Standards Based Grading

To better serve our students, Standards-Based Grading (SBG) is utilized in all grade levels. SBG is a system that evaluates students’ growth towards mastering specific grade-level standards.

Why standards-based grading?

The purpose of standards-based grading is to give a clearer picture of students’ learning progress by identifying what students should know and be able to do within each content area at each grade level. The real-time monitoring of student performance reflects a more accurate picture of student achievement and allows teachers to make informed data-based decisions to ensure each student is making progress. Grade cards will list each grade level priority standard and show you exactly where your child is in the learning process.

How does standards-based differ from traditional grading?

In traditional grading systems, a student’s academic and behavior/compliance performance for an entire quarter is averaged together. Early assignment and quiz scores that were low and scores for submission of work would be averaged together with more proficient performance later in the course, resulting in a lower overall grade than current performance indicates. A letter grade offers little insight as to what might be going right or wrong in the classroom. For example, if your child receives a B- in Math, it is unclear whether this is due to not turning in work or preparing and performing on a test. In contrast, standards-based grading shows families exactly where their child is both excelling and struggling by listing out each priority standard. Imagine bringing your car to the mechanic, and they say, “Your car is in B+ condition.” Not very helpful. Instead, what you want is a checklist of what is working and what is not working. “Everything is good except the brake pads are worn and your windshield wiper fluid is low, '' is much more helpful!

Studies show standards-based teaching practices correlate to higher academic achievement (Craig, 2011; Schoen, Cebulla, Finn, & Fi, 2003). Thus, the power of SBG lies in the opportunity for a more nuanced and focused conversation between parents and teachers about where students are strong, where they are weak, and how each can help the student (Spencer, 2012).