" in all subject areas. But it also can include those who score "basic" or below in just one subject area – unless they have met the improvement criteria necessary to receive a gold card.

Here are the 3 ID cards with personal info edited out.


Students at Kennedy High School in La Palma are issued one of three color-coded ID cards -- white, gold and black. (Names and photos have been whited out to protect privacy.)
IMAGE COURTESY OF CAROL LOPP, TEXT BY SCOTT MARTINDALE

Here is another article about the ID cards.

Student IDs that reveal test scores deemed illegal

LA PALMA – State education officials say an Orange County high school that issued color-coded identification cards to students this year based on their standardized test scores is violating the students' privacy and the unlawful practice should be curtailed.

Kennedy High School in La Palma is requiring students to carry school ID cards in one of three colors based on their performance on the California Standards Tests – black, gold or white – plus a spiral-bound homework planner with a cover of a matching color. The black card, which is the highest level, and the gold card give students a range of special campus privileges and discounts, while the white card gives students no privileges and forces them to stand in a separate cafeteria lunch line.

Kennedy parents and students say the cards and planners unnecessarily embarrass and single out students who did not perform as well as their peers on state standardized testing, while the California Department of Education characterizes the practice as "inappropriate" and a violation of state law.

"We understand they're trying their best to encourage the kids to perform, but they're not supposed to identify them based on color-coding," said department spokeswoman Tina Woo Jung. "It's clear – when you see a white card, that inadvertently identifies a student as low-performing. We really urge them to find another way."

Another way to use test scores as all-encompassing. What a mistake this is.