 Based upon your teaching experience, write a one sentence definition for each of the following letter grades. What does the letter signify?  A=  B=  C=  D=  F=  Take a minute and define each letter. Share out at your table when everyone is finished.  What do these grades tell you about what students learned?

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 Understand the differences between the traditional grading system and standards based grading  Identify the key components of initializing SBG in your classroom  Before you leave today, you will:  Create your own definitions of mastery  Set up your grade book categories and percentages

 Read the article “Seven Reasons for Standards Based Grading.”  Respond to the text:  *: Ideas, concepts, or comments you like.  X: Ideas, concepts, or comments you disagree with  ?: Ideas, concepts, or comments you have questions about

Traditional Grading System  Based on assessment methods (tests, homework, quizzes, etc)  Usually one grade per assessment  Uses an uncertain mix of assessment, achievement, effort and behavior to determine the final grade. May use late penalties and extra credit.  Everything goes in grade book, regardless of purpose Standards Based Grading  Based on learning goals or standards  One grade per goal/standard  Measures achievement only OR separates achievement from effort/behavior. No penalties or extra credit given.  Selected assessments (tests, quizzes, projects, etc.) are used for grading purposes Adapted from O’Connor K (2002). How to Grade for Learning: Linking grades to standards (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

 Create meanings for the grades in your classroom.  Set up your grade book. o Determine which standards you will teach o Determine your definition of mastery for each of those standards o Determine the categories for your grade book o Determine the percentages for each category * Assessments/Projects should be worth over 60% Homework should not be graded at all (Viewed as practice) Formative assessments can be recorded but should not be worth anything (0%) * It works best if you can come to a consensus for each subject area.

 Choose 7-12 standards for a set time period (usually a nine week time period)  Determine how you are going to teach the standards  Determine the number of times you need to assess students and how you will assess them o Quizzes o Class discussion o Writing prompts

 With your table groups, use your original definitions of the letter grades in conjunction with the article to create your own personalized class mastery rubric.  Finalize your definitions and record them on the papers provided.  There are two copies: o One for your records o One for administration to review

 Identify the categories for your grade book, such as: o Homework o Classwork o Projects o Assessments o Writing Assignments  Now that you have the categories, identify the worth of each category.  Be sure to put your categories and percentages on both pages.

What do students really LEARN? Assessments help us distinguish between teaching and learning

 A valid assessment has 4-6 questions for each learning goal/standard  Students who do not achieve mastery have the opportunity to retake the test o Determine how many times a student can retake the test o Determine the criteria for retaking the test (tutoring session or practice assignments) o Determine the maximum points you will allow students to earn on a retake  Accommodations: Since all students are given opportunities to retake tests, most of your IEP accommodations are met without taking extra steps.

What I wish I knew when I started using SBG  Guest speaker from the middle school What I plan on changing for next year  Guest speaker from middle school

 tml (Articles, books, and websites about SBG) tml  web.org/activities/WERA_Winter11/4.8%20CCSS%20&%2 0Standards%20Based%20Grading%20(1).pdf (in depth PDF about standards based grading) web.org/activities/WERA_Winter11/4.8%20CCSS%20&%2 0Standards%20Based%20Grading%20(1).pdf