We feel a 9 - 1 scale gives educators the option to be more precise when assessing students. For example, when a child is rated a three (proficient) as a reader on a standards based grading scale of 4 - 1 it’s difficult to tell if this child is a barely proficient reader or a strong proficient reader. In our system a four designates a barely proficient reader while a six designates a strong proficient reader.