Why is standards based grading equitable?

Grades reflect what's actually learned. In a standards-based grading system, only the standard or competency is being measured. Grading practices and policies are transparent for students and families, and learners are able to understand what they've learned and what they're learning next.

Is standards based grading equitable?

Standards-based grading is almost entirely based on assessments. Bolles explained, “The elimination of homework could be considered an equitable grading policy because not every student has the ability to go home and spend two or three hours doing homework.

Why is standards based grading good?

Standards-based grading allows me to clearly communicate with students and parents where individuals are with their understanding of each concept. No longer are students able to hide behind weighted averages and positive academic behaviors such as attendance.

What are the benefits of equitable grading?

Equitable grading helps keep student evaluations and scoring more objective and less prone to unconscious biases. For example, teachers may unintentionally let non-academic factors-like student behavior or whether a student showed up to virtual class-interfere with their final evaluation of students.

What are more equitable grading practices?

Equity Based Grading & Standards Based Grading - Every Teacher's Nightmare "Zeroes are toxic"

What is equitable grading?

Accurate: The grade reflects students' academic performance, not their behaviors. Bias-Resistant: The grade does not reward students with privilege, nor penalize students without privilege. Motivational: The grade encourages students to achieve authentic learning through intrinsic motivation (self-regulation)

What are the problems with equitable grading?

While most talk of equitable grading focuses on low-income students and children of color, including behavior and nonacademic criteria in grades tends to inflate the grades of students who have the most resources and are best able to accommodate, adhere to, and comply with a teacher's expected behaviors.

How is equitable grading different from traditional grading?

Equitable grading practices separate the behavior from the assessment of knowledge. These practices emphasize the belief that all students can learn and meet learning targets. According to experts, traditional grading with the well-known bell curve and 100-point scale is inherently inequitable.

What are the three pillars of equitable grading?

Equitable grading has three pillars: accuracy, bias-resistance, and intrinsic motivation. Grades must accurately reflect only a student's academic level of performance, exclude nonacademic criteria (such as behavior), and use mathematically sound calculations and scales, such as the 0–4 instead of the 0–100 scale.

Why is equitable important?

A diverse group, community, or organization is one in which a variety of social and cultural characteristics exist. Equity ensures everyone has access to the same treatment, opportunities, and advancement. Equity aims to identify and eliminate barriers that prevent the full participation of some groups.

How do colleges feel about standards based grading?

Letter grades and transcripts based on standards are acceptable, if not preferable, by admissions folks, with a few caveats. When universities receive profiles/transcripts from schools with alternative grading/reporting systems, these students receive equal consideration.

What are the benefits of standard based report cards?

Teachers who implement standards-based grading and reporting consistently say it contributes to a learning culture, in place of the traditional grading/point accumulation culture, and that students become self-directed learners who have a much more positive attitude about school and learning.

Does standards based grading improve student achievement?

It values the individual student's needs and responds to those needs to guide every learner at their own pace. Standards-based grading gives every student a clear path and the time they need to succeed, improving the outcomes for every learner.

Is the grading system fair?

Traditional grading is confusing and inaccurate

But my research has found that it's very rare that all teachers in a district, or even a school or a grade level, use the same grading policies and procedures. The variation among teachers' grading policies and practices causes confusion for students and their parents.

What does equitable instruction look like?

Equitable teaching requires that instructors recognize structural barriers that some students face. In order to do this, we must be willing to consider our current assumptions and educational structures, and examine the ways they may be creating barriers and exacerbating inequities.

Is standards based grading the same as competency based grading?

Competency-based grading is a type of standards-based grading that incorporates aspects of mastery grading while structuring learning into bundles or tiers that are associated with specific grades (Towsley and Schmid 2020).

What makes a school equitable?

Equitable access and inclusion requires identifying students' individual needs, removing barriers to access, and providing appropriate accommodations for those students who need them.

What does an equitable math classroom look like?

What does equitable math instruction look like in the classroom? Equitable math instruction is the simple understanding that students and communities come from different backgrounds and may have different ways of being and thinking, even in math. Math problems, of course, have correct answers.

What does equitable mean in education?

Equality in education is achieved when students are all treated the same and have access to similar resources. Equity is achieved when all students receive the resources they need so they graduate prepared for success after high school.

What is equitable use in the classroom?

In the context of education, equity can be defined as ensuring each student “receives what they need to develop to their full academic and social potential (National Equity Project, 2022).” Access… is tied to the social organization of participation, even to belonging.

How common is standards-based grading?

While Townsley said there isn't national data on how many schools have made the switch to standards-based grading, a 2021 statewide survey in Wyoming by the state's department of education showed that 10 percent of middle schools and 5 percent of high schools have fully implemented the approach, and that 53 percent of ...

Why standard based learning?

By adopting and following standards, and informing students of their goals, administrators can hold teachers and students accountable for classroom progress. Standards-based instruction guides planning and instruction and helps teachers keep their focus on the learning target.

How does standards-based assessment impact student learning?

Standards-based assessment allows students to know exactly where they stand on clearly defined standards, differentiating the classroom experience and honoring each student as a unique individual. SBA both communicates clear objectives for learning and relates feedback to the objectives.

Is an S on a report card good?

An alpha scale of O (outstanding), S (satisfactory), P (progressing), or N (needs improvement) that indicates progress in the learning expectations for each domain or strand of standards. New categories for math and English Language Arts aligned to the CA CCSS.

What are the benefits of standards-based IEP?

Standards-based IEPs let them to work with grade-level content. They can aim to achieve at the same level as their peers. And they can stay on track to graduate with a regular high school diploma, which is required for many jobs and colleges. Without a standards-based approach, students may be left behind academically.