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https://www.mrsmiraclesmusicroom.com/2019/11/standards-based-grading-in-the-music-room.html

This is a blog post by an elementary music teacher I follow.  It was very helpful for me as an elementary music teacher to read something specific to my discipline.  I believe the blog post supports several of the 8 guidelines for Standards Based Grading.  Specifically, it supports Basing grade on the intended learning goals, use criterion referenced performance standards as reference points to determine grades, and limiting student attributes included in grade to student achievement.

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http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/oct08/vol66/num02/Seven_Reasons_for_Standards-Based_Grading.aspx

This article is a nice synapse of the reasons a Standard Based Grading System is more beneficial and meaningful to student learning and success.  I think it does a great job of giving concise reasons behind the benefits this type of system can bring to our educational practices.  One point that really stuck with me was that it gives students an understanding of where they are at in terms of learning goals rather than just a grade or percentage point that is meaningless to them, especially if they are struggling with a certain unit or lesson.

The guideline I think it really touches on is Guideline 2: Used Criterion Referenced Performance Standards as Reference Points to Determine Grades, while it also brings light to some of the others.  It has a nice comparison chart for a traditional grade book vs a Standard Based grade book and details what advantage you get from the latter.  Overall I felt the article gave me even more understanding of the benefits of shifting toward a standard based grading system.

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Pat Dudle

https://eric.ed.gov/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=EJ1228578

The purpose of this article is to describe principles of standards-based grading, empirical support of standards-based grading, and several common challenges secondary school leaders may face when considering this philosophical shift.

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Leanne Clark

Leaders of Their Own Learning is a book written by Leah Rugen, Libby Woodfin, and Roni Berger.  Below is a link to Chapter 8 that talks specifically about standards based grading:

https://eleducation.org/resources/chapter-8-standards-based-grading

Chapter 8 of Leaders of Their Own Learning outlines four principles that guide the implementation of standards-based grading:

Grades accurately describe a student’s progress and current level of achievement

Habits of scholarship are assessed and reported separately

Grades are for communication, not motivation or punishment

Student engagement is key to the grading process

It also gives many examples of the differences between traditional grading and standards based grading. This chapter hits almost all of O'Connor's guidelines.  There are also helpful videos included with this chapter comparing student understanding of traditional grading and standards based.

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Julie Schmale
Lalilo has been a great tool for me and my students this year. The program is very adaptive and provides data that align with other programs, including Fountas and Pinnell reading levels. The students like to master each level, and it feels like a game. The paid version reports on much more than just phonics. It also shows data on sight words, word families, and comprehension. I spend a lot of time teaching sight words and word families and this is a great way to see their independent skill level progress. This is great for Special Education students, and ELL students because while they are learning phonics, it doesn't feel like a program only for K-2 students. It identifies gaps in their learning, which I can then teach and review with my students.

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Lalilo by Renaissance | Practice and instruction on Foundational Literacy skills

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Sign up and invite parents remotely for home access to phonics and reading lessons.

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I like his description of how sometimes teachers don't know how we got a grade.I am sure we have all be there on a little assignment. I know that when I go back to an assignment that was graded months before (late work) I don't remember how I got to the grade. Standards based grading takes away this ambiguity.

I think also he highlights the important concept that we need to get away from the letters and really tell kids why we are giving them the grades we are. Rubrics for writing in my classroom are there but a lot of smaller assignments aren't!

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Assessment Rubrics for ELL Students and Language Proficiency

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Assessment Rubrics for ELL Students and Language Proficiency

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This resource has a rubric for all language content areas: the language of social/instructional, the language of language arts, the language of science, the language of social science, and the language of mathematics. There is a language of each content area rubric for each grade-level. Each rubric has criterion expectations for listening, speaking, reading, and writing for each proficiency level. This rubric could be used in correspondence with an assessment to utilize standards based grading of language proficiency. The students would earn a score of 1-6; from beginning to reading grade-level standards. The levels would be: (1)beginning, (2)emerging, (3)developing, (4)expanding, (5)reaching, and (6)bridging.

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Allison Holmes

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Generic-Standards-Based-Grading-Rubric-3447627?st=24398e8188f535527f16482d89119b5b

This is a great Rubric I found on teachers pay teachers for free! It provides four different areas of mastery on a 1-4 scale. For a student to receive a 1 or a support need score  the student can complete this task with a lot of support from the teacher. For a student to receive a 2 or partially meets standard score  the student has some understanding of the content provided, and can work independently some of the time. In order to receive a 3 or a near standard score the student has an understanding of the content provided, and can work independently most of the time. Finally for a student to receive a 4 or a meet grade level standard then the student has a complete understanding of the content provided, they are able to work independently and could teach it to others. It even has a place for the teacher to insert the standard on the left of the chart. I think it would be beneficial to copy and paste multiple of these rubrics onto one sheet and have the  math, reading, writing, science, social studies and speaking and listening standards all separate and have a different sheet per child. This would make assessing the child much easier.

This addresses Guideline 1 of base grades, on and Provide Grades for, the Intended Learning Goals  but I think would also work for Guideline 5 of Keep Records That Can Be Updated Easily “Grade in Pencil.” The teacher can use this throughout the year and mark the students as they progress through the standard.

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Book: A Teacher's Guide To Standards-based Learning

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Book: A Teacher's Guide To Standards-based Learning

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1. Katelyn Raddatz

2. A Teacher’s Guide to Standards-Based Learning by Tammy Jeflebower, Jan K. Hoegh, Philip B. Warrick, & Jeff Flygare

https://www.marzanoresources.com/featured/teachers-guide-standards-based-learning

1. When my district started the transition to standards based grading every teacher was given a copy of this text. It has been a very helpful resource in navigating how to switch from traditional grading to standards based grading. One of the things I feel is really beneficial is how detailed it is in the development of proficiency scales and supporting standards. The proficiency scales help to identify priority standards and help teachers to plan for the standards that will be introduced. Another huge benefit is that there is an entire chapter on communicating grades. I feel like this can be one of the biggest challenges in this transition because it is so new to parents, and having guidance on how to communicate with parents is extremely helpful.

The chapters of the book include planning instruction with proficiency scales, instructing with proficiency scales, setting goals and tracking progress, administering quality classroom assessments and figuring grades, teaching exceptional students, communicating grades, and has resources and samples, as well as a frequently asked questions section. While it addresses many of the Guidelines, I would say that the specific one that is primarily addresses is Guideline 1: Base Grades on, and Provide Grades for, the Intended Learning Goals. Quite a bit of the book involves appropriately planning for which standards will be taught and how to appropriately teach them, so I feel that this guideline is really targeted

I think that this book will be beneficial to everyone because it touches on so many of the “unknowns” when it comes to standards based learning. Standards based learning is a wonderful way to assess and give feedback, but there are also a lot of challenges that come with it. This book takes on these challenges and gives specific feedback on how to deal with them from a practical standpoint. If anyone is planning on switching, it really is a great resource to have at hand.

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Allison Budds

Xtra math is something that I have been using in my classroom for about two years. Students use it daily and practice their math facts. This works on their accuracy and speed and it works with them. As the teacher, I am able to see exactly what problems they missed and how their scores have differed from past. From there, I can see if there is a trend in the class or if a certain student needs some extra support on something. I am also able to send reports home weekly to parents so they can practice at home as well. This helps me look at work that can be considered for a grade when sometimes our math curriculum does not cover math facts and that is on the report card. It is free on the internet browser, but a price on the app.

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XtraMath - 10 minutes a day for math fact fluency

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XtraMath is a free program that helps students master addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts.

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Article: Teachers Divided Over Controversial 'No Zero' Grading Policy

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Article: Teachers Divided Over Controversial 'No Zero' Grading Policy

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Ashley Faith Ferrer
- http://neatoday.org/2016/08/04/no-zero-policy-pro-con/

This article touches on a few points regarding zeros and grading. There are multiple articles on this topic, as there are many factors to consider with determining grades for students in general. A zero really can skew an overall grade - however, should we as teachers be the ones to determine a student's effort?

This is most aligned with Guideline 4: Sample Student Performance-- Do Not Include All Scores in Grades. With this guideline, it would lessen the frequency of teachers having to use or decide whether or not to use a 'zero'. If adopting standards-based grading, grades that "count" would most likely be that of summative assessments. This would allow for grades to more accurately represent a student's progress rather than their missing homework.

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Grading Symbols Don't Matter Video, Standards Based Grading Video, and Article

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Grading Symbols Don't Matter Video, Standards Based Grading Video, and Article

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Dana Ruth
Video 1:
https://youtu.be/-fMn25vVJSo
Video 2:
https://youtu.be/z4QVcghKsGY
http://www.amle.org/BrowsebyTopic/Assessment/AsDet/TabId/180/ArtMID/780/ArticleID/21/Its-Time-to-Stop-Averaging-Grades.aspx

I found the insight of Rick Wormeli interesting as I looked at his blog and videos.  His 2 videos explain that letter grades don't really mean anything. He talks about standards based grading in his second video and explains that grades should tie to a descriptor of evidence. The article I found is similar- he talks about the 100 point scale and how you can't just rely on the average for student grades.

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Book: How to Create & Use Rubrics for Formative Assessment & Grading

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Book: How to Create & Use Rubrics for Formative Assessment & Grading

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Hannah Orr
https://shop.ascd.org/Default.aspx?TabID=55&ProductId=77444408&How-to-Create-and-
Use-Rubrics-for-Formative-Assessment-and-Grading
The link above will take you to a website where you can purchase the book above. I selected this book because one of O'Connor's guidelines that stuck out to me was Guideline 3- Limiting the valued attributes included in grades to student achievements. This guideline discusses how student effort, participating, attitude, and other behaviors should be reported separately. At times, I find it difficult to be objective-- specifically with writing. For myself, I have set the goal of using rubrics and checklists to help make grading more objective and less subjective. By learning how to create rubrics that are standards aligned it will help eliminate the chance for bias! I think we would all really benefit from this resource and working on eliminating the use of student effort, participating, attitude and other behaviors to consider when grading.

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Kerry Marchiniak

Seesaw https://web.seesaw.me/ is a website that I use very often with my Kindergarten Special Education students and I recently started implementing it with my 4th grade Special Education students with remote learning this past year. The paid version of Seesaw for schools allows districts and teachers to upload state, district or grade-level standards. I feel colleagues will benefit from this site as assignments and submissions can be aligned to these standards. And teachers can also assess student work in the application based on the standards.

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Seesaw | Elementary Learning Experience Platform

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Seesaw | Elementary Learning Experience Platform

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Elementary Learning Experience Platform | Seesaw

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Seesaw is a Learning Experience Platform with 25M+ users, enhancing elementary education, engagement, and school culture while improving academic success.

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https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1168160

The link above is for a wonderful article from Laura Link titled- Teachers' Perceptions of Grading Practices: How Pre-Service Training Makes a Difference.  I read the article several times last year as part of my MSED 664 research paper and many of the ideas from the reading stick with me today.  The article suggests college students studying to become teachers have training in all areas of the teaching world, except how to grade.  The part of the article that hit me the most was the concept of "score pollution" that really means gradebooks become a mix of performance, attitude, behavior, etc. and become less about student knowledge, much like the O'Connor article claims.  For me personally, the article forced me to look at my grading practices and stop a Wild West approach where anything goes and forced me to put meaningful assignments into practice.  I believe all teachers can benefit from reading the article and doing their own self-assessment on their grading procedures.

Nick Schroder

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https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/FreeDownload/Common-Core-ELA-Cheat-Sheets-for-Grades-K-5-1355943
Here is a link to a free resource (download from Teachers Pay Teachers) for teachers in grades K-5 (ELA).  It is a one-pager for each grade with all the reading, writing, grammar, and speaking/listening standards.  This can be used like a checklist to ensure you are hitting all the standards in your units, and you could mark it up with colored highlighters or pens to indicate how you will be assessing each standard. Visually, you will be able to see which standards are under-represented, so you can create additional opportunities for learning and assessment.
This aligns with Guideline 1: Base Grades on Intended Learning Goals and Guideline 2: Use Criterion-referenced Performance Standards.

Ryan VanOverbeke

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Resource:  Prodigy  https://www.prodigygame.com/

Description: This online resource is something I use in my classroom on a daily basis to have the students practice their math skills. This is an engaging curriculum that aligns with the common core standards.  The teacher can give assignments and tasks that are individualize for each student’s academic needs. Students performing below, at or above grade level can be given differentiated work based on standards and where their level falls. There is data provided for the teachers who then can continue to differentiate their instruction.  Teachers can also receive a print out of the skills that each individual student needs support with and which skills the students are successful with.  This is a great resource to send to parents because they can also see what skills can be improved on at home.

Guidelines:
2: Using standards
based performance as a basis for grades. Teachers are able to take the data
provided from this program to give students modified classroom work to enhance
the skills noticed throughout the program.
5: Keep records
that can be updated easily. Teachers can use the immediate data provided as progress
monitoring.  Teachers can also use this
resource for parents who would like more ways to support their child at
home.  It gives breakdown of skills
mastered along with skills that are below level.

Benefits: This is a great FREE online resource that focuses completely on the standards in a fun and engaging way!  This program can be used both at home and within the school setting and can be used by students of all grades and skill levels!  All grades for the students are based on mastery of the standards within each “battle”. Using the data provided allows teachers to differentiate their instruction in the classroom as well as the assignments they assign online.  In addition, due to the pandemic switch that had occurred, Prodigy is a wonderful resource to still stay connected with your student’s skills and mastery needs with Math.  It is very interactive and lets the student’s battle classmates and friends.  Each question they get right during the battle helps them eliminate their opponent.   I highly recommend this resource!

Paige Fairbanks

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Allowing students to demonstrate their continued learning toward a standard even after they have been assessed is an important part of standards based grading. As this resource mentions, we are allowed to take a driving exam as many times as we need to show proficiency, but why are we not allowed to show our proficiency in the classroom in much the same way?

This resource touches on Ken O’Connor’s guideline 5 which pertains to allowing for student reassessment. I often struggle with planning the time to reassess my students. This article not only explains the need for reassessment, but also provides suggestions as to how and when students should be reassessed. In this article we find important notes that include suggested methods and guidelines when allowing students to reassess.

Joanna Rivera

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"Lawyers who finally pass the bar exam on their second or third attempt are not limited to practicing law only on Tuesdays" - Wormeli, 2011
We allow people to retake their driver's license exam as many times as they need to in order to demonstrate competency. The same is true of other professionals such as teachers, lawyers, doctors, and electricians who are required to pass a certification/licensure exam. Reassessment is a part of our real world. I find it ironic, then, that, as educators, we cringe at the thought of allowing reassessments in the classroom in an effort to "prepare kids for the real world!" I held this belief until a few years ago when O'Connor and Stiggins (2009) and Wormeli (2011) helped set me straight. Reflecting back, I now cringe at the harsh reality that, from 2001 to 2006, I sent hundreds and hundreds of students into the real world without the opportunity to reassess to solidify their learning.

At my school, Sanborn Regional High School in Kingston, New Hampshire, we believe in the concept of reassessments so much that we actually have a school-wide common procedure that supports its use in all classes. In fact, we have a number of school-wide common grading procedures that are designed to support our competency-based grading and reporting system, one that is now in its third year of implementation K-12 in our district.

In a competency-based system, reassessments are a necessary part of the learning process. "True competence that stands the test of time comes with reiterative learning. We carry forward concepts and skills we encounter repeatedly, and we get better at retrieving them the more we experience them." (Wormeli, 2011). Making reassessments a school-wide practice changes the learning culture for students from one where they are trying to earn enough points to pass to one in which they are held accountable for everything they need to know and be able to do. Reeves (2000) describes the cultural shift that will happen over time as schools implement such a policy. "The consequence for a student who fails to meet a standard is not a low grade, but rather an opportunity - indeed, the requirement - to resubmit his or her work." Indeed, that cultural shift is happening today at my school.

When I talk with fellow school administrators about the change process of moving from traditional to competency-based grading and reporting, reassessment is a popular discussion topic. Principals always want to know what a practical school-wide reassessment procedure looks like. Here is the one that my school adopted three years ago:
Second-chance assessment opportunities shall be made available to students who have missed a summative assessment, to students who have failed a summative assessment, and to students who have earned below an 80% on a summative assessment. For students who missed a summative assessment for a legitimate reason (an excused absence or emergency), the highest possible score that may be earned on a reassessment is 100%. Students who must reassess because they missed an initial summative assessment for an unexcused reason, who must reassess because they failed an initial assessment, or who wish to reassess because they have earned below an 80%, may earn up to an 80% on the reassessment. Important Notes:

1. If a student who fails with less than a 65% reassesses and earns a higher grade, the higher grade replaces the previously recorded lower grade (up to an 80);

2. Since a teacher should only require students to reassess on non-proficient skills or tasks, the reassessment grade should never result in a lower final grade on the assignment;

3. A teacher may require (as detailed above in Formative Assessments) a student to complete all formative assessments that are directly correlated with the summative assessment before a reassessment for the summative is administered (if this step has not previously been taken);

4. A teacher may require students to complete a relearning plan (detailing the steps that a student will need to undertake to demonstrate proficiency on the summative) before a reassessment is administered;

5. A teacher may assign a reasonable timeline for a reassessment opportunity;

6. Reassessment opportunities for formative assessments are at the teacher's discretion.

Our school-wide reassessment procedure is not an ideal competency-based reassessment statement. We consider it to be a hybrid procedure that has helped our teachers and students over the last three years make the transition from a traditional to a competency-based grading philosophy. One of our biggest limitations is that we don't allow students to earn more than 80% on a reassessment. If we are to truly measure student learning, we can't engage in practices that limit student grades. We certainly understand this in my school and we are moving to a model that will allow the reassessment grade to have no cap. Many of our teachers and students philosophically are ready to make this final leap. Some already have.

Competency-based grading and reporting systems hold students accountable for their learning. They hold teachers accountable for ensuring that all students gain the ability to transfer content and skills in and across content areas. That learning happens at different rates for different students. Reassessment is a necessary part of the learning process for all.
REFERENCES:
O'Connor, K and Stiggins, R. (2009). How to Grade for Learning, K-12, Third Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Reeves, D.B. (2000). Standards are not enough: Essential transformations for school success. NASSP Bulletin, 84(10), 5-19.

Wormeli, R. (2011) Redos and Retakes Done Right. Educational Leadership, Nov. 2011; pgs. 22-26. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
photo credit: twitter.com/rickwormeli
Brian M. Stack is the National Association of Secondary School Principals 2017 New Hampshire Secondary School Principal of the Year. He is Principal of Sanborn Regional High School in Kingston, NH, an author for Solution Tree, and also serves as an expert for Understood.org, a division of the National Center for Learning Disabilities in Washington, DC. He lives with his wife Erica and his five children Brady, Cameron, Liam, Owen, and Zoey on the New Hampshire seacoast. You can follow Brian on Twitter @bstackbu or visit his blog.

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Reassessments and Retakes: A Necessary Part of a School-Wide Grading Policy - Aurora Institute

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"Lawyers who finally pass the bar exam on their second or third attempt are not limited to practicing law only on Tuesdays" - Wormeli, 2011 We allow people to retake their driver's license exam as many times as they need to in order to demonstrate competency.

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The Student Role in Formative Assessment

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The Student Role in Formative Assessment

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I personally have loved learning about and finding new ways to more thoughtfully engage and include students in their learning/assessment process. I have always thought about engagement in learning for my students, but I am now trying to hone in on engaging them in their assessments, feedback, grades, etc. so that they feel like they are in control of their outcomes just as much, if not more, than the teacher.

One resource that I found to be very enlightening was Mary Ryerse's article "The Student Role in Formative Assessment: How I Know Practitioner Guide" on the website titled Getting Smart. This is a short post about student ownership of their assessments and the relationship between the teacher and student in this process. While the post itself was enlightening, I found the downloadable practitioner guide to be very helpful! It is a user-friendly PDF that clearly and easily outlines the ten dimensions of formative assessment practice as well as teacher versus student roles within the formative assessment process. I would love to print this and keep it in my classroom! It closely aligns to O'Connor's 8th guideline, which is "Discuss and involve students in assessment, including grading, throughout the teaching/learning process."

Kristy Laabs

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One of the key distinguishers of formative assessment lies in the relationship between a student and teacher in the shared ownership of assessing what students know and are able to do.

In fact, the definition of formative assessment crafted by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) points specifically points to that role:

Formative assessment is a planned ongoing process used by all students and teachers during learning and teaching to elicit and use evidence of student learning to improve student understanding of intended disciplinary learning outcomes, and support students to become more self-directed learners.

~ CCSSO Formative Assessment for Students and Teachers State Collaborative on Assessment and Student Standards (FAST SCASS).

It is critical that students understand their role in a formative assessment classroom environment. Student behaviors include: engaging with learning goals, developing success criteria, providing feedback to peers, receiving feedback from teachers and peers, and more.

Thanks to the How I Know: Designing Meaningful Formative Assessment Practice project, an initiative of the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, resources to help teachers and students are being made publicly available both here - and on the How I Know website.

The How I Know Practitioner Guide "Formative Assessment: The Student Role" outlines:

Definitions of Formative Assessment

Dimensions of Formative Assessment

Student Actions

This guide has been designed as a tool to enhance formative assessment in a learner friendly format to be easily posted within a classroom. It is student-centered and places each learner at the "wheel" as they check and connect on what they are learning and doing.

It is organized around the ten dimensions of formative assessment, as outlined by FAST SCASS, and outlined in the publication Using the Formative Assessment Rubrics, Reflection and Observation Tools to Support Professional Reflection on Practice (FARROP).

The infographic content is adapted from Using the Formative Assessment Rubrics, Reflection and Observation Tools to Support Professional Reflection on Practice (Wylie and Lyon, 2016) . It draws on information from the FARROP rubrics for each of the ten dimensions of formative assessment. Special thanks to Nancy Gerzon and the WestEd team for their contributions.

The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation invites all to join in the journey to understand how students know and to visit the project website, which you can check out by clicking here.
Stay in-the-know with all things EdTech and innovations in learning by signing up to receive the weekly Smart Update
For more, see:

This post is a part of a series focused on the "How I Know: Designing Meaningful Formative Assessment" initiative sponsored by the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. See the How I Know website ( www.formativeassessmentpractice.org ) and join the conversation on Twitter using #HowIKnow or #FormativeAssessment.

Mary is a Director is Interim Managing Director of School Success at XQ Institute. You can connect with Mary on Twitter @maryryerse.

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The Student Role in Formative Assessment: A Practitioner's Guide

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One of the key distinguishers of formative assessment lies in the relationship between a student and teacher in the shared ownership of assessing what students know and are able to do. This guide can help practitioners of formative assessment develop and hone that relationship.

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Here's a sample from Lisa White-McNulty:

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Here's a sample from Lisa White-McNulty:

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Here's a sample to guide you:

This resource is an article (a blog post, really) by a middle school teacher reflecting on his experiences implementing standards-based grading. I appreciated hearing about the "peaks" and the "pits" from someone who's been there.

The article mentions which a concern that I think many of us have about multiple "do-overs" - teaching students responsibility. The author's response lines up with Guideline 3 - only include achievement in your grades (O'Connor, 2007).

I think folks who have started on this journey will benefit from hearing the pros and cons.

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Change involves the celebration of successes and the reflection on shortfalls. As my school has undertaken the task of transitioning from a traditional grading system to standards-based grading, we've learned a great deal along the way. We have observed a shift in the school culture from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset (Dweck, 2008).

Under standards-based grading, our teachers have created an opportunity for students to persevere in the face of challenges. Students are measured on their proficiency of content standards. Some demonstrate early mastery and are able to move on to more difficult concepts, while others may require reteaching. Teachers are able to easily identify those students who may need some support in order to demonstrate proficiency. Students are beginning to understand and value the process of learning, rather than just earning a grade.

Although I've observed many great aspects of standards-based grading, I've also had many great discussions with other educators on how we can improve our implementation. I've detailed below three peaks (successes) and three pits (areas of improvement) that I've observed with our change to standards-based grading.

The 3 Peaks

Growth Mindset

Teachers are able to use ongoing formative assessments as a way to guide classroom instruction. Students are able to practice their mastery of standards without the penalty of receiving a poor grade in the gradebook. The process of reteaching creates an opportunity for both teachers and students to learn from their mistakes.

Teachers are able to reflect on instruction and evaluate if their lessons truly met the needs of their learners. Students are able to focus their efforts on concepts they struggled to understand and the option for reassessment. Together, reteaching and reassessment allow for all stakeholders to experience that intelligence can be developed and is not set in stone (Dweck, 2008).

Quality Curriculum and Assessments

Standards-based grading requires me to closely examine the actual standards of my content and evaluate the predetermined objectives. Without a clear set of measurable standards, there cannot be quality classroom instruction.

This year has been challenging, as departments have had to redesign instruction and assessments in order to create the opportunity for students to demonstrate proficiency. I've also been able to design assessments that allow for multiple methods of demonstrating mastery of content standards. Although this process has been a lot of work, I've never felt more involved in my curriculum.

Clear Communication

Standards-based grading allows me to clearly communicate with students and parents where individuals are with their understanding of each concept. No longer are students able to hide behind weighted averages and positive academic behaviors such as attendance.

Students should be motivated toward mastery of the material and not demotivated by trying hard and still getting a bad grade on an assessment, only to have to move right along to the next concept without gaining any insight. Standards-based grading allows me to clearly communicate with students about why they did poorly on the previous assessment, and to offer them a chance to work harder toward gaining mastery of the material and demonstrating their ability to achieve.

The 3 Pits

Teaching Responsibility

"I like the overall goal. But I don't want children to always think they can re-do things so they don't try their best the first time" (anonymous parent). I've had many parents communicate a similar concern to me throughout the school year so far. Although some are grateful for reteaching and reassessment, others are worried that we are not preparing their children for the "real world." I communicate to these parents that we are trying to encourage students to value persistence and appreciate effort in order to reach higher levels of achievement, which will benefit them into adulthood.

More Time?

All educators experience the need for more time in the school day, week, month, and year! Reteaching and reassessment opportunities have created additional work for classroom teachers. They are now grading assessments and subsequent reassessments which can take up a significant amount of time.

Many teachers utilize their regular classroom time for reteaching while allowing those students who demonstrated mastery to move on to more challenging concepts independently. Scheduling reassessments has been a challenge, as some teachers have digital assessments that require the computer lab. As more teachers convert to digital assessments and reassessments, the demand for technology has increased schoolwide.

Remaking the Wheel

Although I feel more connected to my curriculum, it's because I find myself redesigning many formative and summative assessments. Some of the activities or projects that I'd previously used in my classroom had been passed on to me by veteran teachers. Upon closer examination, these resources were very well designed but did not effectively offer the opportunity for students to demonstrate proficiency of content standards. I believe that after this year, I will be able to reflect on and fine tune my new assessments without having to redesign entire curriculum units.

These are just a few examples of how standards-based grading has impacted my school culture. Please leave your ideas and comments below about how standards-based grading has been implemented at your school.

Research

Dweck, Carol S. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Ballantine Books trade pbk. ed. New York: Ballantine Books, 2008.

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3 Peaks and 3 Pits of Standards-Based Grading

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Change involves the celebration of successes and the reflection on shortfalls. As my school has undertaken the task of transitioning from a traditional grading system to standards-based grading, we've learned a great deal along the way. We have observed a shift in the school culture from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset (Dweck, 2008).