Direct answer: Proficient and Distinguished are performance descriptions within a FlexPath scoring guide. To compare them accurately, read one criterion at a time: identify what the Proficient description asks the learner to demonstrate, then identify the additional condition, depth, evidence, implication, limitation, or communication requirement stated in the Distinguished description. The current scoring guide controls the comparison; there is no single extra step that applies to every criterion.
This page focuses only on the difference between those two performance descriptions. For the broader process of reading criteria, action verbs, and scoring-guide structure, use the FlexPath scoring guide guide.
What Proficient and Distinguished mean in a scoring guide
A scoring guide breaks an assessment into criteria and describes levels of performance for each criterion. Proficient describes the performance expected for that criterion at one level; Distinguished describes a higher level of performance using its own wording. The useful question is therefore not “How do I make the whole paper Distinguished?” but “What does the higher description add to this specific criterion?”
Compare one criterion at a time
Use a side-by-side comparison rather than applying one formula to the entire assessment.
| Comparison step | What to look for | What to do in the draft |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Read the criterion | The central action or subject being evaluated | State the task in plain language without adding requirements that are not written. |
| 2. Read Proficient | The complete performance described at that level | Confirm that the draft actually performs that action in the required context. |
| 3. Read Distinguished | Words or clauses that add depth, evidence, implications, limitations, comparison, precision, or another stated condition | Add only the extra work the current description requires. |
| 4. Locate the evidence | The exact paragraph, table, slide, note, calculation, or other part of the deliverable where the criterion is addressed | Check that a reader can find the relevant reasoning without relying on assumptions. |
Common differences to look for
Different criteria can distinguish the two levels in different ways. The higher description may ask for a more complete explanation, stronger support, clearer application, discussion of implications, acknowledgement of limitations, or another condition stated in the scoring guide. These are patterns to look for, not universal requirements.
- Depth: Does the higher description require explanation of relationships, causes, implications, or another layer beyond the baseline response?
- Evidence: Does it explicitly ask for support, examples, data, or sources? If not, do not invent a source-count rule.
- Application: Does it ask the learner to connect the concept more directly to the scenario, audience, organization, population, or decision?
- Qualification: Does it require limitations, assumptions, trade-offs, uncertainty, or another condition?
- Communication: Does it add a specific expectation for clarity, organization, audience, format, or professional presentation?
A simple criterion-comparison example
Consider a hypothetical criterion where the Proficient description asks the learner to explain a recommendation, while the Distinguished description asks for the recommendation to be explained with evidence and its implications. The useful difference is not “write more.” The added work is to support the recommendation and explain what follows from it. If a different criterion adds a different condition, that different wording controls instead.
What not to assume about Distinguished performance
- Do not assume every criterion needs more citations.
- Do not assume every criterion needs a separate heading.
- Do not assume a longer response is automatically stronger.
- Do not copy the difference from one criterion and apply it to every other criterion.
- Do not invent an unwritten requirement when the two descriptions are close; compare the exact wording and use current course guidance when clarification is needed.
Turn the comparison into a revision check
After drafting, create a small two-column check: the first column contains the extra wording from the higher performance description, and the second points to where that added condition is demonstrated in the submission. If the draft does not show the condition, revise that criterion rather than adding unrelated material elsewhere.
If the assessment has already received evaluator feedback, use the revision-after-feedback guide to connect comments back to the relevant criterion. For help translating a difficult criterion into a plan, see assessment and rubric support.
Frequently asked questions
Does Distinguished always mean more sources?
No. Add sources when the current criterion, assessment instructions, or evidence needs justify them. A higher performance description can differ for reasons other than citation quantity.
Should I satisfy Proficient before comparing the higher description?
Read both descriptions together. The practical comparison starts by understanding the complete Proficient description, then identifying what the higher description adds for that same criterion.
Can one section address more than one criterion?
It can, if the current instructions and format allow it and the required work for each criterion remains clear. A separate heading is not a universal rule.
What if the two descriptions look almost identical?
Compare the exact verbs, qualifiers, objects, and conditions. If the difference remains unclear, use the current course resources or faculty guidance rather than inventing an extra requirement.