What is Standards-Based Grading?

Grades should reflect how well someone understands the standards--the skills and concepts for each unit.  Standards-based grading The work we do in class is either practice or an assessment.  

Practice is to help the students learn, so it’s not graded--but I look at all of it and give feedback, so they know what they need to work on before the assessment.  All the work we do in class is practice for the assessments, and the stuents can use that work to help them.  Everything we do in class is connected to the standards and has a purpose.  

Assessments are not typical tests and quizzes.  They can be smaller writing assignments or activities during the unit, or larger projects or essays at the end of a unit.  I give specific feedback on all assessments so the students can revise their work for a higher grade.  If students need more time on assessments, they can turn their in after the deadline without losing points.  However, if we've moved on to something else in class, it's the student's responsibility to get that work done and turned in on their own time.

I grade assessments using rubrics based on the standards for the material, so students know exactly what they need to do to get a B or an A, and they know what your grade means.  

Four Point Rubric Scale

4/A: Excels at Standard (you show a deeper understanding; could teach it to someone else)

3/B: Meets Standard (you show a grade level understanding)

2/C: Approaching Standard (you need a little help to understand it)

1/D: Not at Standard Yet (you need more practice to understand it)

The letter grades are what I enter into the gradebook.

More information about Standards-Based Grading:

• Video Overview
• What the research says
• Benefits of Standards-Based Grading