Standards-Based Grading & Standardized Tests

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The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and Every Student Succeeds Acts (ESSA) have transformed education in America, and the effects of it go beyond high-stakes standardized tests and school accountability rating systems. In years past, according to Stiggins (2005), “The school's responsibility was to provide the opportunity to learn. If students didn't take advantage of the opportunity, that was fine within the system.” Since these two laws have been enacted, the responsibility of the school has shifted from merely providing opportunities to learn and ranking students based on achievement (or lack thereof) to ensuring all students achieve a certain level of competency in the state academic standards. Ranking of students still exists, but there is now a defined minimum achievement standard for all (Stiggins, 2005).

In the last 20 years, collecting and analyzing data has been a major focus in schools. It has been used to drive policy decisions, site-based decisions, and instructional decisions. Students also collect and use data, which is often an overlooked detail. According to Stiggins (2005), students collect and assess data from the earliest grades, and they use their data to decide “whether success is within or beyond reach, whether the learning is worth the required effort, and so whether to try or not.” In order for all students to achieve minimum competency, educators must consider how assessment could be revised to help all students believe they can succeed. Traditional methods of assessment and grading may do the opposite of this if students are constantly collecting discouraging data (Stiggins, 2005).

The high-stakes tests prescribed by NCLB and ESSA, which are used to determine if the minimum achievement levels have been obtained, do not provide students with data that they need to make the decision to put forth the effort to learn since they are given at the end of the year. Based on my experience as a teacher, I have observed that many students often do not think about these tests until right before it is time to take them. As a result, they do not connect what they do in class to the standards assessed on the test on their own. Schools often mandate benchmarks to be given at certain points throughout the year. Students often do not take these benchmarks seriously, and students may not be given meaningful data from the test. The tests, like STAAR, may also not help teachers since they only happen once a year. They do not provide specific enough data to help individual students in regard to mastering individual standards (Stiggins, 2005).

Formative Assessments

As a result of the shortcomings of these high-stakes summative exams mentioned above, formative assessments have become much more popular in recent years. Formative assessments take place during learning in order to gauge whether learning is happening, instead of waiting until the end of the unit or year to determine success. They give teachers evidence and information to use when making instructional decisions. One popular trend is to use summative assessments in formative ways through the use of benchmarks and end of cycle tests. Teachers can use these to identify when standards are being met (or not), and adjust instruction accordingly (Striggins, 2005).

Formative assessments can also be quizzes and alternative assessments during various stages of the units. Using assessment methods beyond testing allows teachers, students, and parents to have a variety of sources of ongoing evidence to determine mastery of standards, and this is called assessment FOR learning (Striggins, 2005).

Assessment for Learning

Assessment for learning has shown to be a successful model, showing an increase in achievement gains between one-half to two standard deviations on standardized tests. This is because students, who are also data-based decision makers, are informed and involved throughout the process. Students partner with the teacher to evaluate their mastery levels. Teachers should rephrase the TEKS into student-friendly language and explain them to the students at the beginning of the year. Students are allowed to study models of strong and weak work as they progress throughout the year while the teacher provides effective feedback. Students should also be able to track their progress and reflect on it. Success depends on how data is managed, what educators do with data, and also in how students respond to it (Striggins, 2005; Lopez, 2014).

Traditional Grading in a Standards-Based World

As I have studied standards-based grading, I have come to a puzzling question. Why are the majority of the schools using traditional grading when the high-stakes standardized tests are standards-based assessments? Until now, I had only heard of standards-based grading, but I didn’t really know how it was different.

Standards-based grades are based on whether or not students have attained proficiency on specific standards, and the expectations and goals are made clear up front. Under standards-based grading, each goal may only have one grade in the gradebook, instead of one for each assignment. However, though grades may not be entered for every activity, feedback is still given for non-graded practice assignments (Townsley, 2014). This reduces the teacher’s workload, and allows students to have a clearer view of their progress. The grades are based only on achievement, and they have meaning relating to mastery of the objectives. Behavioral or effort based points, such as late work point deductions or extra credit, are not calculated in the grade to prevent a misunderstanding of mastery based on side issues. Students are also allowed to have multiple attempts at demonstrating their learning, with only the best counting toward the grade (Townsley, 2014; Scriffiny, 2008). Standards-based grading can also benefit both the gifted and talented (GT) students and the ones who are struggling. GT students may master a standard early and be given more challenging assignments for enrichment while the struggling students have time to retest or use alternative methods to show mastery (Scriffiny, 2008).

STAAR Testing

The STAAR test in Texas is a standards-based assessment. Scores are reported in a way that shows they have meaning (Scriffiny, 2008). They are given in the format of a scale score and a corresponding performance level (Masters, Meets, Approaches or Did Not Meet Grade Level). Performance Level Descriptors (PLDs) for each STAAR test are provided on the Texas Education Agency (TEA) website. According to the TEA (2020) website, “PLDs are statements that describe the specific knowledge and skills students typically demonstrate at each performance level.” The PLDs are linked to the TEKS for the course (TEA, 2020). This description of the standards and requirements for achievement of each level is necessary for standards-based grading (Scriffiny, 2008).

Conclusion

I feel like I have just begun to scratch the surface of what standards-based grading entails. When I was a high school and college student, my primary concern was my grade. After teaching a few years, I took a couple of classes to improve my knowledge base. My concern then was to learn as much as I could, and in doing so, I found that the grade followed. I found myself wondering how much I had short-changed myself when I was a student before because my focus was on the wrong thing. How much more could I have learned if the focus was not all on my GPA? I have often wished there was a way to help the kids to have a learn-first and grades will follow perspective. I feel like standards-based grading might be a key to making that happen. I will definitely do some more research on this topic. I am including a video that may be helpful in my research below. I would love to hear the thoughts of teachers who have made the transition from traditional grading to standards-based grading. What were the road blocks? What worked well? What do you wish you had known before you made the change?

References

Lopez, V. (2014, August 8). What every teacher ought to know about the teks - youtube. YouTube.com. Retrieved November 12, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jo1sQw5ybc.

Scriffiny, P., (2008). Seven Reasons for Standards-Based Grading. Retrieved November 3. 2018 from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ814365

Stiggins, R. J. (2005). From formative assessment to assessment FOR learning: A path to success in standards-based schools. Phi Delta Kappan, 87(4). Retrieved February 1, 2009 from http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/k_v87/k0512sti.htm

Texas Education Agency. (2020, June 11). Staar performance level descriptors. Texas Education Agency. Retrieved November 12, 2021, from https://tea.texas.gov/student-assessment/testing/staar/staar-performance-level-descriptors.

Townsley, M., (2014). What is the difference between standards-based grading (or reporting) and competency-based education? Retrieved November 2, 2018 from https://www.competencyworks.org/analysis/what-is-the-difference-betweenstandards-based-grading/