Your Questions Answered
Your Questions Answered
This FAQ is designed to answer common questions and help families understand how this shift better supports every learner’s progress.
Better Information before Instruction: Course standards state in explicit terms what the student needs to be able do in order to demonstrate that he or she learned the new material. Teachers have identified key standards in each class that they can explain to all students what they are learning and how it will help them demonstrate mastery at the grade-level standard.
The use of Proficiency Scales: Teachers will use Proficiency Scales to determine where a student is at with their learning progression towards a grade-level standard. These scales serve as a roadmap towards a grade-level standard, stating what key information is needed for a student to demonstrate proficiency.
Standards-Based Report Cards: Instead of receiving a letter grade, students will receive a proficiency scale score ranging from 0-4 using half point increments. The goal for all students is to get a 3.0 for the specific standard, as that is the grade-level standard expectation.
Actionable Feedback: Students will recieve feedback on specific criteria based on the grade-level standard. This will also be reflected on the report card. Instead of seeing just the course name (Math, Science, English Language Arts, etc...) students and families will see a break down of the standards within a course. This will provide a more detailed look at what the students is able to do and what they might still be working on.
Grades communicate individual student academic achievement in relation to course expectations to our students, their families, employers, and post-secondary institutions.
Grades reflect student academic achievement.
Summative evidence will constitute the majority of a student’s grade.
Grading will not be used for disciplinary purposes.
Behavior and academic performances will be assessed documented separately.
Proficiency scales are district-curriculum documents that identify clear learning progressions for each of the priority standards. The most important consumer of the information in the scale is the student. Proficiency Scales have four key levels.
Level 4: Exceeding Standard - Students are able to independently extend their knowledge through transference of learning to more complex content and thinking, including deeper conceptual understanding and application.
Level 3: Meeting Standard - Students who meet the standards are able to independently use the content, details, concepts, and academic vocabulary, processes, procedures, and skills that relate to the standards. These students not only understand the what but can correctly explain or demonstrate the how and why, as directly expressed with the language of the standard. *Our goal is to get students to at least a 3.0 on their proficiency scale.
Level 2: Approaching Standard - Students have the foundational understanding of the content and concepts. At level 2, students understand or can use the foundational concepts, academic vocabulary, skills, procedures, and details.
Level 1: Attempting Standard - Students consistently require help and support to understand foundational content. At level 1, students are beginning to understand simple concepts, academic vocabulary, skills, procedures, and details.
*Please see examples listed below.
Grades are used to communicate with students, their families, and also to third parties such as colleges. As we implement Standards-Based learning practices, some may worry that these practices will place students from LCAS at a disadvantage. In fact, there will still be a GPA calculation on each student's transcript along with the courses that were completed.
Each course will recieve an overall Proficiency Scale score. This score will then be converted to a letter grade, which will then produce a GPA score at the semester. Please see our conversion chart here.
Our current transcript will look very similar with an additional section for our "Habits of Work" criteria. The Habits of Work scores will give institutes a whole-child view of other skill sets including work ethic, professionalism, communication, and collaboration attributes.
*Develop with information from scholarship groups, state & local colleges, etc.