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A School Leader's Guide to Standards-Based Grading
Accurately report students academic strengths and weaknesses with standards-based grading. Rather than using traditional systems that incorporate nonacademic factors such as attendance and behavior, learn to assess and report student performance based on prioritized standards. You will discover reliable, practical methods for analyzing what students have learned and gain effective strategies for offering students feedback on their progress. Benefits - Distinguish between standards-based and standards-referenced grading, and examine the basis of each. - Understand the research and reasoning for standards-based grading, and read other educators accounts of applying it in their schools. - Examine current grading practices, and identify ways to ensure grades accurately reflect students strengths and weaknesses. - Discover how to improve student achievement through meaningful, measurable, and accurate reporting. - Address the role of exceptional learners students with special needs, English learners, and gifted and talented students in the assessment process.
144 pages, Perfect Paperback
First published May 23, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
July 31, 2018
A good overview for standards-based grading. This is not about competencies, but many of the ideas hold true for competency-based education. The book is only about 100 pages long so it's an overview with examples. I like that some examples/comments come from teachers and students.
The book follows a logical format of philosophy to practice. Time is given to grading and all of the conundrums that come with it (late homework, grades as place holders, weighting, percentages, categories, zeroes, redos, separating academic from behavior, and how to report student progress).
I like the section on priority standards. For example, there are far too many standards to meet them all given the years we have with students, so we need to prioritize which ones we must meet. The book provides a vetting process for deciding on which standards to prioritize.
I wasn't excited about the proficiency scale examples - still so much connected to grades, and the exceeds standards column still needs work.
The comments about varying assessments are good. I have never categorized assessments into obtrusive and non-obtrusive categories before.
The last chapter entitled Leadership will help administrators develop a plan and the four year process guidelines are helpful. This book offers the salient points and is a good start for considering standards-based or competency-based grading.
The book follows a logical format of philosophy to practice. Time is given to grading and all of the conundrums that come with it (late homework, grades as place holders, weighting, percentages, categories, zeroes, redos, separating academic from behavior, and how to report student progress).
I like the section on priority standards. For example, there are far too many standards to meet them all given the years we have with students, so we need to prioritize which ones we must meet. The book provides a vetting process for deciding on which standards to prioritize.
I wasn't excited about the proficiency scale examples - still so much connected to grades, and the exceeds standards column still needs work.
The comments about varying assessments are good. I have never categorized assessments into obtrusive and non-obtrusive categories before.
The last chapter entitled Leadership will help administrators develop a plan and the four year process guidelines are helpful. This book offers the salient points and is a good start for considering standards-based or competency-based grading.
July 31, 2017
This was a very good book to introduce an educator to standards-based grading. It was comprehensive and easy to follow. A small group is doing a book study on it to help us decide if we want to start the process to implement this change. I'm in.
July 12, 2017
This was a comprehensive step-by-step explanation for how to implement standards-based grading in your district. As a new teacher in a standards-based school, I was given this book to read to help me understand what to expect when I start in the fall. I was left with a few questions about the specifics of how my district will handle some details, but I want to hand this book out to all of my teacher and administrative friends. Before reading, I was interested in the standards-based grading model, but I didn't have any experience with it. This book has reassured my doubts and made an advocate out of me. I'll be interested to see how I feel after I start grading within the model, but at the moment I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in this model of grading, especially administrators or those that want to spearhead the process of change.
July 23, 2021
Far exceeded my expectations when it was suggested to me by our Math Curriculum Head. I was on curriculum this Summer for Geometry, and thinking about standards a LOT, and want to transition to standards-based grading. She had an extra copy and gifted it to me. There is only 1 chapter non-applicable to the classroom teacher (Leadership Implementation in a District & School). The book is completely marked up and will guide me over the next few years as I aim to transition how I grade High School students. Lots to think on as we enter a practically new year post-Covid.
July 23, 2017
Practical steps towards implementation presented in easy-t0-understand language. Didn't give it more stars because, as the title states, there were large sections geared towards principal types that did not apply to me.
July 15, 2018
This is a very brief, to-the-point book about Standards-Based Grading. Useful for understanding the discussion as my district moves towards this method.
June 29, 2019
I was hoping for a little more practical, how-to guide, but this was a pretty good overview of SBG.
December 6, 2019
This is a great guide for any school moving towards standards-based grading practices. I read it with our district's instructional leadership teams in conjunction with PD led by the author.
February 17, 2021
Good overview of SBG from a school leader perspective.
February 18, 2023
Informative. The authors do not merely discuss the merits of adopting standards-based grading, but also provide practical recommendations for doing so. Recommended to school instructional leaders.
June 1, 2016
This book was informative and thought-provoking, but not as helpful as I wanted it to be as my team transitions to standards-based grading.
My biggest issue with this book is the repeated assertion that whatever teacher a student has shouldn't matter. I agree, to the extent that every teacher should be able to use best practices to help every student progress toward, if not reach, proficiency. I know that this is what the authors are saying when they make this claim. A student's grade in a class should be determined by what the student knows and is able to do, and not by arbitrary criteria that varies from classroom to classroom. However, teachers are not robots, packets, or programs. I would argue that a teacher's uniqueness is exactly what makes him or her valuable to the profession.
While I am excited by the prospect and possibilities of transitioning my classroom to standards-based grading, I find the idea that a district or school can implement a single system for grading, complete with district-wide common assessments and prioritized standards, and still reach students in a meaningful way, unconvincing. Teachers need the flexibility to teach to our strengths, even if that means prioritizing standards differently than the other teachers in our school or district teams. We ostensibly try to teach students that diversity is an asset, not a liability. Shouldn't this belief be reflected in the way we handle diversity in our PLCs? I don't see room for this kind of assertion in the kind of school or district-wide jackboot march this book advocates.
I am for collaboration. I am for common assessments and shared standards. But at the end of the day (or in the middle of it), if my students need something different, my greatest strength as a teacher is the autonomy to throw out whatever I've created with my team and shift my focus without having to answer to my team, my administration, and even my district for exercising my authority as head-learner in my classroom. Although I agree with much of the rationale behind A School Leader's Guide to Standards-Based Grading, I don't think the authors give enough credit to teachers as individuals and their capacity to challenge, inspire, and teach their students in ways that are not quantifiable on a proficiency scale. So while I agree with much of what I learned about how to implement standards-based grading in my classroom, I can't help but see this book as another negative voice proclaiming that education reform can or should be accomplished in spite of our teachers instead of with and through them.
My biggest issue with this book is the repeated assertion that whatever teacher a student has shouldn't matter. I agree, to the extent that every teacher should be able to use best practices to help every student progress toward, if not reach, proficiency. I know that this is what the authors are saying when they make this claim. A student's grade in a class should be determined by what the student knows and is able to do, and not by arbitrary criteria that varies from classroom to classroom. However, teachers are not robots, packets, or programs. I would argue that a teacher's uniqueness is exactly what makes him or her valuable to the profession.
While I am excited by the prospect and possibilities of transitioning my classroom to standards-based grading, I find the idea that a district or school can implement a single system for grading, complete with district-wide common assessments and prioritized standards, and still reach students in a meaningful way, unconvincing. Teachers need the flexibility to teach to our strengths, even if that means prioritizing standards differently than the other teachers in our school or district teams. We ostensibly try to teach students that diversity is an asset, not a liability. Shouldn't this belief be reflected in the way we handle diversity in our PLCs? I don't see room for this kind of assertion in the kind of school or district-wide jackboot march this book advocates.
I am for collaboration. I am for common assessments and shared standards. But at the end of the day (or in the middle of it), if my students need something different, my greatest strength as a teacher is the autonomy to throw out whatever I've created with my team and shift my focus without having to answer to my team, my administration, and even my district for exercising my authority as head-learner in my classroom. Although I agree with much of the rationale behind A School Leader's Guide to Standards-Based Grading, I don't think the authors give enough credit to teachers as individuals and their capacity to challenge, inspire, and teach their students in ways that are not quantifiable on a proficiency scale. So while I agree with much of what I learned about how to implement standards-based grading in my classroom, I can't help but see this book as another negative voice proclaiming that education reform can or should be accomplished in spite of our teachers instead of with and through them.
January 1, 2016
I read this for my PLC at school and am very interested in pursuing this method of grading. Students need to know how they are doing both academically and behaviorally, be able to pinpoint their areas of weakness, and be encouraged via feedback to improve performance.
This book offers research, strategies, and a concrete plan to implement SBG realistically.
This book offers research, strategies, and a concrete plan to implement SBG realistically.
June 9, 2016
A potential game-changer!
June 19, 2016
Very practical and useful for making the switch.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews