Standards Based Grading

a.k.a. Why do I only have a 75% right now?

Most of the grade this year will be calculated based on our understanding and skills of specific standards for each quarter.  That understanding will grow throughout the quarter, and the grades should reflect that.  If a student improves his or her understanding of some material, their grade should rise as well.  To do that, we will take multiple quizzes on the same standard, and students will have opportunities to reassess as necessary.  Today we took our first quiz on one of the standards we have this year about mechanical advantage.  True standards based grading would only use levels to indicate achievement: 4, 3, 2, 1.  Our grading system eventually needs to be converted into a percentage, so I've adapted it slightly:

• 4 - 95% - all ADVANCED material
• 3 - 85% - some ADVANCED material
• 2 - 75% - all BASIC material
• 1 - 65% - some BASIC material
• 0 - 50% - no BASIC material

But how do I get 100%?  If you reach 95% on each standard for the quarter, I will happily bump that to 100%.  Some initial quizzes will contain BASIC material at first before we have dealt with any advanced material.  Today's quiz covered BASIC information, so students have the opportunity to demonstrate that they are currently at a level 2, or 75%.  We will have another quiz once we have worked through more advanced material, and at that time this grade will (hopefully!) be replaced with something higher.  Only the most current grade counts as it represents your most current level of understanding.

In summary, if you got a 75%, great job!  That is the highest you can get right now on this standard!  We'll soon have another quiz on more advanced material.  Its a little different, but once we get used to it, I'm hoping it will better represent and motivate you to understand the material, not just get the grade.

CLICK HERE for more details about standards-based grading.

As always, feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.