IRC School based and district administrators narrowed the focus to the following five areas: Focus 1: Achievement Focus 2: Zeros Focus 3: Clear Expectations Focus 4: Mastery of Standards Focus 5: Cheating

Focus #2 Summary of Input Consensus  Students should be encouraged and held accountable to complete work.  A 0-5 point or 0-50 point scale system option appeared to solve many issues with the use of zeros.  Representatives of the grading practices committee have requested to meet with the school board members for a round table discussion to present/defend the final proposal submitted by this committee.

Focus #2 Summary of Input (Cont’d) Concerns  Retakes/Make up work equals time constraints  Consistency with college transition  Attendance issues and resulting zeros  Students receive chance after chance  Is “giving” 50% ethical?  Will this be a blanket policy for all grade levels & subject areas?  Is this just a current fad?

The world is changing and the way teachers teach has changed. A new way of teaching requires a new way of reporting student achievement. Why Do We Need to Change?

Why Do We Need To Change? To identify the specific benchmarks each student is responsible for learning (benchmarks tested on FCAT) To provide information on how well each student is learning these specific benchmarks

Present Paradigm Traditionally, report cards give a grade for a general subject which often includes subjective and behavioral factors that vary greatly from teacher to teacher.

Paradigm Shift Reported grades should identify mastery level of academic standards

Expectations based on Next Generation of Sunshine State Standards (NG SSS) Clearly Defined and Subject Specific Communicated to School Community

Grading Must be Based Upon Individual Student’s Mastery Level of Next Generation Sunshine State Standards (NG SSS) Criterion Referenced rather than Norm Referenced

Standards-Based Grading IS... Clear and Consistent Assessments Based upon Mastery of Individual Standards. IS NOT... Growth and Progress based Upon Effort, Behavior and/or Attitude

What is a Standards-Based Reporting System? It is a reporting system that communicates individual student progress toward meeting state standards. It does NOT compare one student with another.

—Line— of Mastery Scuba School

 Brings much needed focus to curriculum development efforts  Provides the impetus for new forms of student assessments  Reduces meaningless paperwork & grading  Needs to strike a healthy balance between a single assessment path and a plethora of choices  Provides specific feedback on needed improvement  It doesn’t allow students to mask their level of understanding with work habits. What have we learned about Standards-Based Assessment?

 Read “Helping Standards Make the GRADE” by Thomas R. GruskeyHelping Standards Make the GRADE  Answer the questionnairequestionnaire  Send your questionnaire as an attachment via to Amy Falvey.  Please give your input about the different focuses through our Grading Policy Forum.Grading Policy Forum What Next?