Standards Based, Standards Referenced, and Traditional Grading, what's the difference?

When talking about a change in grading it is easy to find yourself in a state of confusion! To try and clear it up, let's look at each system below to give you some talking points and basic knowledge of each grading option.

Standard Referenced Grading or Reporting

Standards referenced grading is a system in which teachers give students feedback about their proficiency on a set of defined standards and schools report students' levels of performance on the grade-level standards, but students advance at the end of the course of year based on passing performance and other factors, only some of which involve proficiency on the standards.

• Any mark or indicator reported to students and parents is connected to a specific state standard.
• The type of mark may vary between, numbers, letters, or marks, but the indicator will always show whether a student is proficient, nearing proficiency, lacks the knowledge to demonstrate the skills, or is above and beyond proficiency.
• Regardless of whether the student has demonstrated they are proficient in a standard or not the student will be allowed to move to the next grade level.
• You've seen this before! Think West Marshall Elementary report cards!

Standards Based Grading or Reporting

Standards based grading is a system of assessing and reporting that describes student progress in relation to standards. A student can demonstrate mastery of a set of standards and move immediately to a more challenging set of standards.

• Any mark or indicator reported to students and parents is connected to a state specific standard.
• Follows a simple scale of Advanced Proficiency, Proficient, Approaching Proficiency, or Lacking Skills.
• Student must show proficiency in order to move to the next skill. There is no social promotion.
• Grades are not averaged, but rather evidence is gathered to demonstrate student growth over time.

Traditional Grading or Reporting

Traditionally, public schools have taught and graded in one instructional model, a Traditional (Factory) Model. Its overall outcome continues to work as it was when it was created to separate and sort kids. This model has worked very much as it was intended...like a factory. Every learner is taught the same thing in the same way, at the same time, with the same pace, using the same resources without any form of differentiation whatsoever, when clearly our children are DIFFERENT. This is the traditional classroom teaching that has been around for hundreds of years.

• Use of a 100 point scale
• Reporting on the final class grade, and not the standards being taught
• Reports A, B, C, D or F
• All grades are averaged together whether it was in the early stages of a learning cycle or late in the learning cycle
• Social promotion through middle school

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