Standards Based Grading

We are more than halfway through the first year of Standards Based Grading at CRMS. A positive outcome of this change has been that students and teachers have a far better understanding of student learning than ever before. Because tests are designed to measure basic, proficient, or advanced understanding, students get feedback on exactly where they are. In a traditional system, a student may score a 100% on a test this is based solely on recall, a very low level of understanding. In a standards based system, that would represent a "2". However, in this system, the test wouldn't have stopped there. This grading system requires teachers to include a variety of levels of understanding on an assessment, from basic to advanced. I recognize that this can be difficult for parents and students who may be comforted by a traditional system's glossed over A, of which there were many. A standards-based system provides a much more authentic look at learning. We are hoping that PowerSchool improves their standards based reporting tool so that it is more intuitive and provides parents and students better information about individual assignments.