Monday, November 26, 2012

Missouri Education Watchdog: A Primer on Standards Based Grading

Missouri Education Watchdog: A Primer on Standards Based Grading:


A Primer on Standards Based Grading

Want to watch a teacher's blood pressure rise right before your eyes? Ask them what they think of Standards Based Grading.

This is one of the zombies of education reform. It never really seems to die and keeps coming back to eat your brain.  Some schools are trying to adopt it now as it is expected to be used in Common Core Assessments. For those who are unfamiliar with SBG, here are the basics.

Numerical ratings are used rather than letter grades/percents. There are four ratings:

1--Beginning
2--Acquiring the skills/concepts
3--Meeting standard
4--Exceeding standard

Most of us would immediately make the leap to 4=A, 3=B, 2=C and 1=D (note that there is no F as there is no