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Standards-Based Grading Update: Nov. 5, 2021
Nov. 5, 2021
Grading Changes: A Look at Lindbergh’s Process
To provide a more accurate description of what each student is learning, Lindbergh elementary schools will transition to standards-based grading for the 2022-23 school year.
Throughout the 2021-22 school year, we will be providing information and resources to help you understand why this change is taking place, and how it will benefit students and families.
This month, we want to share our timeline and highlight the work that has been happening since 2017 to evaluate grading practices and develop a grading system that provides a consistent and accurate reflection of student learning, measures growth of all learners, and supports student ownership of their learning.
Fall 2017
- The Lindbergh Learning Team was created. This team is a group of teachers that was formed to research grading practices and design a plan for Lindbergh Schools.
- The team began its work with study and research, which included a book study, “Charting a Course to Standards-Based Grading,” research of best practices and development of a district vision statement.
Spring 2018
- The Lindbergh Learning Team continued its research and began planning professional learning for teachers.
- Teachers began rewriting curriculum to ensure that future grading practices will accurately measure learning expectations for students. This will be an ongoing process as different subject areas come up for revision in the district's six-year curriculum cycle.
2019-20 School Year
- Guest speaker, educator and author Rick Wormeli presented an informative overview of standards-based instruction to Lindbergh families and K-12 teachers, titled “Busting Myths about Assessment and Grading.” This presentation helped explain how grading impacts student learning. It also set the foundation among Lindbergh teachers and staff for beginning to think about how learning and grades should intersect in a meaningful way.
- As part of the established curriculum-writing process, elementary school teachers began drafting priority standards for core curricular areas, and shared those drafts with all classroom teachers for feedback. Priority standards define the skills and information that students need to master at each grade level, in order to be ready for future learning and academic growth.
2020-21 School Year
- Elementary school teachers continued the curriculum writing process and began drafting proficiency scales. Proficiency scales are a progression of learning goals for students, which range from prerequisite skills, to the content target, to more complex content. These scales help students set learning goals. They also inform teachers how to structure lessons.
- Priority standards continued to be revised.
- Joe Feldman, educator and author, presented “Grading for Equity” to all K-12 teachers. The presentation showed how students can become leaders of their own learning, and how clear goal setting can help students become successful.
Fall 2021
- Draft copies of proficiency scales have been shared with elementary classroom teachers for feedback and study, to make sure they align with classroom instruction.
- Elementary school teachers have been participating in professional learning to learn how to use proficiency scales in the classroom.
Spring 2022
- This spring, the Lindbergh Learning Team will work with elementary school teachers who are writing curriculum to begin building a grading scale and designing report cards. This process will also include the Teaching and Learning Board Advisory Committee.
- A new elementary school report card will be shared with the community at the end of the 2021-22 school year. This report card will not be used until the 2022-23 school year.
2022-23 School Year
- Elementary school teachers will begin using the new grading scale.