Standards-based learning, or SBL, measures your student’s mastery of the essential standards for a course. At the beginning of every unit, the teacher breaks down the standards for the unit into smaller objectives and criteria using a detailed rubric. During the unit, the student is assessed to see if they truly know the material using a variety of assessments, such as traditional pencil-and-paper tests, projects, discussions, or reports. The class grade will be based on all of the evidence the teacher collects demonstrating mastery of the essential standards. 

The goal of this approach is to provide the teacher, student, and parent as accurate a picture as possible of the student’s learning and to encourage a dialogue about how the student can master the material for the class. 

The purpose of standards-based learning is to provide clarity for the teaching and learning journey. Instruction is aligned to priority standards and proficiency scales. This provides clearer understanding regarding what each student knows and is able to do. In standards-based teaching and learning, the influence of work habits on student learning is assessed
separately from the learning of content concepts and skills.

The goal is to improve student learning, primarily by assisting students in owning their own learning. It is important to report grades that are accurate, consistent, meaningful, and supportive of learning. Standards-based learning most effectively accomplishes that goal through:

Clarity of Expectations
Standards based learning provides clear and specific learning objectives or standards, helping student understand what is expected of them in terms of knowledge and skills.

Focus on Mastery
Standards based learning emphasizes whether a student has mastered a particular skill or concept.  This approach encourages a deeper understanding of the material.

Feedback for Improvement
Students receive detailed feedback on their performance related to specific standards.  This feedback is valuable for identifying areas of strength and weakness, enabling targeted efforts for improvement.

Accuracy
When we assign a grade to a student we assign value.  It is critically important that our system of measurement is an accurate measure of student learning.

Traditional grading averages all of the work a student has completed over the course of the year, as well as additional subjective factors. SBL removes unnecessary factors and focuses on proficiency in learning content standards. Standards-Based Learning assesses a student’s
overall work (a body of evidence of learning). Thus, it provides clarity regarding what a student has learned and what they currently know.

In a traditional grading system, grades are typically generated from a series of scores from all work assigned in the class, including classwork, homework, projects, quizzes, tests, etc. The final grade becomes a cumulative numerical average from many unrelated activities, often including points for non-academic factors, such as behavior, participation, effort, and attitude. This results in a “hodgepodge” grade. Standards-based learning reports tell us what students have actually learned and what they know. Standards-based learning focuses solely on progress toward attaining proficiency of the priority standards.

Standards-based grading measures the mastery of the learning objectives, or how well students understand the material in class. It is based on a specific set of standards that students need to meet for each grade/content level. Marks are not a comparison of one student to another, but rather a way to measure how well students are doing on grade-level/course level standards. A standards based approach allows parents and students to understand more clearly what is expected of students and how to help them be successful in their educational program.

A standards-based approach:

• Indicates what students know and are able to do.
• Scores indicate a student’s progress toward the attainment of a standard.
• Clearly communicates expectations ahead of time.
• Is based on complex tasks, as opposed to rote memory.
• Occurs when appropriate, not just on scheduled days.
• Emphasizes the more recent evidence of learning. Multiple methods of grade calculation are used to determine grades.

By reporting on specific learning standards, standards-based grading provides considerably more feedback about how a student is progressing toward learning each standard. This will allow the school to report student learning more accurately and to the degree to which students have attained mastery of learning objectives.

It is essential for students to do homework that is tied closely to learning objectives and for students to see those connections. Teachers provide feedback on homework that is assigned to practice new skills.

Attendance, effort, behavior, participation and other factors are important but separating these from achievement factors will give parents a clearer picture about their student’s learning. Students will be held accountable for these factors but they will be reported separately.