Standards based grading inspires learners to take risks, make mistakes, and revise their thinking and work.

When I think back on initial conversations that took place surrounding standards based grading in the schools that I serve, I remember that the same questions kept rising to the surface. Establishing clarity and resolving dilemmas on the spot was critical, but often, issues were raised by representatives of grade levels or buildings, and I knew that the potential for the responses to reach everyone quickly and consistently wasn’t as high as we needed it to be. Establishing common and clear understandings from the outset was challenging, particularly inside of the largest school district that I work in.

Capturing the most frequently asked questions gave me the opportunity to study what mattered most to the teachers I was working with, and the document below was inspired by that thinking and work. It’s made for great pre-reading prior to initial conversations about standards based grading, it acts as an anchor for my work inside of the largest system I work in, and it provokes very thoughtful dialogue about the purpose and practice of standards based grading.

It was informed by those I mention in this post, and you will find more specific references on the last pages of the document. If you share it, please be sure to leave this information in tact.

I’m constantly tweaking it.

How would you do that?

 

Author

Write A Comment