Standards Based Grading

The information provided for you on this page is designed to help parents better understand the new Standards Base Grading at LSR7 is now using. AS A REMINDER WE ARE TRANSITIONING TO A NEW GRADING AND REPORTING SYSTEM IN OUR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. WE WILL INCLUDE VARIOUS FACTS EACH WEEK TO HELP KEEP YOU INFORMED DURING THE EARLY STAGES OF THIS IMPLEMENTATION. DON’T FORGET THAT YOU CAN ALSO LEARN MORE ABOUT STANDARDS BASED GRADING AND REPORTING BY VISITING THE DISTRICT STANDARDS BASED GRADING WEBSITE.

October 14th

This year when parents receive their child’s first quarter progress report at parent - teacher conferences, they will find the newly revised progress report to be one that deeply informs parents about the specifics of what their student(s) is/are learning beyond a single description for a subject (i.e. Math Assessments). At the conclusion of each quarter, we encourage parents to discuss learning progress with their child/children and establish goals for the next quarter/semester. Progress reports will be provided electronically to parents second, third and fourth quarter. Directions regarding how parents will access those progress reports will be provided at a later date.

October 7th

When parents receive the new progress report for first quarter a very noticeable difference from last year’s report will be the depth of information provided to parents about what is being learned in each content area. In the past, each quarter student progress was reported quite narrowly (ie: reading, writing, grammar, reading level, math assessments, etc.) Grading and reporting by standards provides considerable feedback to parents and students about what children should be learning in each core subject area at each grade level. Parents will notice that standards are scaffolded and build upon each other. In many instances, across a school year and/or grade levels.

September 30th

Parents often wonder if children can redo work or whether if being given opportunities for practice will cause them to lose motivation to work hard the first time practice is involved. We teach children that they are given opportunities to succeed and their reward is deeper and more proficient learning. Allowing children time to practice newly developed concepts helps build intrinsic motivation and deeper knowledge. At the elementary level, it is important to remember that children learn at different developmental rates, are impacted by maturation, and should have opportunity to learn from the mistakes they make.

September 23rd

You might be wondering how we assess your child’s learning throughout a school year. Particularly during a child’s elementary years. It is important for parents and teachers, alike, to understand there are a variety of developmental factors which impact a child’s readiness to grasp certain topics. Your student’s learning, however, is assessed using a variety of formative and summative assessments. These may include but are not limited to: traditional teacher generated assessments, verbal assessments, projects, demonstrations, reports, classroom assignments, classroom observations, and/or classroom discussions. Formative assessments are those assessments that provide teachers ongoing feedback of a child’s progress so instruction can be tailored to meet that child’s need at that point in time. Summative assessments are those that provide a teacher with student’s level of understanding at a benchmark in time (i.e. end of a unit, end of a quarter, tri-annual assessment, or annual assessment)

September 16th “Will percentages be utilized to reflect student grades?”

Elementary teachers will not report proficiency via percentages at any grade level. Pure mathematical averages do not accurately report a child’s true level of proficiency of a standard. In fact, percentages can actually penalize a child for what he/she didn’t already know at the start of a unit of study. A variety of learning evidences over time, in conjunction with teacher professional judgment, and a child’s performance on a Final Demonstration of Learning (FDOL) is more strongly correlated to an accurate depiction of student learning.

September 9th

The question has been asked about how a student’s final grade is determined. The final score may be determined by a Final Demonstration Of Learning (FDOL). In addition, teachers will also review a large sampling of student evidence of learning over time to determine proficiency of a standard.

September 2nd

In our transition to Standards Based Grading and Reporting, we want students to understand that the final mark they receive for a reporting standard on the grade level progress report will not be negatively impacted by learner behaviors. Effort, behavior, extra points, etc are not figured into a final grade. Instead, teachers will indicate progress to parents regarding skills necessary for long-term academic success via the Characteristics of a Successful Learner section of the progress report. This updated area of the progress report will inform students and parents about learner behaviors (i.e. following written and oral directions, demonstration of organization, etc.). The Characteristics of a Successful Learner Indicators are defined below:

4 -- student consistently demonstrates this skill

3 -- student demonstrates this skill most of the time

2 -- student demonstrates this skill some of the time

1 -- student requires on-going support to develop and demonstrate this skill

August 26th

When we are prepared to summatively assess students on a reporting standard, they will complete a Final Demonstration of Learning (FDOL). Students will become familiar with this term. If an FDOL is a formal classroom assessment, results will come home with an assigned academic indicator. The academic indicators being used by our school district to communicate a child’s level of proficiency of a standard are defined below:

M - Indicates the student is consistently and independently meeting proficiency of the grade level standard. A student who receives an “M” has met the defined grade level standard.

P - Indicates the student is progressing toward independent proficiency of the grade level standard. A student who is progressing toward a standard is demonstrating a level of understanding that is expected and typical during the course of the school year at a given time.

E - Indicates the student is experiencing difficulty understanding the grade level standard and requires additional time and support as he/she progresses toward proficiency. A student who is experiencing difficulty understanding a grade level standard may require additional support or intervention, monitoring, practice, reteaching, or simply more time to demonstrate proficiency.

We have reviewed these with our students and we believe they’ll be ready to discuss these with you. What is most important this year is that children will clearly understand what they are learning and what they need to do in order to demonstrate proficiency of a learning outcome.