This analysis explores the essential criteria necessary to define standards-based grading (SBG) and to judge its effectiveness. Findings reveal that although many schools today are initiating SBG reforms, there's little consensus on what "standards-based grading" actually means. As a result, SBG implementation is widely inconsistent due…

This study sought to determine if the implementation of standards-based learning in high schools affects students' transition to learning in university courses. Surveys and interviews with 13 students who had graduated from high schools implementing standards-based learning and who had completed their first academic semester at a midsize, private,…

Grading and reporting are foundational elements in nearly every educational system. Grading represents teachers' evaluations, formative or summative, of students' performance. Reporting is how the results of those evaluations are communicated to students, parents, or others. Because of their fundamental nature, educators must ensure that grading…

How do assessments for learning differ from assessments of learning? What is the purpose of grading? After nearly two decades of immersion in standards-based curriculua and instruction, our nation's educators are often still confounded by the (admittedly complex) landscape of standards, assessment, and reporting. In "Answers to Essential…

A common practice in medical education is to create a prescribed distribution of grades, or ratings, so that only a certain percentage of students receive the highest marks. This approach typically is employed to curb grade inflation and as a means to help faculty distinguish outstanding performers. Despite the well-intentioned reasoning for using…

Nearly all states have standards for student learning and they have assessment programs to measure students' proficiency on those standards. But schools within each state nonetheless are left to develop their own standards-based student report cards as the primary means of communicating information about students' performance. To address the…

Despite the many changes in education over the past century, grading and reporting practices have essentially remained the same. In part, this is because few teacher preparation programs offer any guidance on sound grading practices. As a result, most current grading practices are grounded in tradition, rather than research on best practice. In an…

Teachers often grapple with the challenge of giving report card grades to students with learning disabilities and English language learners. The authors offer a five-step model that "offers a fair, accurate, and legal way to adapt the grading process for exceptional learners." The model begins with a high-quality reporting system for all students…

Teachers at all levels of education today struggle in their efforts to assign fair, accurate, and meaningful grades to students with disabilities, especially those placed in general education classrooms. Lacking specific policies or recommendations, most teachers apply informal, individual grading adaptations for such students. Although these…

Teachers at all levels of education today struggle in their efforts to assign fair, accurate, and meaningful grades to students with disabilities, especially those placed in general education classrooms. Lacking specific policies or recommendations, most teachers apply informal, individual grading adaptations for such students. Although these…

Although increasing numbers of students with disabilities are included in general education classrooms for greater portions of the day, little guidance or direction has come from the field of special education to help address the challenge of grading students in inclusive settings. The shift to standards-based grading and reporting has further…

Educators can develop fair and accurate standards-based grading/reporting by switching to criterion-referenced grading practices; using differentiated criteria (denoting product, process, and progress); clarifying the purpose of each reporting tool; and developing a reporting form that identifies standards, facilitates interpretation, and…