Standards Based Grading System meeting March 3, 2007
Present: HDLT, SAD 16 School Board, Principals of all three levels, Two Searsport Students, Searsport Principal, Searsport teachers, Student School Board Representative, and others.
The Standards based Grading meeting on March 3rd, 2008, was great. Attending the meeting were the HDLT, MSAD 16 School Board, Principals of all three levels, Two Searsport Students, Searsport Principal, Searsport teachers, Student School Board Representative, and others. The meeting began with questions from the School Board, to Searsport. The following questions were asked (paraphrased)
1.How were the parents brought on board with the Standards Based grading System?
-Meetings were held with the public to educate them as best as possible.
2.How do colleges look at the grading style?
-Colleges get many different types of report cards from all over the world, every school has a different grading style. Colleges don’t focus exclusively on GPA, anyway. They look at SAT scores, community service, Class levels, letters of recommendation, etc. Many colleges have said this after being contacted.
3.What has been the impact on students?
-Students have shown greater motivation, and many like this style compared to the old one. Attendance levels have not been changed. Many students and teachers believe the structure of learning has been greatly increased.
4. How did you work it into the school?
-The Standards based grading system began two years ago with the freshman class, and it has followed that class. (phasing in)
5. What happens with top 10?
- Class rank has not been calculated, with the standards based grading system, instead levels of achievement were created similar to the way colleges reward students. Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude, and Summa Cum Laude.
-These levels can be accomplished through taking more difficult classes and doing well in them, and are not based on how smart peers are in comparison, but how smart the student is based on concrete guidelines.
6. Why was it phased in?
-Every system will have it’s flaws and it is best to keep things smaller until a system is perfect. Changing a grading system is a huge culture shock for a community, so baby steps may need to be taken.
7. What are some of the best aspects of the System?
-Rubrics are part of every class, as well as syllabi’s, this makes it far easier for students,staff, and parents.
-Students will learn what they need to learn before going to the next level, so their high School diploma will be based on what they know rather than how long they sat in class.
8. How did you deal with seniors in sophomore classes?
-Teachers with students in multiple grade levels used the same teaching, and same rubrics however graded in two different ways if necessary.
9. How is homework changed?
-Not all home work will have a separate rubric to be graded on, much of homework will fit into a standard on a more formal exam.
-No points are taken off for late homework, as Standards based grading focuses on learning, not learning fast or slow.
10. Were teachers Cooperative?
-A great amount of time was spent working with teachers, and making sure they agree. All teachers after a year of persuasion agree enough to work with the system. Teachers are the core of education, so they were worked with and consulted.
11. What staffing changes were made?
-No Staffing changes were made, however the schedule was changed to fit standards based teaching.
12. How do you find final grades for classes?
-Final grades for larger standards use trending rather than averaging. Trending looks at how the student is improving or declining on a topic. Trending gives a better picture of the student.
