I started using standards-based grading (SBG) as a first-year teacher ten years ago. As I finish up my tenth year of teaching, I have started to reflect on my experiences with the grading system that has shaped the design of everything I do. During this time, I have worked in two schools, taught with in-person, hybrid, and remote learning models, and added two new classes to my schedule. Here are my top ten reflections and advice for anyone on or looking to join the SBG journey.
1. There is no one right way to do it
This lesson is number one because I’ve learned that if you do not buy into SBG, you are not going to be successful with it. When I started my SBG journey, I did hours of research, compared models, and came up with something that worked best for me. As a young, naïve first-year teacher full of unearned confidence, I thought that my Frankenstein version of SBG was the best combination anyone could come up with. Many people have used my formula with success, and many others have made their own edits to fit their classrooms. Either way, teachers using SBG have found a way to make their grades have meaning. If you believe in your system and it is accomplishing this task, you are doing it right.
2. Friends don’t let friends SBG alone
Doing something new and different can be a lonely endeavor. I was lucky to start my SBG journey when I taught science next door to my husband. We embarked on the journey together, made changes together, and bounced ideas off of each other. We teach at different schools now and our SBG systems have evolved independently, but he is still my go-to person to troubleshoot and celebrate with. I have also found a new group of teachers at my school who do SBG a little differently than me and offer a different and refreshing perspective on assessments and learning targets. Find a buddy who is willing to jump into the deep end with you. It is great if this buddy is in your building, but internet friends are amazing too!
3. Buy-in before everything
The best lesson I could teach anyone just starting their SBG journey is buy-in is essential. First, you need to buy into your own system. You cannot sell something you don’t believe in. Next, get your students to buy in. Let them know that this system works in their favor. Stress that you want them to learn and you are going to give them all the tools they need to succeed. Most of the time, if students buy in, you will not have a problem with parents. I always act proactively and talk about SBG at open house with parents. I now have personal experience as a parent of an elementary student with standards-based grading. I absolutely love that I can see what skills my child is excelling in and what we need to work on more at home.
4. It is okay to make changes
Any teacher who taught through remote and hybrid learning knows that anything can happen. Like many of us, I flipped my classes upside down during that time. There are some changes I had to make that I would never want to do again, and others have stuck around. During remote and hybrid learning, I had the time to make tutorial videos for every learning target in my chemistry class. I needed to create these digital resources because my students were learning asynchronously, but they have been an invaluable extra-help tool now that we are back in person. During remote learning, I also had to move my assessments online. I created massive question banks for every learning target that I used for both practice and assessments. While I have gone back to paper in my chemistry classes, I have kept my ninth-grade physical science class largely digital. The ability to generate practice tests over individual learning targets with automatic feedback is too good to give up.
5. Edit your learning targets often
Speaking of making changes, editing my learning targets is always a task that gets put at the bottom of my to-do list. I am terrible at making changes to my learning targets right when I notice the issue. Luckily, I have a colleague who is really good at this and she reminds me to reflect on our learning targets right after we finish the unit. Sometimes you write a learning target and you realize it actually needs to be broken down into multiple targets. Sometimes the opposite happens and you realize the target is superfluous. Other times, the target you write is too difficult to assess. Whatever the issue is, I have learned that if I am having trouble assessing the target, it probably needs to be edited. If you have an SBG buddy, it always helps to troubleshoot with someone else who might be approaching the learning target in a different way.
6. Work smarter, not harder
If you have heard me talk about my SBG journey, you know something I changed after my first year was my reassessment process. I now use a Google Form sign-up process paired with an Autocrat mail merge to generate my blank reassessments with the header already filled in. This works much better than the pile of post-it note reassessments I previously had stuck all over my desk! This year, I added an additional automation inspired by a colleague that generates my students’ hall passes when they sign up. All I need to do is print and sign! As I mentioned above, I also created hundreds of banked questions for my Physical Science class which now pays off in time saved creating and grading assessments. Educational technology is constantly evolving and it pays off to keep up with it.
7. Set the bar high, your students can and will reach it
There is no doubt that SBG sets a high bar for students. No participation, organization, or homework grades means they have to demonstrate what they have learned. Remote and hybrid learning moved the bar for students because all of education was turned upside down. As students and teachers have returned to a more typical school experience, it has been difficult to reset that bar. In my classroom, I have put the bar back where it was pre-COVID. I always tell my students, “I will give you all the tools you need to succeed, but you need to use them.” I have implemented new scaffolding strategies like two-column notes and extra-help options like my aforementioned tutorial videos. I make myself available and approachable for questions. I make the reassessment process easy and accessible. I give my students all the tools they need, and as always, they have surpassed my expectations in meeting my high bar.
8. Some SBG is better than no SBG
Again, as I look back to my early, naïve days as a young teacher, I thought SBG was all or nothing. When I first came to my current school, nobody was using SBG. In the past eight years, I have seen every person in my department implement some piece of SBG, usually reassessments. This all happened from grass-roots efforts, casual conversations, and no pressure. Even the most traditional teachers have bought into the idea of reassessments or retakes. That small change makes a big impact for students. My students have been my best advertisements for SBG. They tell their other teachers about my class and those teachers come ask me what I’m doing differently. Nobody in my school has ever been required to attend one of my SBG presentations, there are no rules for how teachers must grade, but the ideals of SBG have spread and infiltrated the majority of classrooms. In a perfect world, A-F grades wouldn’t exist and report cards would all be standards-based. While I love to dream of that world, I will happily celebrate the positive steps being taken toward grade equity in the real world!
9. Progress, not perfection
If you have read any of my other posts, you know my approach to anything new is to jump in the deep end and just start swimming. That approach is not for everyone! If you are not in a place to change everything about the way you teach, do not put undue pressure on yourself. Start with one class, start with one piece of SBG, take just one step forward. Unless it’s the last year of your career, you probably have many years ahead of you to get where you want to be as an educator. If it is the last year of your career, you are a superhero for still trying to figure out what’s best for your students every day! The way I do SBG is certainly not perfect. Every year I make tweaks and some years I think I have taken steps backward! As long as I can still see my goal and I know I’m moving towards it, I am satisfied with my work.
10. Don’t sacrifice your sanity for SBG (or any part of your job)
I hope if there is anything we as teachers have learned through the pandemic, it is we need to protect our mental well-being. In some ways, I am a worse teacher than I was before March 2020, but I am absolutely a more physically and mentally healthy person. I set the boundary that I do not bring work home. I have set hours that I allow myself to stay past my contracted time and anything that does not get done gets pushed until the next day. I have learned to set the teacher guilt aside and find a workflow that works for me and my students. We do this job because we care deeply about our students, but we also need to model for our students that it is healthy to take of yourself. I believe that SBG is best for my students, but even more so, I believe a healthy teacher is best for my students.
Whether you are new to SBG or a seasoned pro, I hope you found some tidbit of encouragement in my words. I am constantly encouraged by the teachers I see every day in my building and on the internet trying to find what is best for their students. It is a difficult job that has only gotten harder in the past three years. Take care of yourself, take care of your students, and take care of each other!
The Model So Far... 