Standards-Based Greatness

As Licking Valley High School is in its third year after implementing the standards-based Grading System, some students have yet to know the full story of what the grading system is all about and why the school began using it. To better inform the student body, we at The Prowler conducted an interview session with Mr. Weaver to gain a deeper understanding on this.

Following our interview with the principal, my attitude towards the grading system completely transformed from being confused and weary of it, to recognizing the immense benefits that can emerge by using this new system of grading the proficiency and mastery of standards. Personally, I now fully believe our grading system is more than logical. I think it was a very smart decision to bring standards-based grading into our own school, so I’m going to address some frequently asked questions of students.

#1: How is our standards-based grading system any better than a regular grading system?

First and foremost, our grading system is way more accurate than the old system and is also a better reflection of what the students actually know. While the wording of the standards may be a bit confusing, the different categories for the grades show where the student is excelling and where they are struggling. The 4-point grading system was never meant to be associated with letter grades, so this is why the grades do not translate well. Right now, they are still working out the kinks to dispose of the letter grades entirely in time (Stay tuned for our next article, which will take this more in-depth).

#2: Why did we switch from the old grading system to this new one?

Building off of the last question’s answer, the reason that we switched was simply because the standards-based grading system is much more accurate than the outmoded percentage-based system. Where the system of years past was grading on 100 points of a scale, the system we are currently using only has 4 points to grade on, resulting in a much more consistent means of grading. The difference between the 1s, 2s, 3s, and 4s is more defined and clear than, for example, a 94 and a 95. These grades adequately show distinction, rather than the insignificant, pointless 100 points that teachers used to grade by.

#3: Why did the school get rid of rubrics including grades such as 3.4s, 3.7s, 2.5s, etc.?

Technically the school did not forbid teachers from using these middle integers in their grading, but the main reason for taking them off of rubrics is to encourage students to work for the 4 instead of just settling for a lower grade. Also, they were unnecessary because most teachers utilize multiple standards within an assignment, so the grade would average somewhere in between anyway. With a 4 meaning mastery and a 3 meaning proficiency, there is no need for any grades between under the grade of a 3 because the standard is below proficiency, whether it’s a 2 or a 2.5. Either the student understands the material or they don’t; there is no middle ground with this, so there should be no middle grade.

Overall, I have come to understand our grading system more than ever before, and with this new knowledge, I now fully support our standards-based grading system and hope that my fellow students will too. The school has only tried to do the best by its students, and by implementing a more accurate, more simplified, and more descriptive grading system, I believe they have accomplished their goal and exceeded expectations.