Standards based grading is a change from the grades with which we parents and teachers are familiar. In regular grading the scores for various quizzes and tests are weighted and average over a semester to form an aggregate percentage. Percentage cutoff values then determine a letter grade - 90% for an "A", 80% for a "B" and so forth. What we see is that our son or daughter got an "A" or a "B". Recently I have become uneasy with how little information is conveyed by a letter grade. If someone gets a "B" in Algebra 1 do they understand polynomials? What about absolute values? Inequalities? The variation in understanding across concepts that all math students possess is hidden by a simplistic letter grade. There must be a better way. Of course I wouldn't be writing this if there wasn't. There is.
Standards based grading is a type of assessment in which data on student understanding from quizzes and tests is organized into important skills. Student data remains relatively disaggregated. Assessments are focused on critical mathematical domains in the curriculum and specific skills within the domain are laid out for the students before assessments take place.
Here is one example of what this looks like in practice for a 4th grade classroom.
In this case the specific skills are link to the Common Core State Standards. There are a few new things to notice. First, what you see is a relatively detailed list of skills rather than entries like "Unit 1 Test". Second, the evaluation is related to levels of understanding. In principle it is a qualitative measure but in math often it is tied to a quantitative outcome (percentage on a quiz).
With standards based assessment a student and parent receives an inventory of strengths, weakness and material already mastered or at least covered so far. This may or may not be in addition to an overall course grade.
In my opinion the main advantages of standards based assessment are:
- students and parents have a clear picture of course expectations and required skills for the duration of the course
- students know what they are supposed to be learning at any point in time
- future teachers can look at the grade book and know what the students needs and accomplishments are prior to beginning instruction in the new year.
Above is a screenshot of the standards based grade book for 6th grade that I developed this week. The first page of the document shows five 6th grade skills. The second page has my rubric for scoring each mathematical domain that is assessed.
I look forward to passing out standards based assessment forms to all students soon so that everyone knows what we are working on and what is expected. I hope that by going to a standards based grading system parents and students will have a better understanding of both the courses I teach as well as what their students have learned.
