INTRODUCTION TO STANDARDS-

BASED GRADING Kris VerSteegt

For Des Moines Public Schools

October 25, 2013

WHY CHANGE THINGS?

“A grade can be regarded as an inadequate report

of an inaccurate judgment by a biased and

variable judge of the extent to which a student has

attained an undefined level of mastery of an

unknown proportion of an indefinite material.”

--Paul Dressel

THREE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

Where am I now?

Where am I going?

How do I close the gap?

WHERE ARE WE NOW?

We are probably taking a lot of data

We know what our kids know, what they understand,

and what they are able to do

We are probably reporting out a grade

This is likely norm-referenced.

“Johnny correctly classified all the instruments in the

concert band. Most kids only got 75%. Johnny gets an A.

Most kids get a C. Suzie only got half the questions right.

She gets an F. My grades are DONE! Woo hoo!”

Without some serious sleuthing on the part of the

parents, they don’t really have any idea what

their kids know, understand, or are able to do in

music

WHERE ARE WE GOING?

Standards-Based Grading allows parents,

students, and other interested people the ability

to know exactly how the student’s work compares

to the standard.

It is criterion referenced.

“Johnny correctly classified all the instruments in the

concert band. He has met the standard. The rest of the

students need more instruction to meet the standard. But

how much more? I should do a needs assessment.”

HOW DO WE CLOSE THE GAP?

We determine the big ideas

National Standards and Achievement Standards

We “unpack” those standards to determine what

kids should know, understand, and be able to do

at each grade level for each standard

These KUDs should be the same regardless of contact

time or frequency, district-wide

We determine success criteria--what we will

accept as evidence that the standard has been

met

Should also be the same regardless of contact time or

frequency, district-wide

HOW DO WE CLOSE THE GAP?

We assess where are kids are now in relation to that

success criteria

We create lesson learning targets and share those with

the kids

Doesn’t have to be “up front”

We fill our lessons with activities designed to hit targets

this will look different in every school depending on time

We formatively assess whether ALL our kids have

reached those targets or not

NOT GRADED

If ALL students didn’t hit the target, then we need to re-

assess and plan to close the NEW gap

This will look different in every class

DOES IT REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

The research about instruction and assessment

practices that accompany standards-based

reporting overwhelmingly show that students

learn their subjects better and perform better in

later education levels

HOW IS STANDARDS-BASED GRADING

DIFFERENT?

The reported information more accurately

represents the progress toward mastery of

standards, rather than summarizing many

varied components in one letter grade

Subject areas are divided into big ideas related to

standards and their respective learning targets

that students need to learn or master

Each target is assessed formatively to guide

further instruction

Scores from activities that are provided solely for

practice will not be included in the final

assessment of the learning target

WHY IS IT BETTER?

The learning targets are clearly articulated to the

students throughout instruction

Ongoing formative assessment provides students

up-to-date information about what they need to

do to reach the learning target

Parents can see which learning targets students

have mastered and which ones need re-teaching

I HEAR WE AREN’T AVERAGING GRADES

ANYMORE.

The goal is for all students to be secure on the

required standards at the end of the course

Averaging all scores dilutes the information and

negates the growth the student has made toward

the standard

ARE THERE ANY OTHER BENEFITS?

Students with special needs are still provided

accommodations, but they are measured against

the standard like every other student

While you will be working on expression, vocab,

and tonal and rhythmic skills all year, you should

only report out when you have completed

summative assessments

In Ankeny, we were allowed to mark only “performs

alone and with others using appropriate musical

expression” in first term and leave all others “not

assessed.”

“OKAY. YOU SOLD ME. BUT, IT SEEMS LIKE A

TON OF WORK SO WE BETTER GET STARTED.”

NAfME has already done a lot of leg work for you

including content standards, achievement

standards, assessment suggestions, and three

levels progress toward standard (basic, proficient,

and advanced)

Few of these involve paper and pencil

http://musiced.nafme.org/resources/performance-

standards-for-music/grades-k-4/

Much of your own rubrics and checklists can be co-

constructed with the kids

HOW DO I INVOLVE THE KIDS?

Find examples of strong, medium, and weak

work.

Have students determine which is which AND

why.

A CHECKLIST EMERGED:

Note heads all about the same size

Note heads on the correct side (left)

Notes properly spaced

Note heads all colored in completely

Dots smaller than note heads

Dots and flags appear on the right hand side

Stems are all about the same length

§ beams touch all three stems

Stem stops at note head

e flags appear solid

DISCUSSION

UNDERSTANDING BACKWARDS DESIGN

Start with the standard

Write essential questions:

How are musical ideas created and conserved?

Figure out KUDs

Decide what you would accept as evidence that

students had accomplished the KUDs

“Success criteria”

Do a needs assessment

{ Choose activities that will help fill the gap for

most students

Formatively assess }

Conduct summative assessment

Standard Term 1 Term 2 Term 3

Performs whole, half, quarter,

eighths and dotted half notes

on instrument

2 2 3

Performs rhythm in simple

meter on instrument 2 2 3

Understands/performs ti-sol

in the key of concert Bb and

Eb on instrument

2 2 3

Demonstrates characteristic

timbre on instrument N 2 3

Demonstrates musical

expression/interpretation N 2 2

Understands and

demonstrates instrument

basics

3 3 4

Comments

FURTHER RESOURCES

Embedded Formative Assessment by Dylan

William (Solution Tree Press, 2011)

Seven Strategies of Assessment for Learning by

Jan Chappuis (Pearson, 2009)

Integrating Differentiated Instruction and

Understanding by Design by Carol Ann

Tomlinson and Jay McTighe (ASCD 2006)

MEJ, March 2012, vol. 98/3

http://musiced.nafme.org/resources/performance-

standards-for-music/introduction/

FROM OUR FRIENDS AT

Music exalts the human spirit. It enhances the

quality of life. It brings joy, satisfaction, and

fulfillment to every human being. It is one of the

most powerful, compelling, and glorious

manifestations of human culture. It is the essence of

civilization itself. Music learning would deserve to

be included in the curriculum even if it could not be

assessed. But music learning based on explicit

standards can be assessed. Music should never be

neglected in the school merely because its

assessment may be difficult, time-consuming, or

costly.