The terms in the Proficiency Rating table are editable and so do not have to use the word "Mastery." However, the terns used wherever outcome achievement is calculated do use the word "Mastery." This is a problem for two reasons. One is the term "Master" is not always neutral in the contexts of our students' lives, and it would be nice to have options. The other is that "Near Mastery" and "Exceeds Mastery" imply judgment on how well a student has demonstrated the achievement of an outcome, and that judgment is more traditionally conveyed by the letter grade. For example, in my history classes I only have two ratings for each of my outcomes: "Achieved" or "Not Achieved." I use the assignment feedback and points, leading to a letter grade, to let students know how well they are doing in the class. Our accreditor cares how many of our students achieve each outcome, not how well they achieve them. Our transfer partners care how well our students do in our classes, but they judge our students based on letter grades not outcome achievement.
As an outcome creator (whether an instructor or admin), I want to choose a term other than "Mastery" for the purposes of outcome achievement calculation. This will allow me and my college to respect the lived experiences of some of our students, and it will allow me and my college to use a descriptor that reflects the purpose of documenting outcome achievement by students.
