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Grading Scale Information

Most professions have some version of a standards based evaluation system with clear goals, necessary skills, and the ability to apply knowledge to varied situations.  The Standards Based Grading system functions in much the same way by providing specific information to students and parents about a student's progress toward meeting identified targets, or standards.

When considering how to support a student's skill growth, it is important to have consistency and accuracy about what students know and what they are able to do.  Identifying a student's progress according to specific, identified learning targets, or standards, allows for a clear understanding of not only what a student has learned, but where he/she is in the road to mastery.

Traditional Grading Standards Based Grading
  • Final grades are an average of performance, effort, homework completion, and other teacher created criteria.
  • The actual meaning of final grades (A-F) may be unclear to students and parents beyond "good," "average," or "bad."
  • Final grades report progress towards specific learning targets/standards.
  • The specificity allows parents and teachers to identify strengths and areas for improvement adding clear meaning to the "grade."
  • Grades are reviewed as rewards or punishments for overall performance.
  • Grades are viewed as a tool for communicating student progress toward specific learning targets/standards.
  • Work habits such as homework completion, on task behavior are averaged in with course grades.
  • This practice can raise or lower grades without clarity as to "why."
  • Habits of work are reported and graded separately and are evidence and skill based.
  • These skills are still viewed as equally important to academic grades and are reported in a dedicated section on the report card.
  • Grading is something done by teachers to students and is generally not well understood by students.
  • Students can play an active role in understanding learning targets, tracking their progress, identifying next steps, and communicating progress.  The conversation centers around growth and progress rather than an end point.

 

Lisle Elementary Grading Scale

The Standards Based Grading Scale is a three-tiered scale that identifies where a student is in relation to mastering a learning target/standard.

  • To receive a "3", students need to demonstrate he/she has mastered a skill independently.
  • Once a student demonstrates he/she has mastered the skill, regardless of when mastery occurs within the trimester.
  • Students will have multiple opportunities to demonstrate a skill has been mastered.
  • Students who are still working at a "2" or a "1" will receive additional instruction to improve understanding and move toward mastery of a skill.