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Standards-Based Grading 101Cascade Middle School

Why change grading practices?

“The  answer  is  quite  simple:  grades  are  so  imprecise  that  they  are  almost  meaningless.”

-­‐-­‐Robert  Marzano

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Essential Question 1� What are the major reasons we use

report cards and assign grades to student work?

Essential Question 2� Ideally, what purpose should a report card

or grades serve?

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The Research� According to Thomas Guskey PhD - Two

major conclusions can be drawn from the research on grading

1. Grading is NOT essential to the instructional process◦ Teachers can teach without grades◦ Students can and do learn without grades

2. Grading and reporting should ALWAYS be done in reference to learning criteria, never “on the curve”

The Research (cont.)� According to ACT’s report - The

Forgotten Middle◦…the level of academic achievement that

students attain by eighth grade has a larger impact on their college and career readiness by the time they graduate from high school than anything that happens academically in high school.

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The Research (cont.)� …eighth-grade achievement is the best

predictor of students’ ultimate level of college and career readiness by high school graduation—even more than students’ family background, high school coursework, or high school grade point average.

Activity� Calculate the grade for a student who receives

these 10 scores in the gradebook◦ C◦ C◦ I (Incomplete)◦ D◦ C◦ B◦ I (Incomplete)◦ I (Incomplete)◦ B◦ A

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Student Comparison� Student 1◦ Does every homework

assignment (at home)

◦ Does extra credit when available

◦ Participates in class (participation points)

◦ Averages 50% on exams (in class)

◦ Receives a C (passes course)

� Student 2◦ Forgets to turn in some

homework

◦ Doesn’t do extra credit

◦ Is quiet and does not participate in class◦ Averages 89% on exams

◦ Receives a C (passes course)

Traditional grading would imply these two students have the same level of mastery of the content. Do you believe this is the case?

Current Grading Practices…� Promote points – not learning� Assumes learning is the same throughout the

semester (Averages)� Inflate or deflate grades based on behaviors� Assumes low grades motivate (They don’t)� Give unequal weighting – zero is 60 points below

a D� Use a single letter to paint a picture of a complex

learner� Don’t necessarily link assignments to standards� Vary from teacher to teacher

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Standards-Based Grading� Focuses on mastering standards instead of

accumulating points� Accurately reports what students can and

cannot do in terms of course content/skills◦ Students/Teachers/Parents know where students

are in their learning – no guesswork� Recognizes student learning occurs over

time� Allows for mastery of content/skills in

multiple ways with multiple opportunities◦ After all, isn’t the goal for students to learn?

Communication� The goal of SBG is to communicate

student achievement� When students receive scores for each

standard, everyone knows where they are in relation to mastery (not other students – e.g. curve)

� Parents don’t need to ask teacher, “Why does my student have a C?”

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Consistency� SBG is based on academic standards

which are the same for everyone� Grading becomes uniform between

teachers � Grades across subject areas are

consistent

Relevancy� Assessments must be tied to standards◦ No fluff

� Identifies important concepts and skills and reports student progress in them

� Students see clear tie between assignments and the learning goal

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Grading� Academic standards◦ Only grades related to student mastery of concepts

and skills are included◦ Report card will include scores for every standard

graded◦ Overall letter will be calculated based on student

scores in standards� Behavior standards◦ Still important to communicate behavior to student

and parents ◦ Separate standards that do not impact academic

scores◦ Not linked to overall letter – removes inflating and

deflating

Academic Standards Examples� Write arguments to support claim(s) with clear reasons

and relevant evidence� Interpret and compute quotients of fractions, and solve

word problems involving division of fractions by fractions

� Compare and contrast the information gained from experiments, simulations, video, or multimedia sources with that gained from reading a text on the same topic

� Analyze and categorize physical activities according to potential fitness benefits

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Behavior Standards Examples� Active Listening� Independent work � Uses Time Wisely� Seeks HelpAppropriately� Participation� Positive Attitude� Effort & Home Practice

Are we alone?� No◦ Supported by State and District◦ PBMS has already made transition◦ Many districts in the state – Beaverton,

Lebanon, Medford, etc.◦ Many districts across the Country –

Minnesota, Kentucky, etc.

� Research supports as best practice

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What does SBG look like?� Students receive a rubric stating the academic standards they

will be graded on and what criteria is needed to receive each score

� Students then receive scores (1, 2, 3, or 4) based on their performance on a particular standard◦ They receive a score for each standard on an assignment or

assessment instead of an overall score� Their scores go into the grade book (multiple scores for

multiple standards)� The computer calculates an overall score for each standard

(more weight on more recent scores or final learning)� Each standard is averaged into an overall letter� Report cards have a letter AND scores for each standards

Checking student progress� Students and parents can use StudentVue

and Parent Vue to examine each standard and the assignments/assessments that led to that score

� Easy to see areas of mastery and areas for growth

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Multiple Paths, Multiple Tries� One of the principles of SBG is that there

a multiple ways to demonstrate mastery of a standard

� SBG also takes into account that students may not learn something the first time◦ Values learning from mistakes◦ Students provided multiple opportunities to

show mastery (certain requirements have to be met in order to do this)

Sources� http://www.relnei.org/wp-

content/uploads/2013/06/NCCRA-5-30-13-Slides.pdf

� https://www.act.org/research/policymakers/pdf/ForgottenMiddle.pdf