A study investigated the use of reading proficiency scales developed by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), Educational Testing Service (ETS), and Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) for meaningful rank-ordering and assigning levels of second language competence to reading passages. In a proficiency test writing workshop in which participants were writing items for a potential college entrance standard and graduation test, the participants ranked and rated reading items in several subsets. Results of the ranking task suggest that consensus for ranking exists. Results of the rating task suggest it is possible to match reading passages to suitable ACTFL/ETS/ILR definitions, despite the limited experience of the raters. These results and participant comments indicate that it is possible for potential users to internalize the ACTFL/ETS/ILR standards and apply them accurately to grading passages. (MSE)