St. Croix Central High School

Our Standards-Based Grading Philosophy

Why - To provide fair and accurate grading practices that illuminate what will be learned and how success will be measured against the standards.  Utilizing transparency and clear expectations to open the door to continued learning and growth for all students.

How - Through the proper and transparent application of grading practices, reassessment, formative feedback, summative assessments, rubrics, and clear communication with students and parents.

Result - Grading will be fair, accurate, and informative in order to drive maximum learning and growth for each student.

SCC HIGH SCHOOL SBG INFORMATION

• SCC High School Standards-Based Grading Playbook

Additional Resources

• What does the research say about standards-based grading? Matt Townsley & Tom Buckmiller

• Making Grades Meaningful: Quality over Counting - Mindsets for Grading Reform Tom Schimmer

• Call to Action for Equitable Grading Joe Feldman

• Why It's Critical - And Really Hard - To Talk About More Equitable Grading KQED, Joe Feldman

• How Teachers Are Changing Grading Practices With an Eye on Equity KQED, Katrina Schwartz

Reassessment Guides by Academic Department

• Agriculture

• Agriculture Shop

• Art

• Business

• Computer Science

• English - Language Arts

• FCSE

• Math

• Music

• Physical Ed & Health

• Science

• Social Studies

• Technology Education/STEM

• World Languages

We will…

1. Focus our work on student learning not teaching and grading.

2. Determine a student’s proficiency level using essential standards for the course.

3. Determine a student’s proficiency level using summative assessments, not formative practice.

4. Ensure the proficiency of essential standards through reteaching and reassessing.

5. Report life skills separately and not as part of the academic proficiency level.

6. Not use extra credit.

7. Assess students individually even when they are working in groups.

8. Not assign academic consequences for late work & we will look for evidence of proficiency no matter when it happens.

9. Use professional judgment in conjunction with performance data to determine a student’s overall proficiency level.

10. Provide students with opportunities to exceed proficiency.

We Believe…

1. The adult should lead and the student must actively participate in the process in a meaningful way

2. It’s about learning - ensuring that students learn - all students will learn

3. Our task is to measure, record, and provide feedback on the demonstration of learning whenever it takes place

4. Adults should model, teach, and correct behavior - care, organization, self-regulation, time management, follow-through...etc

5. If the student doesn’t learn it, we will search for alternative methods or interventions to ensure learning takes place

6. We focus on demonstration of the standard - not the task

7. The reassessment process cannot be punitive and should not create an undue burden on the student

8. Reassessment creates success - success leads to hope - hope leads to self-efficacy - self-efficacy leads to engagement.

Two Ways to Initiate a Reassessment

Teacher-Initiated

• Student performance/score falls below minimum expectations (i.e. 2.0)

• Student performance/score falls below formative indicators.  Summative assessment falls outside predicted performance based on formative assessments

Student-Initiated

• The student believes they performed below their true level of learning

  • See the reassessment guide provided by each department