Standards-based grading measures student progress towards proficiency on the most important grade-level skills students need to learn by the end of the year, instead of traditional letter grading which provides one overall grade per subject area (i.e. English language art, mathematics, etc). At SVUSD, K-6 students who earn a 3 are meeting the standard, demonstrating they can independently and consistently apply the skill or standard.

Standards-based grading focuses on student academic performance, instead of non-academic factors (attendance, behavior, turn-in homework/classwork, etc.), so the grade truly represents what the student knows, understands, and can do. Students have multiple opportunities to demonstrate proficiency so students can work on improving skills they have YET to master, instead of a one-time assessment/project or averaging all the work (assignments, assessments, and projects) into one cumulative score.