Standards Based Grading

The state of Wisconsin adopted academic standards over 25 years ago.  Since then, we have had “standards based instruction” and assessments (big and small) tied to communicate progress toward achievement.  Teachers have been required to teach to the standards for decades.

Unlike traditional grading systems, a standards-based grading system measures a student’s mastery of grade-level standards by prioritizing the most recent, consistent level of performance. Thus, a student who may have struggled at the beginning of a course, when first encountering new material, may still be able to demonstrate mastery of key content/concepts by the end of a grading period. A student who has mastered a target standard at the start of the course can then work to apply the knowledge and background they already have to push themselves further. 

In a traditional grading system, a student’s performance for an entire quarter is averaged together. Early quiz scores that were low would be averaged together with more proficient performance later in the course, resulting in a lower overall grade than current performance indicates.

Standards-based report cards separate academic performance from work habits and behavior in order to provide parents a more accurate view of a student’s progress in both academic and behavioral areas. Variables such as effort, participation, timeliness, cooperation and attitude are reported separately, not as an indicator of a student’s academic performance (see our Personal Accountability Grade).

Knowing where the students are in their progress toward meeting standards is crucial for planning and carrying out classroom instruction. Teachers teach to the needs of their students. Standards-based grading is designed to give teachers more information about the student’s progress in meeting the level of proficiency required by each standard through the development of proficiency scales (see next section on proficiency scales).  In addition, teachers share the standards with students and parents, helping them to better understand the learning that needs to take place and how we can help our students succeed.

A proficiency scale is a tool that displays a collection of related learning targets and scores for determining a student’s current level of performance. A proficiency scale defines a learning progression or set of learning goals for a specific topic, relative to a given standard (Herlebower et al., 2019).  This is a tool that shows teachers, students and others what proficiency looks like, what knowledge and skills must be attained for mastery, and how students might go beyond what the standard requires.  A proficiency scale is first and foremost a tool for teachers and students, but it also serves parents.  For teachers, the scale provides information regarding instruction, assessment and feedback to the learner. For students, the proficiency scale is the primary source of information about what they need to know and be able to do in relation to a priority standard or set of standards. Finally, a proficiency scale can serve as a source of information for parents to help them better understand the instructional focus of a specific content area.  

MMS Student Proficiency Scale Example for Grade 7 Astronomy

Here is an example of a grade 7 Astronomy - Solar System Unit Proficiency Scale