standard. This progress is made accessible to the learner in order to provide meaningful feedback. Any feedback should be able to provide information on how the proficiency can be improved) and the educator needs to be aware of the effects of praise during feedback. Repeat instruction, assessment and feedback until the student achieves a predetermined level of mastery. Hallmarks Standards (i.e. learning outcomes) need to be visible and understandable by students Tasks, activities and assessments should be clear about which standard is being practiced Formative assessment should be used to give feedback to students about their progress towards a standard Assessment in general should be well-designed, accurate and high in validity to be fair and accessible Exemplars should be used to give students an understanding of how achievement against a standard is measured Rubrics should be used to assess performances and constructed responses Selective response (e.g. multiple choice) should be used to assess basic understanding and knowledge (as in Bloom's taxonomy) of a specific standard (or the underlying pre-requisite concepts associated with the standard) Geographical distinctions United States A standards-based test is an assessment based on the outcome-based education or performance-based education philosophy. Assessment is a key part of the standards reform movement. The first part is to set new, higher standards to be expected of every student. Then the curriculum must be aligned to the new standards. Finally, the student must be assessed if they meet these standards of what every student "must know and be able to do". In the United States, a high school diploma which is given on passing a high school graduation examination or Certificate of Initial Mastery is awarded only when these standards are achieved. It is fully expected that every child will become proficient in all areas of academic skills by the end of a period, typically 10 years in the United States, but sometimes longer, after the passing of education reform bill by a state legislature. The United States federal government, under No Child Left Behind can further require that all schools must demonstrate improvement among all students, even if they are already all over proficient. Holistic grading Rather than using computers to log responses to multiple choice tests, rubrics for state assessments such as in North Carolina ask scorers to look at the entire paper and make judgments. Scorers are not allowed to count errors, and rubrics do not contain numeric